U2AOS1 - Social Psychology

Attitude

An evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event

or issue.

Attitudes features

• Influence behavior

• Can be aware and unaware of them

• Vary in strength

• They form and can be changed over time

Attitude formation

• Media

• Experiences

• Family

• Peers

• Gender

• Religion

• Society/culture

• Wealth

what is the Tri-component Model of Attitudes

Affective = what you feel (feelings)
Behavioural = what you do (actions)
Cognitive = what you think (belief)

what must happen in Tri-component Model of Attitudes

It has been proposed that all 3 components must be present before an attitude

can exist.

The strength of ABC in an attitude varies

Factors that influence whether attitudes and behaviour will be consistent:

• Strength of the attitude

• Social context- specific situation

• Perceived control over the behaviour

How could we measure attitudes?

• A Likert Scale can be used to measure attitudes

• People respond to a series of statements about a topic, in terms of the extent to which they agree with them

A Likert Scale is a scale

used to represent people’s attitudes towards a topic