Social Psychology chapter 6-8

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on attitudes and persuasion, providing concise definitions for significant terms and theories.

Attitude

A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object, or idea.

Cognitive Component of Attitude

The beliefs and thoughts that make up an attitude, such as supporting marijuana legalization.

Affective Component of Attitude

The emotional response or feelings associated with an attitude, such as enjoying how marijuana makes one feel.

Behavioral Component of Attitude

The actions or behaviors that reflect an attitude, such as voting in favor of marijuana legalization.

Self-Report Measurement

A method of measuring attitudes by directly asking individuals about their feelings or opinions.

Attitude Scales

Multi-item questionnaires used to assess a person’s attitude by summarizing responses to various statements.

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

A covert measure of unconscious attitudes determined by how quickly individuals respond to paired concepts.

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychological discomfort experienced when attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent.

Persuasion

The process by which attitudes are changed, influenced by the source, message, audience, and individual actions.

Central Route to Persuasion

A method that relies on the strength of arguments in a message, suitable for audiences that think critically.

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

A method that relies on superficial cues or emotional appeals, suitable for audiences that are less engaged.

Fear Appeals

Persuasive messages that use fear to motivate behavior change, effective when balanced with a solution.

Justifying Effort

The phenomenon where people alter their attitudes to justify the time, money, or effort they invested.

Psychological Reactance

A response against perceived threats to one's freedom, leading to resistance to persuasion.

Attitude Formation

The processes by which attitudes are created or developed, influenced by genetics, learning, and social norms.

Conformity

Tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behavior in ways that are consistent with social or group norms

Why People conform : Informal

Conformity produced when a person believes others are correct in their judgement

Why people conform: Normative influence

Conformity produced when a person fears the negative social consequences of appearing deviant

Private Conformity

Change of beliefs that occurs when a person privately accepts the position taken by others. Describes change of both behavior and mind.

Public Conformity

Superficial change in overt behavior without a corresponding change of opinion that is produced by group pressure. Pretending to agree, privately disagreeing.

Personal & Situational Factors: Group Size

Increasing size of group increases conformity up to a point:

• Going from 1 to 4 people leads to increases; beyond this differences are negligible

• Groups of 3-4 exert most influence

Personal & Situational Factors: Social Norms

Social norms lead to conformity when we are aware of the norm, focused on the norm. Changing perceived norms can change behaviors.

Ex) Rogers et al., (2018) Found that people were more likely to donate time, money, conserve energy, sign voting petition, recycle if believe others are doing the same (norm)

Personal & Situational Factors: Having an Ally

Asch found that having 1 ally dissent reduced conformity by 80%. Any dissent breaks normative pressure; does not matter if dissenting opinion or behavior is same to your own

Personal & Situational Factors: Gender Differences

Gender differences depend on issue at hand: Sistrunk & McDavid (1971): Participants answer questions about feminine, masculine, or gender-neutral topics

• Findings: Women agreed with majority more often on masculine topics; Men, vice-versa. No gender differences on neutral topics

Situational context matters: No gender differences when responses are private, When public (being watched/observed by others) women more likely to conform, men more likely to diverge

Personal & Situational Factors: Cultural Differences

Conformity generally higher in collectivist cultures than individualistic culture:

Social harmony, Interdependence, Cooperation, Fitting in

Compliance

Changes in behavior that are elicited by direct requests

• Ways to increase compliance: Phrasing of request, Norm of Reciprocity, Sequential Request Strategies

Norm of Reciprocity

States that we treat others as we have treated them. Getting gifts, invites, compliments, or free samples make us more likely to return the favor

Sequential Request Strategies: Foot-in-door

influencer sets the stage for real request by first getting person to comply with smaller request

Sequential Request Strategies: Low-balling

influencer secures agreement with a request but then increases the size of that request by revealing hidden costs

Sequential Request Strategies: Door-in-face

influencer prefaces the real request with one that is so large that it is rejected

Sequential Request Stratedies: That’s-not-all

influencer begins with inflated request then decreases its apparent size by offering discount or bonus

Obedience

Behavior change produced by the commands of authority.

Produce

• Minority: produce more private conformity because seen as more serious in their views and make people think more deeply about their position

Different types of conformity: Majority

creates social norms & more intense pressure; more publicconformity

Personal Factors: Conscientiousness

responsible, organized, hard-working, goal-directed, and to adhere to norms and rules

Personal Factors: Agreeableness

cooperative, polite, kind, and friendly

Personal Factors: Authoritarian (F-scale)

Characteristics: rigid, dogmatic, sexually repressed, ethnocentric, intolerant of dissent, and punitive. Submissive toward authority figures, aggressive toward subordinates

Minority Influence: Resisting the crowd

Process by which dissenters (minority) produce change within a group

• What is said, how its said, and consistency matter. Consistency draws more attention to position, shows they are not changing. Majority must compromise

Determinants of Minority Influence

Consistency in Position

• Leads others to stop and think, opening possibility to rethink position

• Minority slowness effect: Tendency to express minority views less quickly than majority

Self Confidence

Defections from Minority

• Consistent doubts from minority allows majority members to feel freer to express own doubts