Social Psych

Attitude

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

Attitude scale

A multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a person’s attitude toward some object.

Social desirability

The inclination to present yourself in ways that will be viewed favorably by others.

Bogus pipeline

A phony lie-detector device used to encourage truthful answers to sensitive questions.

When do Attitudes predict behavior?

Attitudes most clearly predict behavior when there is high correspondence between attitude measures and the behavior, decisions are made deliberately and the attitudes are strongly held

Persuasion

The process by which our attitudes are changed.

Central route to persuasion

Thinking carefully about the content of a message; being influenced by the strength and quality of the message.

Peripheral route to persuasion

Not thinking critically about the contents of a message; being influenced by superficial cues.

What are the two characteristics of a credible source?

Competence or expertise and trustworthiness

What two factors influence a source's likability?

Similarity between the source and audience and physical attractiveness

Sleeper effect

A delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a noncredible source.

Discounting cue hypothesis

People immediately discount arguments from non-credible communicators, but over time, dissociate what was said from who said it.

Subliminal messages

Messages that are outside of conscious awareness.

Primacy effect

Message given first has greater impact.

Recency effect

Message given last has greater impact

Cognitive dissonance theory

Inconsistent cognitions arouse psychological tension that people are motivated to reduce.

Self-Perception Theory

Inferring our attitudes from observing our behavior

Impression Management Theory

Motivated to appear consistent; changing attitudes and behaviors to be consistent publically.

Self-Affirmation Theory

Dissonance situations create a threat to the self; striving to repair threat through positive acts.