Test 2- Attitudes

attitude

a relatively stable opinion, feeling, or evaluation toward something (the attitude object)

tri-component theory of attitudes

the idea that attitudes have three parts: cognitive (thoughts), affective (feelings), and behavioral (actions)

cognitive component

thoughts or beliefs about an attitude object

affective component

emotional reactions toward an attitude object

behavioral component

actions or behaviors toward an attitude object

cognitively based attitude

an attitude mainly based on beliefs or facts about something

affectively based attitude

an attitude based more on emotions or feelings than on facts

behaviorally based attitude

an attitude formed by observing your own behavior toward something

self-report measure

when people describe their own attitudes, usually through surveys or questionnaires

likert scale

a numerical scale used to measure how strongly someone agrees or disagrees with a statement (1= strongly disagree, 5= strongly agree)

response latency

the time it takes to answer a question; quicker responses often mean stronger attitudes

implicit attitude latency

a way to assess hidden or automatic attitudes without asking directly, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT)

nonverbal measure of attitude

observing behavior like physical distance or attendance to gauge attitude

physiological measure of attitude

using body reactions (heart rate, sweating) to detect feelings toward something

attitude-behavior consistency

the degree to which people’s attitudes match their behavior; often not perfect

LaPiere’s study (1934)

showed a gap between attitudes and behavior- businesses said they wouldn’t serve Chinese customers but did in real life

specificity (in measurement)

the more specific an attitude and behavior match, the stronger their link

theory of planned behavior

suggests that behavior depends on three things- attitude, social norms, and perceived control

subjective norm

the social pressure or expectation to act a certain way

perceived behavioral control

how easy or hard you think it is to perform a behavior

attitude formation

how attitudes develop- through genetics, learning, experience, and exposure

classical conditioning (evaluative conditioning)

learning to like or dislike something because it’s associated with positive or negative feelings

operant conditioning

forming an attitude through rewards or punishments

social learning

developing attitudes by observing and imitating others

self-perception theory

the idea that we infer our attitudes by watching our own behavior

mere exposure effect

the more we see something, the more we tend to like it

direct experience

personal experience with something forms stronger attitudes

consistency theories

theories suggesting people want their thoughts, feelings, and actions to match

balance theory

we want harmony between ourselves, others, and things we like or dislike (P-O-X) triangle

cognitive dissonance theory

when our actions, thoughts, or feelings don’t match, we feel tension (dissonance) and try to fix it

reducing cognitive dissonance

we can reduce tension by changing our behavior, beliefs, or adding new thoughts to justify our behavior

Festinger and Carlsmith study (1959)

people that were paid $1 to lie felt more discomfort and changed their attitude more than those that were paid $20- showing cognitive dissonance

insufficient justification

when you don’t have a good external reason for your behavior, you change your attitude to justify it