Social Cognition & Attitudes – Detailed Study Notes

Learning Intentions (VCE Psychology Study Design 2023–2027)

• Understand how person perception, attributions, attitudes & stereotypes shape the way we interpret, analyse, remember and use social information (decision-making & interpersonal interaction).
• Explain avoidance of cognitive dissonance via cognitive biases.
• Evaluate positive & negative roles of heuristics in decision-making / problem-solving.
• Analyse influence of prejudice, discrimination & stigma on individual or group mental wellbeing, and outline reduction strategies.

Defining Attitudes

• Relatively consistent, enduring evaluations (judgements) about an object, person, group, event or issue – more than fleeting thoughts.
• Targets of attitudes:
– Objects: shoelaces, ferris wheels, corn cobs.
– People: self, politicians, clowns.
– Groups: friendship circles, peace groups, teaching staff.
– Events: elections, Christmas, House Chorals.
– Issues: global warming, euthanasia, homosexuality.
• Key properties:
– Learned rather than innate.
– Can be positive, negative or neutral.
– Resistant to change when supported by strong affect or identity.

How Attitudes Are Learned

• Modelling (observational learning) – adopting attitudes displayed by family, friends & broader social groups, often implicitly.
• Media & pop-culture – reinforcement of common attitudes via stereotyped depictions & limited representation.
• Advertising/children’s programming – transmit political, social & consumer attitudes early in life.

Tri-Component (ABC) Model of Attitudes

• Most influential framework; attitude exists only when all three components are present & inter-related.

$ABC = Affective + Behavioural + Cognitive$

A) Affective Component (Feelings)

• Emotional reactions toward target.
• Forms a valence: positive, negative, neutral.
– “I enjoy eating Chinese food.” ⇒ positive.
– “I don’t enjoy eating Chinese food.” ⇒ negative.
– “I have no preference for Chinese food.” ⇒ neutral.

B) Behavioural Component (Actions)

• Observable actions OR intentional behavioural tendencies reflecting the attitude.
– Negative attitude to overweight → healthy eating & exercise.
– Negative attitude to carbon-management → participate in climate protest.

C) Cognitive Component (Beliefs)

• Ideas, thoughts, knowledge or opinions about the target.
• Formed through experience; may be factual or erroneous.
• Verifiable beliefs (provable true/false) are easier to change than unverifiable opinions.

Integrating the Components

• Components may align (consistent) or misalign (inconsistent).
• An attitude truly exists only if $A, B, C$ all present.

Consistency vs Inconsistency Examples

• Consistent (alignment):
– $A$: “Spiders scare me.”
– $B$: Run away from spiders.
– $C$: “Spiders can hurt me.”
• Inconsistent scenario #1 (behaviour doesn’t match):
– $A$ = $C$ : Hate & believe lawn bowls boring.
– $B$: Play lawn bowls to socialise.
• Inconsistent scenario #2 (affect dominates):
– $A$: “I love my mum.”
– $C$: “My mum drives me insane.”
– $B$: Act nicely to mum.
• Inconsistent scenario #3 (cognition dominates):
– $A$: “Crab uterus is gross.”
– $C$: Politeness norm of eating what you’re given.
– $B$: Eat it anyway.

Classroom Activity – Identify ABC

1. ‘VCE students are young adults … resent being treated like a child.’
   – $A$: Resentment. $B$: Skip note-writing / protest rule. $C$: Belief young adults deserve autonomy.

2. ‘Basketball more exciting & safer than netball.’
   – $A$: Preference/enjoyment of basketball. $B$: Chooses basketball games. $C$: Belief b’ball exciting & less injurious.

3. ‘Harsher penalties for drink-driving … friend injured … never drink & drive.’
   – $A$: Devastation/anger. $B$: Abstains from drinking when driving; supports tougher laws. $C$: Belief drink-driving dangerous.

Stereotypes, Stigma & Group Bias

• Stereotype = generalised belief about characteristics of a social group (often oversimplified & inaccurate).
– Positive (e.g., ‘females are nurturing’) or negative (‘females are weak’). Most stereotypes trend negative.
• Consequences:
– Ignores individuality; fuels prejudice & discrimination.
– Leads to social stigma: negative labels prompting disapproval/rejection by non-labelled others.
– Ingroup favouritism & outgroup derogation increase likelihood of prejudice.

Factors Influencing Attitude–Behaviour Consistency

• Strength of attitude – stronger = better predictor of behaviour. Example: strong climate-change concern → protest participation.
• Accessibility – easily retrieved attitudes guide behaviour quickly. Example: favourite colour instantly recalled.
• Social context – situational pressures can mask true attitude. Example: student bad-mouths teacher with peers, respects in class.
• Perceived behavioural control – belief in ability to act affects correspondence. Example: climate activist feels helpless against corporations → may not act.

Cognitive Dissonance

• ‘Dissonance’ = lack of harmony; psychological tension from inconsistencies among $A, B, C$ or between behaviour & self-image.

Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory (1956)

• Observed doomsday cult predicting flood & alien rescue.
• Disconfirmation (no flood) → members intensified belief: rationalised that their faith saved Earth.
• Conclusion: humans motivated to avoid & reduce dissonance.

Strategies to Reduce Dissonance

1. Change Cognitions (attitudes/beliefs):
   – Voice audition fail → decide Guy Sebastian worthless, don’t want music career.

2. Change Behaviour:
   – Same scenario → begin singing lessons, stop bragging.

3. Add New Cognitions (rationalisations):
   – Blame scratchy throat; worry about vocal-cord damage → preserves self-concept.
   • People choose easiest path; sometimes tolerate mild dissonance if conflict weak or outweighed by external reasons.

Factors Determining Degree of Dissonance

• Type of belief: personal/core beliefs amplify dissonance.
• Value/importance: higher value → greater tension.
• Level of conflict: larger contradiction → greater dissonance.

Avoidance via Cognitive Biases & Heuristics

• Biases (e.g., confirmation bias) can filter information, maintaining consistency and reducing dissonance.
• Heuristics (mental shortcuts) aid fast decisions; may mislead (e.g., stereotype heuristic) or help (rule-of-thumb under time pressure).

Humorous Illustration – Daily Show Meme (Page 22)

• Dialogue shows selective statistics (“take California out…”) & cherry-picking to preserve pro-Trump attitude → classic dissonance reduction via biased cognition.
• Refusal to wear mask labelled ‘personal choice’ despite professed pro-life stance → inconsistency rationalised away.

Quick Recap / ‘What Do We Know?’

• Attitudes comprise $A$ (affect), $B$ (behaviour), $C$ (cognition).
• Components can align or clash; clashes → cognitive dissonance.
• Dissonance reduced by changing $A$, $B$ or $C$, or adding justifications.

Consolidation Activities

• Edrolo 6B video & textbook Qs on cognitive dissonance & biases (link: https://edrolo.com.au/s/2948941/).
• Complete end-of-chapter questions, ensuring you can:
– Distinguish stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination & stigma.
– Apply ABC model to novel scenarios.
– Predict when behaviour will reflect attitudes based on strength, accessibility, context & control.
– Design interventions to reduce prejudice & dissonance.