Attitude and Attitude Change Notes
In The News: Advertising and Children
A Center for the Advancement of Health briefing highlighted disturbing facts about advertising to children. Annually, children view approximately television ads, primarily for candy, cereal, and fast food. These foods are typically high in calories, salt, saturated fat, and/or refined sugars and low in nutrients.
Studies indicate that children prefer products seen on television and often ask their parents to purchase them. Children under the age of 7 or 8 may not fully understand the persuasive intent of commercials. Childhood obesity, reaching unprecedented levels, is linked to children's exposure to extensive food advertising. "Stealth marketing," such as McDonald's offering a Barbie with french fries, is also used.
Many schools have contracts with soft drink companies, and fast-food companies sponsor or supplement hot lunch programs. Vending machines in elementary schools commonly offer high-fat, low-nutrition snacks. As of 2004, only Arkansas had legislation banning vending machines in elementary schools.
While advertising may be especially problematic for young children, it also affects teenagers. Beer and liquor advertising are specifically targeted to adolescents, despite them being underage. Policymakers are debating whether to regulate advertising targeted to children, particularly concerning the "toxic environment of low-cost, high-fat food and less exercise."
Defining Attitudes
Attitudes are evaluations of objects, issues, or persons, based on affective, behavioral, and cognitive information (the ABCs of attitudes):
Affective Component: Consists of emotions and affect toward the stimulus, especially positive or negative evaluations.
Behavioral Component: Consists of how the person tends to act regarding the stimulus.
Cognitive Component: Consists of thoughts the person has about a particular attitude object, including facts, knowledge, and beliefs.
These three components are not always highly related, necessitating consideration of all three. For example, Evan's attitude toward safe sex is influenced by factors such as condom qualities, beliefs of parents/roommates/friends, personal feelings, and attributes of the object itself (availability, cost).
The cognitive component is a cluster of cognitions linked to the attitude object. The affective component involves positive or negative feelings associated with the attitude object. The behavioral component includes a tendency to behave in connection with the attitude object.
Attitudes tend to be cognitively complex but often evaluatively simple. Impressions of other people quickly become evaluatively consistent.
Theories of Attitudes
Attitudes enable quick access to relevant information and decision-making. However, the links to behavior are more complex. Behavior can be controlled by or change attitudes. Several theories explain attitude formation and change:
Learning Theory: Attitudes are learned like other habits through association, reinforcement, and imitation. Message learning and transfer of affect are key methods. Message learning suggests attitude change follows if a person learns a message, but memory of details is modestly related to change. Transfer of affect involves associating an object with positive stimuli.
Cognitive Consistency: People seek consistency among attitudes and between attitudes and behavior. Balance theory considers consistency among affects and beliefs, involving a person, another person, and an attitude object. Imbalanced configurations tend to change toward balanced ones. Cognitive dissonance theory addresses inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors, arousing dissonance that people are motivated to reduce.
Learning Theory
This approach assumes that attitudes are acquired similarly to other habits. Basic learning processes such as association, reinforcement, and imitation apply. For example, associating the word "Nazi" with negative feelings. Reinforcement and punishment influence attitude formation. Attitudes can also be learned through imitation of strong, important figures, such as family. Message learning is a crucial aspect of attitude change, but memory of details is modestly related to its persuasiveness. Transfer of affect involves associating an object with positive stimuli to adopt a positive attitude toward it.
Cognitive Consistency
This framework depicts people as striving for coherence and meaning in their cognitions. Balance theory considers consistency among affects and beliefs held by a person and are usually described in terms of a person, another person, and an attitude object. Imbalanced configurations tend to change toward balanced ones. Imbalanced systems produce pressures toward attitude change until they are balanced.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
This theory assumes that inconsistency (dissonance) between two cognitive elements produces pressure to make these elements consonant. Cognitive dissonance theory deals especially with inconsistencies between people’s attitudes and behavior, especially when the attitudes and behaviors are important to the self. Dissonance creates psychological tension, and people feel pressure to reduce it. This can be achieved by revoking or changing behavior, trivializing the dissonance, or changing attitudes.
Dissonance Following a Decision
Decision-making almost always arouses dissonance. Reevaluation is particularly strong when alternatives are initially rated as close in attractiveness. After making decisions, individuals tend to increase their liking for what they chose and decrease their liking for what they did not choose. Dissonance is created if people feel responsible when they choose something that works out badly.
Counterattitudinal Behavior
People may engage in attitude-discrepant behavior due to job conditions, leading to dissonance. Insufficient justification involves attitude change based on the level of incentive. Greater threat should produce less dissonance and so less attitude change. Attitude change that is realized through these methods is stronger, the more simple and clear-cut the attitude. Freedom of choice and irrevocable commitment are key factors. For dissonance to occur, people need to believe that they could have foreseen the negative consequences of their decisions.