Chapter 4: Behavior and Attitudes
How Well Do Our Attitudes Predict Our Behavior?
Attitude- feelings and beliefs related to a person or event
When Attitudes Predict Behavior
Our attitudes do predict behavior when:
Other influences on what we say and do are minimal
Attitude is specific to the behavior
Attitude is potent (strong)
Expressed attitudes are subject to outside influences
Implicit association test (IAT): a computer-driven assessment that uses reaction time to measure how quickly associate concepts
Shows implicit biases are pervasive
People differ in implicit bias
People are often unaware of their implicit biases
Behavior is predicted best with a combination of both implicit and explicit (self-report) measures
Situational influences can induce people to violate their deepest convictions
Specific, relevant attitudes do predict intended and actual behavior
To change habits through persuasion, we must alter people’s attitudes toward specific practices
Ex. attitudes towards “health fitness” versus attitudes about “jogging”
Principle of Aggregation- effects of an attitude
Attitude predicts behavior better when the attitude is potent
Attitudes become potent if we think about them
Self-awareness promotes consistency between words and deeds
Attitudes that best predict behavior are also stable-when forged by experience, they are more accessible, more enduring, and more likely to guide actions
When Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes?
Attitudes follow behavior
We come to believe in what we stand up for
Mental aftereffects of our behavior appear in many social-psychological examples of self-persuasion
Role Playing
Role- a set of norms that defines how people in a given social position ought to behave
When we step into a new role, we may at first feel phony; but soon the role begins to fit
Saying Becomes Believing
People often adapt what they say to please their listeners; and often, they begin to believe what they are saying
When there is no compelling external explanation for one’s words, saying becomes believing
Evil and Moral Acts
Evil sometimes results from gradually escalating commitments
One small evil act erodes one’s moral sensitivity, making it easier to perform a worse act
Ex. “white lies”
In wartime, soldiers ordered to kill may initially react with revulsion-but not for long
People tend to dehumanize their enemies
Same occurs in peacetime, such as when a group holds another in slavery
Similar effect works to shape moral acts
Our character is reflected in what we do when we think no one is looking
Moral action, especially when chosen rather than coerced, affects moral thinking
Ex. children and a battery-controlled robot toy
Positive behavior also fosters liking
Why Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes?
Social psychologists suspect three possible reasons for why behavior affects attitudes
Self-presentation theory
We all care about what other people think of us
Self-presentation theory assumes that for strategic reasons we express attitudes that make us appear consistent
We may automatically pretend we hold attitudes consistent with our behaviors
Cognitive dissonance theory (Self-justification)
Cognitive dissonance- tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions
To reduce this tension, we often adjust our thinking
Selective exposure- the tendency to seek information and media that agree with one’s views and to avoid dissonant information
Insufficient justification- reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one’s behavior when external justification is “insufficient”
Self-Justification: Cognitive Dissonance- having made a decision between two equally attractive choices, people often become aware of dissonant cognitions
Self-perception theory- the theory that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as would someone observing us-by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs
Self-presentation theory explains why our actions might only seem to affect our attitudes
Assumptions of dissonance theory and self-perception theory explain why our actions genuinely affect our attitudes.
Dissonance theory wins on one count: having attitude and behavior disagree does seem to produce arousal
Self-affirmation theory- people often experience a self-image threat after engaging in an undesirable behavior; and they can compensate by affirming another aspect of the self or justifying our behaviors
Dissonance theory cannot explain the attitude changes that occur without dissonance
Self-perception theory explains attitude formation-as we act and reflect, we develop more readily accessible attitudes to guide future behavior
One lesson of the attitudes-follow-behavior principle:
If we want to change ourselves in some important way, it’s best not to wait for insight or inspiration; sometimes we need to act