12: Attitudes, Persuasion, & Social influence Flashcards
What is the definitions of an attitude?
a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor
What are the characteristics of an attitude?
-It is internally held (though it may be reflected outwards in behavior)
- can be fleeting and transient, or habitual and ingrained
(they can be changed - not not always easy to do)
- They are about something
- Evaluative
-An attitude has to be in your head in order to be an attitude
Why are attitudes important/what do they do?
- They are pervasive (held about almost everything)
- They guide social interaction
- predicts behavior
- Attitudes shape our perceptions and memories
Name some origins of attitudes
Parental influence, peers, personal experience
How can parental influence be the origin of attitudes?
- Information control - the parents choose what papers, channels etc. they the household read/watch etc.
- Modeling - EX: mothers attitude towards food often mirrored in daughters
- Heredity
- Provide social context (do they join a sport, religion etc.)
How can peers be the origin of attitudes?
- Information control (What is it that your friends post about politics on Facebook)
- Modeling (substance abuse etc.)
How can experience be the origin of attitudes?
Through conditioning (what do you link specific things to)
What are direct measures of attitudes measurements?
Scales - just asking people what they think
Can be used to explicit measurements
What is indirect measure of attitude measurement?
- Psychophysical methods
- Unobtrusively observing behavior
- implicit association test
What are explicit attitudes and how can they be measured?
Attitudes that are consciously held + controlled processing. Can be measured by using direct measures
What are implicit attitudes and how can they be measured?
Attitudes that are unconsciously held - automatic processing. Can be measured by indirect measures
What are 2 important characteristics on the person who is trying to persuade someone else?
- Competence (Knowledgeable, smart, well-spoken, uses complex words)
- Trustworthiness (Avoids appearance of aiming to change behavior + present both sides)
What is the sleeper effect?
Even messages from uncredible sources can have an impact when source is forgotten but the message is remembered
What things about the message have en impact when it comes to persuasion (WHAT)
- Fear (but only if paired with a solution)
- Not obvious (Harder to convince people if they recognize that you are trying)
- Length (those who pay little attention use length as a cue)
- Quality (better argument are more persuasive, especially for those paying attention)
What are some characteristics of the target of persuasion and how they are persuaded (WHOM)
- Distracted individuals are easier to persuade (distraction inhibits generation counterarguments)
- People who are high in need for cognition is convinced by quality arguments. Those low in need for cognition is convinced by source ques (length)
Why are distracted individuals easier to persuade?
Because distraction inhibits developing counterarguments
What are people high and low on need for cognition persuaded by?
High = quality arguments Low = source ques (length)
The dual-process theories of persuasion
There are 2 different routes to persuasion:
THE CENTRAL ROUTE-> considering quality of arguments
- The central route requires MOTIVATION (personal relevance, general cognitive engagement,) and ABILITY (time, distractions, cognitive resources)
THE PERIPHERAL ROUTE -> surface features of the argument
-length of the list of arguments, expert advocate etc.
This route is more susceptible to fading and counterattacks
Which route is more susceptible to fading and counterattacks (central or peripheral)
Peripheral
How does mood influence persuasion?
Mood influences motivation for accurate beliefs
- Low/bad mood indicates problems in the world and that makes it even more important for people to adopt correct positions