atitudini Flashcards
What are attitudes?
Preferences for or evaluations of objects.
Our likes and dislikes and preferences.
Evaluations
What 3 components are attitudes made of?
Affective - emotional reaction
Behavioural - actions
Cognitive - thoughts and beliefs
What is the tripartile model?
Affective, Behavioural and Cognitive lead to Attitude
One component may have more weight
What are cognitively based attitudes?
An attitude based primarily on people’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object.
Attitudes are based on the relevant facts.
What are behaviourally based attitudes?
An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object.
What are affectively based attitudes?
An attitude based on preferences and feelings towards an object.
What is self-perception theory?
Sometimes we don’t know how we feel about something until we see how we behave.
We infer our attitudes from our behaviours.
Under what conditions is the self-perception theory true?
When initial attitude is weak or ambiguous
When there is no other plausible explanation for behaviour.
Are all attitudes rational or based on knowledge?
No.
1/3 of the electorate knows virtually nothing about specific politicians but have strong feelings about them.
Where do affectively based attitudes come from?
Values - religion
Sensory reaction - liking the taste of something
Aesthetic reaction - admiring colour of a car
Conditioning
What is the nature of attitude?
Identical twins share more attitudes than fraternal twins.
What is the role of classical conditioning in attitudes?
Learning through association.
A stimulus that elicits an emotional response is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus, until the neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus.
What is subliminal conditioning?
Exposing individuals to stimuli that are presented quickly or hidden that they are not consciously perceived. Despite not being consciously registered, these stimuli can still have an impact on individuals’ attitudes.
What is the mere exposure effect
Mere repeated exposure of an individual to a stimulus is a sufficient condition for the enhancement of his attitude towards it.
What is an example of the mere exposure effect?
We saw a chinese character multiple times without necessarily paying attention to it.
We rated the character we were familiar with higher than a new character.
What is the illusion of truth effect?
Opinions and information presented often seems more true by mere exposure, not because they become more true over time.
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reward and punishment.
How does operant conditioning create attitudes?
Behaviour toward attitude object (playing with a child of another race)
Positive reinforcement - parent’s approval
Punishment - parent’s disapproval
Leads to positive or negative attitudes toward the attitude object.
What is instrumental conditioning?
Children hold the same attitudes as family members or as people with whom they interact on regular basis.
How does attitude change come about?
Exposure to alternative social networks with diverse attitudes allows attitude change.
What is observational learning?
The form of learning through which people acquire new attitudes by observing others.
e.g. Bobo doll
What is an inconsistency between attitudes and behaviour?
Attitudes are not good predictors of behaviour.
LaPiere (1934) examined anti-Chinese attitudes and discrimination
LaPiere went on cross-country trip with Chinese couple
Although prejudice against Chinese was high at this time, only 1/251 establishments refused service
LaPiere wrote a letter to each establishment after the trip asking if they would serve a Chinese visitor and over 90% said they wouldn’t
Why might people’s behaviour not match their attitude?
Social desirability: ppl may be dishonest abt their attitude according to socially desirable responding
Social norms: certain attitudes may be more acceptable than others
What is the attitude-behaviour consistency framework?
- Attitude extremity 2. Attitude certainty and 3. Personal experience LEAD TO strength of attitudes which LEADS TO attitudes are accessible.
This leads to Attitude-Behaviour Consistency.
Strong attitudes predict behaviour better
What is attitude clarity?
What one’s attitude is.
Increased by repetition.
What is attitude certainty?
Am I correct and valid holding this attitude?
Affected by group norm
What is the role of experience in attitude formation?
Attitudes more likely to be strong and accessible
Attitudes more likely to be elaborated by supporting argument
What is the theory of planned behaviour?
People’s intentions are the best predictors of their deliberate behaviour.
Intensions determined by their attitudes toward specific behaviours, subjective norms
What is theory of reasoned action?
Considers behavioural options and consequences
Make conscious decision to act or not.
