Attitude change Flashcards
Are attitudes stable
Attitudes are not always stable constructs that endure over time
They can change as a result of many influences
What are two key influences that can change attitudes?
- Persuasive messages (e.g., new information)
- Impact of our own attitude-relevant behaviour
what do cognitive consistency theories assume?
People organise their attitudes in ways that maintain consistency
When inconsistencies arise people try to restore equilibrium
what are the 3 cognitive consistency theories
Balance theory
Cognitive dissonance theory
Self-perception theory
What is the core idea of Balance Theory (Heider, 1958)?
People are motivated to maintain consistent attitudes toward people, objects, and behaviours. Imbalanced situations cause discomfort, prompting attitude change to restore balance.
What causes discomfort in Balance Theory?
Unbalanced attitudinal situations, where a person has conflicting positive/negative attitudes within a triad
what is the triad in balance theory
P- PERSON
O- OTHER PERSON
X- ATTITUDE OBJECT
Who proposed balance theory
Heider, 1958
who proposed cognitive dissonancee theory
Festinger, 1957
What is counter-attitudinal behaviour?
When people behave in ways that are inconsistent with their attitudes (e.g., having a positive attitude toward the gym but not going for months).
What does counter-attitudinal behaviour produce, according to Cognitive Dissonance Theory?
A state of psychological discomfort or arousal that motivates attitude or behaviour change to reduce the inconsistency.
What makes counter-attitudinal behaviour especially likely to cause dissonance?
When it cannot be explained by other factors, such as being freely chosen (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). If someone chooses the behaviour freely (without external pressure), they are more likely to feel discomfort when it contradicts their attitude
Insufficient justification: If someone does something contrary to their attitude but doesn’t have a strong external reason for doing so (like a reward or incentive), the discomfort is greater. For example, if someone is paid very little to say something untrue, they’re more likely to change their attitude to justify their behaviour.
E.g., being paid only $1 to lie increases dissonance more than being paid $20 (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959).
Self-relevance: When the behaviour is closely tied to a person’s identity or values (e.g., lying to a friend when you value honesty), the dissonance is stronger.
How do people reduce dissonance caused by counter-attitudinal behaviour?
Change their behaviour (harder to do)- e.g. habits or cant change it because its already happened- easier to change attitudes
Change their attitudes to match the behaviour (easier and more common)
Example of dissonance and attitude change?
Someone who likes the gym but hasn’t gone in 6 months might reduce dissonance by deciding the gym isn’t that important after all.
What was the purpose of the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) experiment?
To study how counter-attitudinal behavior (lying) leads to attitude change when there is insufficient external justification.
What were the three conditions in the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) experiment?
- Control (No lie, no payment)- (behaviour not counter-attitudinal)
- Lie and paid $1- (behaviour counter-attitudinal)
- Lie and paid $20- (behaviour counter-attitudinal)
What was the finding for participants in the $1 condition of the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) experiment?
The small payment was not enough to justify the lie, leading to cognitive dissonance. To resolve this discomfort, they changed their attitudes toward the task and reported a more positive attitude towards the task than the other groups. They had to convince themselves that the task was, in fact, enjoyable because they couldn’t justify their counter-attitudinal behavior (lying) with external rewards.
What was the finding for participants in the $20 condition of the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) experiment?
Participants in the $20 condition did not experience cognitive dissonance because they could justify their behavior (lying) with the external reward, so they kept their negative attitude toward the task.
How does cognitive dissonance relate to attitude change?
Cognitive dissonance leads to attitude change as people seek to reduce the discomfort caused by holding contradictory attitudes and behaviors. This often involves changing their attitude to match their behavior.
What does the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) experiment tell us about behavior and attitudes?
It suggests that when individuals engage in behavior that contradicts their attitudes, they may change their attitudes to align with their behavior, especially if they cannot justify the behavior with external rewards.
Why did participants in the $1 condition report more positive attitudes toward the task than those in the $20 condition?
The $1 condition lacked strong external justification for the lie, leading to cognitive dissonance. To resolve the dissonance, participants changed their attitudes and convinced themselves that the task was more enjoyable.
What is an example of cognitive dissonance in everyday life?
A person who believes smoking is harmful but continues to smoke may experience cognitive dissonance and either change their attitude (believe smoking is less harmful) or change their behavior (quit smoking).
Who proposed Self-Perception Theory
Bem 1972.
What does Self-Perception Theory explain?
t explains attitude change through attribution, not through arousal or discomfort (unlike cognitive dissonance theory).
How do people form or change attitudes in Self-Perception Theory?
People deduce their attitudes by observing their own behavior—especially when internal cues are weak or ambiguous.
What is the key process behind Self-Perception Theory?
Attribution—people attribute their behavior to internal attitudes when external explanations are insufficient.
Example of Self-Perception Theory in action?
Originally have a positive attitude towards going to gym (behaviour) but realise over past through months havent been- makes you perceive you just not have a positive attitude towards gym but you have a negative one. It’s not an unpleasant state of arousal making this its just the attribution
Does Self-Perception Theory involve arousal?
No, it does not involve an uncomfortable arousal state—attitude change is cognitive and based on observation of one’s own behavior.
When is behaviour most likely attributed to attitudes in Self-Perception Theory?
When the behaviour cannot be explained by external forces (e.g., money, pressure, reward), people infer that their behaviour reflects their true attitude.
What is persuasion in the context of attitude change?
A deliberate attempt to change someone’s attitude, often through persuasive communication.
Where do persuasive communications commonly occur?
In advertising, politics, health promotion, and everyday conversations.
What are persuasive communications?
Presentations of arguments aimed at changing attitudes (e.g. by advertisers, politicians, health professionals).
What do theories of persuasion focus on?
The cognitive processes involved in how people respond to and are influenced by persuasive messages.
What are the two types of cognitive processes in persuasion?
Automatic (unconscious) and conscious (deliberate) processing.
What is automatic processing in persuasion?
when receive persuasive communication it can change your attitude and you arent aware
What is conscious processing in persuasion?
When people actively engage with persuasive messages and think critically about them.
what theories are involved in Persuasion by automatic processing
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Heuristics
What did Staats and Staats (1958) demonstrate about attitude formation?
whether pairing a neutral word (e.g., a nationality) with positive or negative words could change people’s attitudes toward that word.
Participants were shown nationality names (like Dutch or Swedish) repeatedly on a screen.
positive or negative words (e.g., “gifted”, “ugly”) were presented alongside the nationality
Example: “Dutch” shown alongside negative words, and “Swedish” with positive words (or vice versa, depending on condition).
participants rated the nationality names on a liking scale.
Participants rated the nationality paired with positive words more favorably than the one paired with negative words.
attitudes can be shaped purely through associative learning, without conscious awareness or reasoning.
What is classical conditioning in the context of attitude change?
Classical conditioning involves learning through association. A neutral stimulus becomes associated with a positive or negative stimulus, leading to an attitude change toward the previously neutral stimulus.
Who demonstrated that attitudes can be formed through classical conditioning?
Staats & Staats (1958) – They showed that pairing nationality names with positive or negative words changed participants’ attitudes toward those nationalities.
What type of attitude change does classical conditioning explain best?
It explains automatic, unconscious changes in attitude based on repeated exposure to associations (e.g., in advertising or media).
why is classical conditioning considered an automatic process in persuasion?
Because it doesn’t require conscious effort or awareness; attitude change occurs simply through exposure to associations.
who proposed operant conditioning first and then in attitudes
skinner (1938) then inkso, 1965
What is operant conditioning in the context of attitude change?
Operant conditioning is a process where behavior is shaped by reinforcement or punishment. Positive reinforcement (e.g., praise, rewards) can encourage the repetition of a behavior, leading to attitude change.
negative- can lead to attitude change
What did Insko (1965) find about operant conditioning and attitudes?
Participants were called by phone and asked questions about a new university tradition called “Aloha Week.”
some participants were positively reinforced (e.g., “good” or “that’s right”) when they expressed positive views about Aloha Week.
Others received no reinforcement or reinforcement for neutral/negative responses.
Those who were positively reinforced for positive opinions later showed more favorable attitudes toward Aloha Week.
Demonstrated that positive reinforcement (praise) can shape attitudes
What did Insko (1965) find about operant conditioning and attitudes?
People developed more positive attitudes when their favorable responses were positively reinforced (e.g., with praise) during a phone interview about “Aloha Week.”
who proposed heuristics
Chaiken 1980/1987
What are heuristics?
Mental shortcuts or “rules of thumb” used to evaluate information quickly without deep thinking.
what is Heuristic Processing (Chaiken, 1987) - attitude change
Attitude change occurs when people rely on simple cues (e.g., source credibility) rather than careful analysis of message content.
Example Heuristics:
“Experts can be trusted”
“If I like someone, I agree with them”
“The majority is usually right”
When are heuristics used?
When motivation or ability to process information is low (e.g., tired, distracted, uninterested).
What did Hovland and Weiss 1951 study show in heuristics
Investigate the role of source credibility in persuasion.
Participants read the same persuasive message from either a credible e.g., a physicist) or non-credible source ( e..g journalist) changed their attitudes towards nuclear submarines and other controversial topics like atomic energy,
Messages from high-credibility sources led to more attitude change, even when the message content was the same.
People used the heuristic “Experts are trustworthy” rather than evaluating the content deeply
what models are in persuasion by depth processing
Communication model
Cognitive response model
What do automatic processing accounts of persuasion focus on?
They focus on unconscious processes that influence attitude change, including heuristics, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning.
What are depth processing accounts of persuasion?
These emphasize conscious, effortful thinking during persuasion, such as in the communication model and cognitive response model.
What is the communication model of persuasion?
A model proposing that persuasion depends on the source, message, and audience (Hovland et al., 1953).
What are key source characteristics in persuasion?
Credibility,
expertise,
trustworthiness,
attractiveness,
likeability,
similarity.
What are important message characteristics in persuasion?
Argument strength, one-sided vs. two-sided, repetition, and use of fear appeals with self-efficacy.
How does the audience affect persuasion?
Characteristics like distraction, intelligence, and self-esteem influence how persuasive a message is.
What is the cognitive response model of persuasion?
Attitude change occurs through generation of issue-relevant thoughts (Greenwald, 1968).
What determines attitude change in the cognitive response model?
The number and direction (favorable/unfavorable) of thoughts in response to a message.
What are the two routes in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)?
Central route (deep processing) and peripheral route (superficial cues) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).
What affects whether central or peripheral route processing occurs?
Motivation (e.g., personal involvement) and ability (e.g., time, intelligence, distraction).
What determines whether someone uses the central or peripheral route in persuasion?
Motivation and ability to process the message.
How does motivation influence the route of persuasion?
Higher motivation increases the likelihood of central route processing.
What increases motivation to process a persuasive message?
Personal involvement and need for cognition.
How does ability influence the route of persuasion?
More ability (e.g., time, intelligence) increases likelihood of central route processing.
What factors affect someone’s ability to process a persuasive message?
Attentional resources, intelligence, time, distraction, repetition, and comprehensibility of the message.
How does repetition affect persuasion processing?
Repetition can enhance comprehension and aid central route processing.
What role does distraction play in persuasion processing routes?
More distraction decreases ability, making peripheral route processing more likely.
