Attitudes

Question 1

Attitudes

Answer 1

ALLPORT (1935)
- a mental/neural state of readiness, organised via experience, exerting directive/dynamic influence on individual’s response to all related objects/situations
EAGLY & CHAIKEN (1998)
- a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity w/some degree of favour/disfavour

Question 2

Attitude Measurement

Answer 2

• semantic differential scales (between two qualities)

- Likert scale (1 to 5 agreeance)

Question 3

Psychological Importance of Attitudes

Answer 3

• important aspect of individual psychology as inherently involve evaluation
• the ways people evaluate social world/others has important consequences for their relationships/actions w/others
• attitudes guide decisions so have important implications on the self

Question 4

Attitudes and Behaviour

Answer 4

• attitudes are related to behaviour but not directly; specific attitudes work in combos w/norms/control beliefs/intentions
• companies spend ridiculous money on advertising to change peoples attitudes towards their product
• political parties closely monitor opinion polls to try and gauge peoples attitudes towards them

Question 5

Full Behavioural Story

Answer 5

1. Not all attitudes should be related to behaviour; specific/strong/accessible attitudes should predict better than general/weak ones.
2. Other variables are involved in the attitude-behaviour relationship (ie. theories of reasoned action/planned behaviour).

Question 6

Theories of Reasoned Action/Planned Behaviour

Answer 6

FISHBEING & AJZEN (1975)

- attitude + subjective norm (+ perceived behavioural control) = intention = behaviour

Question 7

Explicit VS Implicit

Answer 7

• exploring moderator/mediators of attitude/behaviour consistency is constant in social psych history
• modern approach focused on distinction between conscious speech VS subconscious association

Question 8

Implicit

Answer 8

• implicit association test (IAT) draws on cognitive theories of associative networks
• the closer 2 concepts are, the stronger the pathway
• association strengthens w/repetition (experience)
• linked concepts are easier to sort through when appearing together/harder opposite
• individual differences in sorting task speeds reveal differences in implicit association

Question 9

Unconscious Thought/Behaviour

Answer 9

• explicit attitude = deliberate (spontaneous) behaviour

- implicit attitude = spontaneous (deliberate) behaviour

Question 10

Persuasion

Answer 10

• early research on what makes persuasive message focused on:
  WHO: COMMUNICATOR (ie. expert > non-expert)
  WHAT: MESSAGE (ie. strong argument > weak)
  TO WHOM: AUDIENCE (ie. age/IQ (individual factors))

Question 11

P: Elaboration Likelihood Model

Answer 11

• low issue involvement = superficial image processing engagement/attitudes swayed by source characteristics
• high issue importance = thought processing engagement/attituded swayed by argument quality
  2 PERSUASION PATHS
  1. 1 central thoughtful = enduring change
  2. 2 relatively thoughtless/peripheral = fleeting change

Question 12

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Answer 12

FESTINGER (1957)

• people generally motivated to perceive belief/attitude/behaviour consistency
• inconsistency awareness between own thoughts/actions = dissonance; motivates attempts of re-alignment achievable via:
  1. changing behaviour until consistent w/attitudes
  2. changing attitudes until consistent w/behaviour

Question 13

Summary

Answer 13

• attitudes are evaluations
• sometimes guide peoples behaviours
• moderators/mediators of behaviour/attitude relation
• different attitudes predict different behaviour
• attitudes can change via persuasion (dependent on audience) or cognitive dissonance