Attitudes Flashcards
attitudes
- eval of person, object, idea
- can be + or -
- comprised of A-B-C
attitude origins: affectively based attitude
based primarily on people’s emotions and feelings about attitude object
attitude origins: behaviourally based attitude
based primarily on observations of how one behaves toward attitude object
attitude origins: cognitively based attitude
based primarily on person’s beliefs about properties of an attitude object
explicit attitude
- we consciously endorse and easily report
- likely rooted in recent experiences
implicit attitude
- involuntary, uncontrollable, at times unconscious
- tend to be rooted in long term experiences
- the IAT will be back
theory of planned B
- attitude does not inherently predict B
- maintains that the best predictor of people’s deliberate B is their intention
deliberate B
- people think intently about them
- can be predicted quite well
predictors of intention
- attitudes towards specific B
- perception of social norms regarding that B
- perceived behavioural control regarding the B
- refer to schema in notes, section on attitudes
changing attitudes
- persuasion vs compliance
- persuasive communication
- Yale attitde change approach
persuasion vs compliance
persuasion
- involves change of attitude
compliance
- change of B, even for a short period of time
persuasive communication
communication advocating a particular side of an issue
Yale attitude change approach
study of conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages
effective communication
- source of communication
- credibility
- perceived attractiveness (halo effect) - nature of communication (we don’t like it when we know someone is trying to change our opinion)
- intentionality
- two-sided perspective
- recency/primacy effect - nature of the audience
- distractedness/receptiveness
- cultural differences
elaboration likelihood model
- central route
- peripheral route
central route
- when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication
- relevant to main goal
peripheral route
- when people do not pay attention to the arguments but are instead swayed by characteristics
- not relevant to main goal
fear-arousing communication
- persuasive message that attempts to change attitudes by arousing their fears
- moderate level of fear and recommendations to enable change is MOST effective way to use fear-arousing communication
does advertising work?
- most think that advertising works on everybody but themselves
- it works; when a product is advertised, sales increase
- people react more favourably to ads that match their attitude type
which ads work best?
for cognitively based attitudes
- rational arguments and personal relevance = BEST
for effectively based attitudes
- emotion = BEST
importance of cognitively/affectively based varies
cultural differences: individualistic cultures
- tend to favour advertising that stresses independence
- “It’s easy when you have the right shoes”
cultural differences: collectivist cultures
- tend to favour advertising that stresses interdependence
- “The right shoes for your family”
subliminal messages
- words/pictures used to persuade that are not consciously perceived
- no evidence that these have effect on consumer’s B
- research shows that advertisements = more powerful when we consciously perceive them
attitude inoculation
- process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes
- done by exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position
- allows people to develop their own counterarguments and thus strengthen their attitude
product placement
- persuasion method
- advertisers place their product into the script of a movie/shows
- forewarning people that someone is about to try to change that attitude = good strategy against attitude change
cognitive dissonance
- feelings of discomfort caused by realization that one’s B = inconsistent with one’s attitudes
- holds 2 conflicting attitudes
- most often occurs whenever we do something that makes us feel unintelligent/immoral
getting rid of cognitive dissonance
- change the attitude
- change the B
- change the cognition
- explain inconsistency
- reduce importance of inconsistency
- powerpoint, slide 35
post-decision dissonance
chooser’s remorse
- dissonance inevitably aroused after a person makes a decision
typically reduced by enhancing attractiveness of chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives
- the more permanent and less revocable the mission, greater the need to reduce dissonance
behaving immorally
- when presented w/ moral dilemma, decision made will evoke dissonance and result in more extreme attitudes
- i.e. cheating on a test
1. cheaters grow more lenient towards cheating
2. resisters develop stricter attitudes toward cheating
justification of effort
- tendency for individuals to increase liking for something they have worked hard to attain
counter attitudinal B
- sometimes we have an opinion countering to our private belief/attitude
- look toward external sources to justify
- if none found, we must look inward
external justification
- person’s reason/explanation for dissonant B that resides outside the individual
- i.e. to receive a large reward
internal justification
- reduction of dissonance by changing something about onself
- i.e. one’s attitudes or B
Festinger and Carlsmith
- participants were paid 20$ or 1$ to lie to a fellow student
- those who had insufficient external justification changed their attitudes to make themselves feel like they were telling the truth
using counter-attitudinal advocacy to tackle social problems
- in several studies, participants generated counter-attitudinal arguments for a social causes they did originally not support
- hypocrisy created resulted in changes in positive behavioural changes
insufficient punishment
- dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity/object
- usually resulting in the individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object
the aftermath of bad deeds
- when we hurt someone, we come to dislike or hate that person as a way to justify our cruelty
- i.e. dehumanizing victims of war
hypocrisy paradigm
- sometimes people are not aware that they are behaving in a manner that is inconsistent with their stated minds
- bring this attention through hypocrisy induction
- dissonance aroused and this can lead to attitude and B change
self-affirmation theory
- find relief through self-affirmation when typical strategies to reduce dissonance
- affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat
culture and self-affirmation
- type of culture (ind vs col) can impact
- independent self-affirmation less need for dissonance reduction among Euro-Canadians
- interdependent self-affirmation have decreased the need for dissonance reduction among East Asians
