Attitudes Flashcards
Attitude?
an evaluation of a person, thing, or idea (an attitude object)
Attitudes vary in valence? (positive/negative dimension)
- Indifferent (whatever about it!)
- Positively
- Negatively
- Ambivalent (multiphased answer, the good does not override the bad or the other way)
Different from a belief not “I feel positive because xyc”
Attitudes vary in consciousness? (3)
Explicit: Consciously formed and aware of, can be reported
Implicit: Not aware/conscious of, involuntarily formed, can be automatically activated and guide behavior
Dual attitudes: When implicit and explicit attitudes towards an attitude object are inconsistent
The Tripartite Model of Attitudes (Rosenberg & Hovland, 1960)
(The ABC!)?
Affective:
Feelings and Emotions about the attitude object “Working out makes me feel happy”
Behavioural:
Past and Future Activity about the attitude object “I work out four times a week”
Cognitive:
Thoughts and Believes about the attitude object “ Working out is healthy”
Attitude = Overall Evaluation
Attitudes can come from our individual experiences (3)?
- Association, e.g. classical conditioning (Pavlov’s dog’s)
- Repeated Contact, e.g. mere exposure effect
- Reinforcement, e.g. operant conditioning (rewards & punishments)
Context can influence our attitudes (e.g., media, education, culture)? Example, McDonalds
- Directly saying that McDonalds is bad, education about the food pyramid -> explicit messages
- Being fit = good, McDonalds is not how you get fit -> implicit messages
Attitudes as inheritable?
Twin study:
How much genetic factors explain similarity in attitudes (accounting for shared environmental factors)
“26 out of 30 individual attitude items yielded significant genetic
effects…these genetic effects emerged across a wide variety of attitude
topics and domains, from attitudes as diverse as support for the death
penalty to enjoyment of roller coaster rides”
Do attitudes align with behavior? + Issue of measurement? + Which principle?
Historically, low attitude-behavior consistency in research
Not mesuring in the right way:
Attitude towards a large topic not as predictive as attitude towards a specific behavior. Attitudes about Climate change & recycling behaviour no good, it should be attitudes about recycling and recycling behaviour
Principle of compatibility:
The strength of the attitude-behavior relationship will only be high if attitudes and behaviors are measured at the same level of specificity
Reasoned Action Theory (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)?
Background factors…
Individual: Personality, mood, emotions, etc.
Social: Education, age, gender, etc.
Information: Knowledge, media
Attitude toward the behavior + Perceived norm + Perceived behavioural control = intention = actual behavior control -> Behaviour
Balance Theory?
People prefer elements within a cognitive
system to be internally consistent with one
another (i.e., balanced).
Balanced systems are assumed to be more
stable and psychologically pleasant than
imbalanced systems
Triangle example of balance theory?
I like coffee
My friend likes coffee
I like my friend
(+)(+)(+) = +
I dislike Drake
My friend dislikes Drake
I like my friend
(+)(-)(-) = +
Want the summation to be positive
Example of imbalance within the balance theory?
I dislike Taylor Swift
My friend likes Taylor Swift
I like my friend
(+)(+)(-) = -
I dislike Taylor Swift
My classmate dislikes Taylor Swift
I dislike my classmate
(-)(-)(-) = -
Cognitive Dissonance?
An unpleasant psychological state resulting
from inconsistency between two or more elements in a cognitive system
We are motivated to reduce dissonance
Reduces dissonance by? Example, smoking
Changing the behavior (Stop smoking)
Changing the belief (Nah, smoking isn’t that bad)
Adding new conditions (I’m smoking because I’m stressed)
Festinger & Carlsmith’s (1959) Cognitive Dissonance Study - Insufficient Justification?
When extrinsic motivation is low (getting paid little to lie), motivated to reduce dissonance by finding an intrinsic motivation for behavior (justify the behavior -> believing the lie)
