Attitudes

Question 1

• Affect (feelings)- how much you like and dislike
• Behavior (intentions/tendencies)- behavioral tendency to approach or avoid
• Cognition (beliefs)- thoughts that reinforce people’s feelings

Answer 1

ABCs of attitudes

Question 2

we follow through in strongly held, consistent attitudes

Answer 2

Attitude Strength

Question 3

attitudes that aren’t purposefully hidden and/or not fully recognized; measure immediate evaluative reactions that may be unconscious to the person

Answer 3

implicit attitudes

Question 4

attitudes that are at the conscious level, are deliberately formed and are easy to self-report

Answer 4

explicit attitudes

Question 5

• Measure at the same level of specificity
• Action, target, context
• Use “multiple act criterion”
• Measure across many different attitudes and behaviors

Answer 5

How to address problems with attitude measurement

Question 6

• Knowledge Function:
• Identity Function:
• Behavioral Function:

Answer 6

Functions of Attitudes

Question 7

• Attitudes provide a schema we use to integrate existing and new information
• Evaluate different but related objects

Answer 7

knowledge function

Question 8

• Help you express who you are
• Convey your values or self-concept

Answer 8

Identity Function

Question 9

• Can guide your behavior
• Achieve goals, avoid negative outcomes

Answer 9

Behavioral Function

Question 10

• is primarily a theory of attitude formation

Bem states:

Theory states that people infer their attitudes from observing their behavior and the context in which the behavior occurred

• Occurs when attitude is weak and vague

Answer 10

self perception theory

Question 11

We are happy as long as there is equilibrium…

…but are uncomfortable with imbalance

Answer 11

Heider’s Balance Theory

Question 12

unpleasant state of arousal when we are unbalanced (inconsistency between attitudes/beliefs and behaviors) we are motivated to reduce dissonance and restore consistency

• primarily a theory of attitude change

Answer 12

Cognitive Dissonance

Question 13

reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one’s behavior when the external justification is insufficient

Answer 13

Insufficient Justification

Question 14

the phenomenon where we lose intrinsic motivation to complete an activity that we used to enjoy for itself after a reward, such as a prize or money, is given to us for completing the activity

Answer 14

Overjustification

Question 15

numerical scale used to assess people’s attitudes with labeled anchors on the extremes

Answer 15

Likert Scale

Question 16

state of psychological dissonance that often occurs after making an important decision

occurs when:
- Important decisions

• Permanent decisions
• Equally attractive alternatives
• Less similar alternatives

Answer 16

Post-Decisional Dissonance

Question 17

After making a choice between 2 objects, people reevaluate their chosen item more positively and their rejected item more negatively

Answer 17

Spreading of alternatives

Question 18

tendency to justify devoting significant money, time, or effort to a disappointing or unpleasant experience, such as:

• betting/gambling
• running a marathon
• club/orgs hazing

Answer 18

Effort Justification

Question 19

• The cognitive dissonance theory accounts for attitude changes when people’s behaviors are inconsistent with their original attitudes which are clear and important to them;
• the self-perception theory is used when those original attitudes are relatively ambiguous and less important.

Answer 19

Self-perception vs. dissonance

Question 20

the extent to which an attitude object is thought about, reflected in the amount of time devoted to this thinking over an extended period

Answer 20

Attitude centrality

Question 21

people are motivated to rationalize and justify instances of inequality in order to preserve and defend the legitimacy of the system

Answer 21

System justification theory

Question 22

people feel threatened by their own death and therefore adopt worldviews that allow them to find meaning and worth in their lives

Answer 22

terror management theory

Question 23

measures the strength of associations between concepts and evaluations or stereotypes to reveal an individual’s hidden or subconscious biases

Answer 23

Implicit association test

Question 24

• When attention is focused on the attitude
• When the attitude is formed by active experience
• When the attitude is personally relevant
• When the cognitive and affective components of attitude match
• When appropriate measures are used
• When we assess a “true” attitude rather than social desirability

Answer 24

When do attitudes predict behavior?