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C8307 Social Psychology > Attitudes > Flashcards

Attitudes Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an attitude?

A

Attitudes are evaluations conveying what we think and feel about an attitude ‘referent’.

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2
Q

What is an attitude reverent?

A

An attitude referent can be:
- An object.
- A person or group.
- An abstract concept.
- A behaviour or activity.

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3
Q

What is the basic structure of the tripartite model of attitudes?

A

Attitudes can be broken down into:
- Cognitive attitudes (thoughts and beliefs).
- Affective attitudes (feelings and emotion).
- Behavioural attitudes (apparent behaviour).

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4
Q

What is an ambivalent attitude?

A

Where people simultaneously hold both positive and negative attitudes towards an attitude referent.

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5
Q

Describe the stability of ambivalent attitudes compared to univalent attitudes.

A
  • Ambivalent attitudes tend to be more unstable than univalent attitudes.
  • People with an ambivalent attitude tend to be easier to persuade than those with univalent attitudes.
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6
Q

List two limitations of the tripartite model.

A
  1. Empirical evidence for the separation of cognitive, affective and behavioural components is mixed.
  2. Other studies suggest that a two component model is more appropriate.
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7
Q

What are the four proposals of how attitudes are formed?

A
  1. Cognitive processes.
  2. Affective processes.
  3. Behavioural processes.
  4. Social processes.
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8
Q

What is a measurement model of attitudes and what does it suggest?

A
  • The tripartite model.
  • Suggests a model of the relationship between the affective, cognitive and behavioural components.
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9
Q

How is an attitude formed through cognitive processes?

A
  • A cognitive learning process is said to occur when people gain information about the attitude referent.
  • Information can be gained through direct experience or indirect experience.
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10
Q

How is an attitude formed through affective processes?

A

Classical conditioning.

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11
Q

How is an attitude formed through behavioural processes?

A

Operant conditioning and self-perception theory.

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12
Q

How is an attitude formed through social processes?

A

There are three main theories:
1. Social learning theory suggests reinforcement of the behaviour of others can lead to attitude formation.
2. The balance theory suggests that people want to hold attitudes that are similar to people they like.
2. Social identity theory suggests that attitudes are formed through conformity to group norms.

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13
Q

What are Katz’s suggested four functions of attitudes?

A
  1. Knowledge – attitudes help us to explain the world.
  2. Utilitarian – attitudes steer behaviour in functional ways.
  3. Value-expressive – attitudes allow us to express values and core aspects of self-concept.
  4. Ego-defence – people adopt attitudes to help them protect themselves from things that can threaten them.
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14
Q

What is one limitation of Katz’s attitude functions?

A

It over-emphasised the individual functions of attitudes.

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15
Q

What is the A-B relation?

A

The assumption that attitudes determine behaviour.

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16
Q

What is a problem with the A-B relation?

A
  • Attitudes towards general entities can be expressed in different ways and at different times.
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17
Q

What is the principle of correspondence?

A
  • The suggestion that for A-B relations to be strong, the measures of attitude and behaviour need to be compatible.
  • For example, attitudes are more strongly related to behaviour when both are measured at the same level of specificity (action, target, context, time).
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18
Q

What about attitude formation can make an attitude strong?

A

Attitudes formed through direct experience are more strongly associated with behaviour than are attitudes which are formed through indirect experience.

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19
Q

What can affect attitude consistency with behaviour?

A

Accessible attitudes are more consistent with behaviour than are less accessible attitudes.

20
Q

What is the relationship between direct/indirect experiences, accessible attitudes and A-B consistency?

A

Direct experience leads to more accessible attitudes which results in greater A-B consistency.

21
Q

What is the relationship between direct/indirect experiences, stable attitudes and A-B consistency?

A

Direct experience leads to more stable attitudes which results in greater A-B consistency.

21
Q

What individual difference impacts A-B relations and how?

A
  • High vs. low self-monitors.
  • A-B consistency has been found to be greater for low self monitors.
22
Q

How do social norms affect A-B relations?

A

People may be unwilling to act on their attitudes when their attitudes are socially undesirable.

22
Q

How do ambivalent/univalent attitudes and personal involvement link to A-B relations?

A
  • Univalent attitudes are less consistent with behaviour than are ambivalent attitudes.
  • Greater personal involvement equals a stronger A-B relationship.
23
Q

What effect do social norms have on attitudes?

A

People may be unwilling to act on their attitudes when their attitudes are socially undesirable.

23
Q

What are the two main reasons of attitude change?

A
  1. Persuasive messages (information given to change attitudes).
  2. Impact of our own attitude-relevant behaviour.
24
Q

What are four categories of theories of attitude change?

A
  1. Cognitive consistency theories.
  2. Automatic processing accounts.
  3. Depth processing models.
  4. Dual processing models.
25
Q

What is the basis of cognitive consistency theories of attitude change?

A

Assumes that:
- People organise their attitudes in ways that maintain consistency.
- When inconsistencies arise people try to restore equilibrium.

26
Q

What three theories are included in cognitive consistency theories of attitude change?

A
  1. Balance theory.
  2. Self-perception theory.
  3. Cognitive disonance theory.
27
Q

Describe balance theory in relation to attitude change.

A
  • Suggests that people are motivated to have consistent attitudes.
  • When unbalanced situations arise people experience discomfort and therefore seek balance by adjusting their attitudes.
28
Q

Describe cognitive dissonance in relation to attitude change.

A
  • Suggests that people can behave in ways that are not consistent with their attitudes.
  • This produces an unpleasant state of arousal that motivates people to change their attitudes.
29
Q

Describe self-perception theory in relation to attitude change.

A
  • Suggests that attitude change is due to people deducing their attitudes through observing their behaviour.
  • Attitude change occurs because people use their recent behaviour (which differs from their earlier attitudes) to infer their current attitudes.
30
Q

What three theories are included in automatic processing accounts of attitude change?

A
  1. Classical conditioning.
  2. Operant conditioning.
  3. Heuristics.
31
Q

When are heuristics used in attitude change?

A

Heuristics tend to be used when people do not have the motivation or ability to carefully think about the information they are given.

32
Q

What two models are included in the depth processing models of attitude change?

A
  1. Communication model.
  2. Cognitive response model.
33
Q

What three factors influence attitude change in the communication model?

A
  1. Source.
  2. Message.
  3. Audience.
34
Q

In the communication model, how can sources differ?

A
  • Credibility.
  • Attractiveness.
35
Q

In the communication model, how can messages differ?

A
  • One sided vs. two sided.
  • Strong vs. weak.
  • Repetition of message.
36
Q

In the communication model, how can the audience differ?

A
  • Level of distraction.
  • Intelligence.
37
Q

Why are source, message and audience said to affect communication?

A

Because of factors such as attention and comprehension.

38
Q

What does the cognitive response model suggest for attitude change?

A

That people relate the message content to their prior knowledge about an attitude referent.

39
Q

How does the cognitive response model mediate attitude change?

A

The number of favourable vs. unfavourable thoughts that are generated.

40
Q

What two models are included in the dual processing models of attitude change?

A
  1. Elaboration likelihood model.
  2. Heuristic-systematic model.
41
Q

What does the elaboration likelihood model suggest for attitude change?

A

It suggests that there are two ‘routes’ to attitude change via persuasive communications. these are the central route and the peripheral route.

42
Q

Describe the central and peripheral route the elaboration likelihood model.

A

The central route:
- Cognitive processing of message.
- Attitudes are relatively enduring and resistant to change, and more predictive of behaviour.

The peripheral route
- None or little cognitive processing of message content.
- Attitudes are relatively temporary and susceptible to change, and less predictive of behaviour.

C8307 Social Psychology (8 decks)

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