Attitudes Flashcards
Attitude: Social Psych Definition
A learned response, directed at specific objects, which is relatively enduring, and influences behaviors in a generally motivated way
- As psychologists, we are concerned with behavior, and the theory is that if we can manipulate attitudes, we can manipulate behavior
Directed at specific objects, evaluative (like/dislike)
Relatively enduring–longer than emotional reactions
Influence subsequent behaviors
Function in a generally motivated way, across all aspects of life
Thoughts, behaviors, and social circles
e.g., attitude about gun control can influence your choice of friends and range of activities
Lapiere “Attitudes Versus Actions” (1934)
The study was seminal in establishing the gap between attitudes and behaviors
LaPiere spent two years traveling the United States by car with a couple of Chinese ethnicity.
During that time they visited 251 hotels and restaurants and were turned away only once.
At the conclusion of their travels LaPiere mailed a survey to all of the businesses they visited with the question, “Will you accept members of the Chinese race in your establishment?” The available responses were “Yes”, “No”, and “Depends upon the circumstances”.
Of the 128 that responded 92% answered No.
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Kraus (1995)
Cases find evidence of a connection between attitude and subsequent behavior
For many years, psychological community was convinced that attitudes do not predict behavior, however this is not shown to be the case, specifically when considering context
A meta-analysis of behaviors and attitudes
r = .38 correlation
Attitudes towards a minority group and behaviors towards this group
r = .24
Correlation between attitudes towards voting and subsequent behaviors
r = .58
Learning attitudes
Classical conditioning
Instrumental/operant conditioning
Social learning/modeling
Genetics
• Even towards food (garlic) and drink (coffee)
Factors That Influence Predictive Value of Attitudes
- Level of specificity
- Accessibility – if we’ve thought about a topic/idea more, it’s more predictive of our behavior
- Direct experience –If attitude is formed via direct experiences, the attitude is stronger
Persuasion, general
Yale Communication Model, Carl Hovland
[Initial findings still applicable today, but qualified by subject and context]
Who –communicator
What–the message
Who–the audience
Means–medium/channel
Attitude Change
1960’s-70’s
Cognitive response framework
• Persuasion dependent on thought process of recipient
More recent
Thought confidence/attitude certainty
• If the individual has increased certainty about the attitude, it will be more difficult to change
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
Petty and Cacioppo
The model aims to explain different ways of processing stimuli, why they are used, and their outcomes on attitude change.
The ELM proposes two major routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route.
The likelihood of elaboration will be determined by an individual’s motivation and ability to evaluate the argument being presented.
Central Route
Under the central route, persuasion will likely result from a person’s careful and thoughtful consideration of the true merits of the information presented in support of an advocacy.
The central route involves a high level of message elaboration in which a great amount of cognition about the arguments are generated by the individual receiving the message.
The resulting attitude change will be relatively enduring, resistant, and predictive of behavior.
Peripheral Route
Under the peripheral route, persuasion results from a person’s association with positive or negative cues in the stimulus or making a simple inference about the merits of the advocated position.
The cues received by the individual under the peripheral route are generally unrelated to the logical quality of the stimulus.
These cues will involve factors such as the credibility or attractiveness of the sources of the message, or the production quality of the message.
Encouraging central route processing
Personal differences
o Those who have need for high cognition
o Those who have low need for closure
Relying on central route makes us more aware of alternatives, therefore, it does not necessarily generate closure
Personal relevance/involvement
Multiple source effect
o If multiple sources state the same thing
Lower number of evaluators is correlated with increased individual performance
Surprising sources
o If we don’t expect it, we think about it more when it is encountered
Persuasion: Motivational Factors
Fewer distractions
*Too many things, we lose focus
Complexity
- without expertise–peripheral
- with expertise–central
Repetition
o Repeating key points allows us to better evaluate the situation, thereby increasing chance of attitude change
*Mere exposure effect (this relationship is bidirectional
Medium of the message
o Written message = increased use of central route
• Allows us to review the message
o Face-to-face = allows for tailored message + visual perceptions are strong triggers for memory
Recipient orientation
• Matching target’s views, increases central route processes
o Ex) if talking to scientists, use data, statistics
o Ex) if target is religious, cite religious texts
An important exception:
o If arguments are weak, may be better to mismatch message with target orientation
Lavine et al., 1999
Importance of tailoring message to target audience
Attitudes → intentions → behaviors
Targeted right-wing authoritarianism during election
“authoritarian”
*high level of adherence to conventional values, *aggressive towards out group
*submissive to authority figures
[sensitive to threat]
Experiment: high v low authoritarians
Subjects received a reward-related (positive benefits of voting) or threat-related message (the negative consequences of failing to vote) recommending that they vote in the election.
Subjects who received a threat-related message (discussing the consequences of failing to vote), were more likely to vote than those who had received a reward-related message (positive benefits of voting)
Most influential:
Low + Reward
High + Threat
PSAs & Marijuana use & Sensation seeking
Kids most likely to experiment first likely to be sensation seekers
PSA’s targeted high sensation seeking audience during particular TV programs
Tracked representative samples before, during, after – effective in target audience only
Energy Conservation in Kansas
To promote energy conservation in areas where people do not believe in climate change, focus on monetary benefit of new policy
Mismatching strategy to functional basis of attitudes may be best if only available arguments are weak.
