Attitudes and persuasion Flashcards
Define the term ‘attitude’.
an attitute is a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols. a general feeling or evaluation- positive or negative about some person, object or issue.
What are the three proposed components of an attitude? Describe one of your attitudes in terms of these three components.
cognitive- thinking component- beliefs about the object of an attitude
affective-feeling component- positive or negative feelings associated with the object of an attitude
behavioural- acting component- state of readiness to take action, underlying intentions.
List the major functions of attitudes.
- an attitude saves energy as we dont have to figure out from scratch how we should relate to an object or situation or person.
- enables us to maximise out chances at positive experiences and minimise the chances of negative ones
- that the kind of attitude is useful in some way For example, having a negative attitude towards snakes (by believing they are dangerous) is useful if we cannot differentiate between safe and deadly varieties.
What are the basic propositions of cognitive consistency theories?
- that people aim to maintain consistency within their beliefs, people are motivated to change contradictory beliefs so that the belief system as a whole is in harmony.
- two thoughts that are inconsistent becomes bothersome this disharmony is know as dissonance.
Describe Heider’s balance theory. Can you think to recall your own experience might be a ‘real-world’ example of this attitude change model?
people prefer attitudes that are consistent with each other, over those that are inconsistent. A person (P) tries to maintain consistency in attitudes to, and in relationships with, other people (O) and elements of the environment (X). \
If P likes O, O likes X and P likes X, then the triad is bal anced. From P’s point of view, balance theory acts as a divining rod in predicting interpersonal relationships: if P likes the object X, then any compatible other, O, should feel the same way. Likewise, if P already likes O, then O will be expected to evaluate object X in a fashion similar to P. By contrast, if P likes O, O likes X and P dislikes X, then the relationship is unbalanced. The principle of consistency that underlies balance theory means that in unbalanced triads people may feel tense and be motivated to restore balance. Balance is generally restored in a manner requir ing the least effort. So, in the last example, P could decide not to like O or to change his/her opinion about X, depending on which is the easier option.
page 98 for example
How do the following concepts explain attitude formation: (a) mere exposure effect; (b) conditioning; (c) social learning theory; (d) self-perception theory. Provide an example to illustrate your descriptions of each of these processes.
mere exposure- simply experiencing something many times can change how we evaluate it, eg. hearing a song over and over
conditioning- , eg- parents rewarding children for particular things they may be shaping their attitudes through rewards and punishment. Both classical and instrumental conditioning emphasise the role of direct rein forcers in how behaviour is acquired and maintained.
social learning theory- by obverving the actions of others, not through direct rewards and punishment but by watching others eg. Having a successful working mother, for instance, is likely to influence the future career and lifestyle choices of a daughter.
self perception- proposed that people gain knowledge about who they are, and their attitudes, by examining their own actions and asking “why did I do that?” Bems theory suggest though that people act and form attitudes, without much deliberate thinking. eg. you go to netball so conclude you must like it but maybe your more likely going to make friends and be around people.
The text mentions how parents and the media contribute to attitude development. What other influences do you think may contribute to attitude development? Discuss using an example.
culture people in immediate context school society SES
Describe the function and structure of a Likert scale.
scale that evaluates how strongly people agree/disagree with favourable/unfavourable statements about an attitude object.
Describe and note the key advantages and disadvantages of each of the following methods of measuring attitudes: self-report measures; physiological measures; unobtrusive (observational) measures; and the bogus pipeline technique.
self-report measures- advantages- -easy and large samples -large data collection disadvantages oversimplify complex issues -requires extensive psychometric testing and evaluation to ensure reliability and validity
physiological measures
(skin resistance, pupil dialation, heart rate)
advantage
people dont know they are been tested and decrease bias
disadvantage
-sensitive to variables other then peoples attitudes
-provide limited information they can provide intensity but not direction
two people can be totally opposed who feel equally strongly about an issue cannot be distinguished.
observational measures; facial expressions, these are used to convey different emotions, facial muscle movements to underlying attitudes.
unobtrusive measures;
observational approaches that neither intrude on the process being studies nor cause people to behave unnaturally In a museum, the number of prints made by noses or fingers on a display case might show how popular the display was – and the height of the prints might indicate the viewers’ ages!
Bogus pipeline technique
a measument technique that leads people to believe that a ‘lie detector’ can monitor their emotional responses, thus measuring their true attitudes
Participants usually find this deception convincing and are less likely to conceal socially unacceptable attitudes such as racial prejudice and socially undesirable or potentially embarrassing behaviours such as drinking in excess, snorting cocaine and having frequent oral sex
Define ‘priming’ and describe how it has been used to measure attitudes.
activation of accessible categories or schemas in memory that influence how we process new information
What is the implicit association test (IAT)? What is the underlying logic of the IAT? (See ‘Research and Applications 4.2 on page 108 for this information.)
not explicitly asking opinions/attitudes
nonconscious/automatic reveal of attitudes though linking outcome and process
advantage:
less likely to obtain biased results as people often do not realise their attitudes are being assessed
disadvantages
can be sensitive to variables other than attitudes
-also provide limited info ( i.e, can tell us the intensity of an attitude but not the direction)
the inplicit association test (IAT) developed the test to reveal underlying negative inter-ethnic attitudes
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Describe the classic study by LaPierre (1934) and summarise the major findings. Indicate why this study is considered to be a classic.
his studies were were the development of attitude scales, the scales were questionaires that asked people what they thought and felt about issues and how they might act in various situations. this revealed glaring inconsistency between what people do and what they say.
a later study by Allan Wicker concluded that the correlation between attitudes and action only, about 9% of the variability in action is accounted for by attitude.
The link between attitudes and behaviour depends upon a number of factors. Describe how each of these factors affects the attitude-behaviour relationship. Provide examples to illustrate: attitude strength; attitude accessibility; and moderator variables, such as situation and personality variables.
availability heuristic- a cognitive short cut in which the frequency or likelihood of an event is based on how quickly instances or associations come to mind.
strong attitudes are also predictors of behaviour, but also because strong behaviours would be more readily available in the mind.
the more often your are exposed through experience.
the more often you think about an attitude the more likely it is to resurface and influence your behaviour and ease decision making.
Describe Ajzen and Fishbein’s theory of reasoned action. Identify the main components of the theory and explain how they relate to behaviour.
model of the links between attitudes and behaviour. A major feature is the proposition that the best way to predict a behaviour is to ask whether the person intends to do it.
how someones beliefs and intention are critically involved in how they act, and includeds
-Subjective norm- an outcome of what the individual thinks others believe, signimiant others provide a guide about ‘the proper thing to do’
- attitude towards the behaviour- based on the individual belief are evaluated. this is an attitude towards an act (e.g. taking a birth control pill) not towards an object (eg. the pill itself)
behavioural intention- an intentional declaration to act.
-behaviour- the action performed
usually an action will be performed if (1) the persons attitude is favourable and (2) the social norm is supportive. the key is the intention.
Describe how the theory of planned behaviour modified the theory of reasoned action. Illustrate this theory with a flow diagram.
the theory of planned behaviour,
modified the theory of reasoned action. It suggests that predicting a behaviour from an attitude measure is improved if people believe they have control over that behaviour.
-the power of ones will influences this, some things are percieved controllable eg. i can stop smoking if i really want to’ others are less under peoples control.
