Behaviour and Attitudes Flashcards
Define ‘attitude’
A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour
In simple terms, attitudes are basically…
evaluations and opinions
5 functions attitudes provide
1) Knowledge
2) Utilitarian
3) Value expressive
4) Social adjustment
5) Ego-defensive
Knowledge function of attitude
We store our evaluations and attitudes in memory to manage and simplify information processing
Utilitarian function of attitude
Attitudes guide our behaviour towards goals and away from aversive events.
Ex; a positive attitude about academic success will lead you to work harder
Value expressive function of attitude
Our attitudes help us express and communicate our values.
Ex; social movements
Social adjustment function of attitude
We are motivated to hold attitudes that are approved by others.
This can lead to pluralistic influence/ignorance: overestimating the attitudes of others or misreading them in general
Ego-defensive function of attitude
Our attitudes protect our self-esteem or justify our actions that make us feel guilty
List and describe the ‘ABCs’
of attitude
Affect - emotional reaction
Behaviour - approach or avoid an attitude object
Cognitive - stored memories and beliefs about an attitude object
Corey’s finding on attitude-behavioural relationship
He found that cheating did not predict cheating behaviour
Wicker’s finding on attitude-behavioural relationship
Attitudes explained less than 3% of the variance in behaviour according to his meta-analysis
Specificity matching
An attitude will predict behaviour if you match them in terms of: action, target, context, and time.
What are some of the reasons underlying the attitude-behaviour problem
- Attitudes sometimes conflict with powerful determinants of behaviour
- Attitudes can be inconsistent
- Introspecting about attitudes can interfere
Theory of reasoned action flow diagram
Attitudes and subjective norms work together to predict intentions and intentions predict behaviour
Theory of planned behaviour
Refined model of the theory of reasoned action. Added perceived behavioural control as another key predictor of intentions.
Intentions
Whether a person believes that they will engage in a specific behaviour
Attitudes are not the only predictor of intentions, what are the other two predictors?
Subjective norms and perceived behavioural control
3 predictors of strong attitude-behaviour relationships
- Short time interval between measures of attitude and behaviour
- When attitudes are based on direct experience (attitudes become more accessible, enduring, and likely to guide behaviour)
- Being self-aware (promotes consistency between words and deeds)
4 key characteristics of attitude strength
- Persistant
- Resistant
- Influence information processing and judgements
- More likely to influence and predict behaviour
4 key characteristics that determine attitude strength
- Have higher accessibility
- We know more about them
- They are extreme
- They lack ambivalence (uncertainty)
High accessibility
As soon as we see the attitude object, our attitude will become automatically activated
Greater knowledge
Number of attitude relevant thoughts and experiences that come to mind when we think of an attitude object
Extremity
Extremly negative or positive attitude about something.
Ambivalence
Attitudes that are neutral or conflicting.
When does behaviour influence attitudes?
Role-playing Gender roles When saying becomes believing Foot-in-the-door phenomenon Low-ball technique Door-in-the-face technique Immoral and moral acts
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Low-ball technique
A tactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the request ups the ante
Door-in-the-face technique
A strategy for gaining concession. After someone first turns down a large request the same requester counter-offers with a more reasonable request
Cognitive dissonance
Tension that is caused when our cognitions conflict with one another, or when our attitudes conflict with our behaviour
5 types of dissonance effects
- Decision justification
- Effort justification
- Induced compliance and attitude change
- Induced compliance and extinguishing undesired behaviour
- Belief disconfirmation
- Decision justification
When you are presented with two options that you have equally positive feelings about. Choosing one over the other might cause a state of dissonance.
This dissonance is reduced by justifying the reasons why you chose one and listing all the negative reasons about the other
- Effort justification
We come to like what we suffer for. Justifying the time, effort, or money that has been devoted to something that has turned out to be unpleasant or disappointing
4 conditions for dissonance arousal
- Aversive consequences
- Personal responsibility
- Feel arousal and label it as negative
- Attribute arousal to inconsistency between attitudes and behaviour
5 ways to reduce dissonance
- Change cognition
- Change behaviour
- Add other cognitive elements (bolstering)
- Reduce importance of elements (trivialization)
- Reduced perceived choice
Self-affirmation is another way to…
reduce dissonance by affirming another aspect of the self
