Ch. 7 Attitudes and Attitude Change

Question 1

Attitudes

Answer 1

ATTITUDES – Evaluations of people, objects, and ideas.

• Attitudes are important because they often determine what we do.
• Attitudes are partially HEREDITARY, with studies showing IDENTICAL TWINS separated at birth to have more similar attitudes than fraternal twins under the same circumstances.
  
  • And it’s not that there is an ‘Attitude’ gene, but rather attitudes are likely partly the result of TEMPERAMENT and PERSONALITY which are directly related to our genes.

THREE COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE: Cognitive (thought), Affective (emotion), and Behavioral (behavior).

• COGNITIVELY-BASED ATTITUDES – An attitude based primarily on people’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object.
  
  • Analyzes FACTS – allows us to classify the pluses and minuses of an object so that we can quickly determine whether we want to have anything to do with it.
• AFFECTIVELY-BASED ATTITUDES – An attitude based more on people’s feelings, values, and morals than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object.
  
  • Do you like it or not? Does it make you feel good or not? Does it feel ‘right’ or not?
  • Often learned as children through:
    
    • ​CLASSICAL CONDITIONING – Learning by ASSOCIATION.
    • OPERANT CONDITIONING – Learning through REWARD and PUNISHMENT
• BEHAVIORALLY-BASED ATTITUDES – An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an object.
  
  • Recall DARYL BEM (1972) SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY, in ambiguous or uncertain circumstances people don’t know how they feel until they see how they behave.
    
    • Ex: You asked a friend how much she likes to exercise. If she replies, “Well, I guess I like it, because I always seem to be going for a run.”, then she is using a BEHAVIORALLY-BASED ATTITUDE.

Question 2

When Attitudes Predict Behavior

Answer 2

When do attitudes actually predict behavior?

• Attitudes predict behavior ONLY under certain circumstances that are largely dependent upon whether the behavior we’re trying to predict is SPONTANEOUS or PLANNED.
  
  • Ex: in the 1930s, RICHARD LaPIERE embarked on a cross-country sightseeing trip with a young Chinese couple. Prejudice against Asians was common in the United States at this time, so at each hotel, and restaurant they entered, LaPiere worried that his friends would be refused service. To his surprise, of the 251 establishments he and his friends visited, only one refused to serve them = BEHAVIOR.
  • After his trip, he wrote a letter to each of the 251 establishments he and his friends had visited, asking if it would serve a Chinese visitor. Of the many replies, only one said it would serve them = ATTITUDE.
    
    • Clearly, the attitude was NOT a predictor of the behavior. Why?

EXPLICIT ATTITUDES – Attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report. They are what we think of as our attitude when someone asks us a question like “What is your opinion on affirmative action?”

IMPLICIT ATTITUDES – Attitudes that exist outside of conscious awareness.

• These are a little trickier. They have to do with unconscious beliefs and value systems that are often acted upon without us even being aware we hold such attitudes.
• Ex: Consider Robert, a white college student who genuinely believes that all races are equal and abhors the very idea of any kind of racial bias. This is Robert’s EXPLICIT ATTITUDE. However, Robert has grown up in a culture in which there are many negative stereotypes about minority groups, and it is possible that some of these negative ideas have seeped into him outside of his awareness. When he is around African Americans, for example, perhaps some negative feelings are triggered automatically. If so, he has a negative IMPLICIT ATTITUDE. And his behavior around them could be affected as a result.
• Evidence shows that:
  
  • IMPLICIT ATTITUDES are rooted more in people’s childhood experiences, whereas
  • EXPLICIT ATTITUDES are rooted more in their recent experiences.

So when do Attitudes PREDICT Behavior?

PREDICTING SPONTANEOUS BEHAVIORS – Attitudes will predict spontaneous behaviors only when they are highly ACCESSIBLE to people

• ATTITUDE ACCESSIBILITY – The strength of the association between an attitude object and a person’s evaluation of that object, measured by the speed with which people can report how they feel about the object.
  
  • When ACCESSIBILITY is HIGH, your attitude comes to mind IMMEDIATELY whenever you see or think about the attitude object.
  • When ACCESSIBILITY is LOW, your attitude comes to mind more SLOWLY.
• So HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE ATTITUDES will be more likely to predict spontaneous behaviors because people are more likely to be thinking about their attitude when they are called on to act.
  
  • Ex: When LaPiere and his Chinese friends entered a restaurant, the manager did not have a lot of time to reflect on whether to serve them; he or she had to make a snap decision.
• But what makes attitudes accessible in the first place? One important determinant is the DEGREE OF EXPERIENCE people have behaving with the attitude object.
  
  • The more DIRECT EXPERIENCE people have with an attitude object, the more accessible their attitude will be, and the more accessible it is, the more likely their spontaneous behavior will be consistent with that attitude.

PREDICTING DELIBERATIVE (PLANNED) BEHAVIORS – Some decisions and behaviors are planned and thus less spontaneous, so we might take our time and deliberate.

• Under these conditions, the accessibility of our attitude is less important. Given enough time to think, even inaccessible attitudes can be conjured up and influence the choice we make.
• THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR – when people have time to contemplate how they are going to behave, the best predictor of their behavior is their INTENTION (Not their attitudes), which is determined by three things:
  
  1. ATTITUDES TOWARD THE SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR – the more specific the attitude toward the behavior in question, the better that attitude can predict the behavior.
     
     • Ex: Asking someone about the importance of voting (a general attitude) will be LESS PREDICTIVE of whether they vote or not than if you asked about the importance of voting in the next Mayoral election this coming Tuesday (a Specific Attitude).
  2. ​SUBJECTIVE NORMS – people’s beliefs about how others they care about will view the behavior in question.
     
     • ​This influences your INTENTIONS (which may or may not coincide with your attitudes) because you want to behave in a way that conforms to the standards of those you care about in order to avoid disappointing them.​
  3. ​ PERCEIVED BEHAVIORAL CONTROL – people’s intentions are influenced by the ease with which they believe they can perform the behavior.
     
     • If people think it is difficult to perform a behavior, they will not form a strong intention to do so.

Question 3

Yale Attitude Change Approach

Answer 3

PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION – A message advocating a particular side of an issue.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY – recall that this is when people experience DISSONANCE when they do something that threatens their image of themselves as decent, kind, and honest—particularly if there is no way they can explain away this behavior as due to external circumstances.

• So, to get an INDIVIDUAL to change their behavior (Ex: Stop smoking), get them to give a speech against that practice, but be sure NOT to give them any EXTERNAL JUSTIFICATION for doing so (like they are doing you a favor or getting paid for it). They will then seek INTERNAL JUSTIFICATION for the act, and one way that could unfold is by them changing their behavior to conform to the voluntary speech that they gave (i.e. stopping smoking).
• To get the MASSES to change their behavior, CARL HOVLAND came up with early Research at Yale referred to as the YALE ATTITUDE CHANGE APPROACH. This showed that there are THREE important factors that contribute to attitude change:
  
  • WHO: The Source of the Communication:
    
    • Credible speakers (e.g., those with obvious expertise) persuade people more than speakers lacking in credibility
    • Attractive speakers (whether due to physical or personality attributes) persuade people more than unattractive speakers do
    • People sometimes remember a message longer than they do information about the message source. So, information from a low-credibility source sometimes becomes more persuasive with the passage of time, a phenomenon referred to as the SLEEPER EFFECT.
  • What: The Nature of the Communication:
    
    • People are more persuaded by messages that do not seem to be designed to influence them.
    • It is generally better to present a two-sided communication (one that presents arguments for and against your position) than a one-sided communication (one that presents only arguments favoring your position), especially when you are sure to refute the arguments on the other side of the issue.
    • In terms of order effects, if speeches are to be given back to back and there will be a delay before people have to make up their minds, there tends to be a PRIMACY EFFECT: the first speech is usually more persuasive. However, if there is a delay between the speeches and people will make up their minds right after the second one, there is likely to be a RECENCY EFFECT: it is then better to give the last speech.
  • To Whom: The Nature of the Audience:
    
    • An audience that is distracted during the persuasive communication will often be persuaded more than one that is not distracted.
    • Some individual differences predict a greater likelihood of persuadability, including having lower intelligence, being of moderate (versus high or low) self-esteem, and being between the impressionable ages of 18-25.
    • Cultural differences – For American or other “Western” audiences, personal preferences are often central to effective messages (“I like it because it makes me feel good.”) In other cultures that prioritize contextually appropriate behavior, (“I like it because others I am connected to like it”)
  • The problem with this Approach is that there was TOO MUCH information and it was difficult to discern what the BEST approach to take was with any given audience.

Question 4

Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion

Answer 4

ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL OF PERSUASION – A model explaining two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change: CENTRALLY and PERIPHERALLY.

CENTRAL ROUTE TO PERSUASION – The case in which people have both the ability and the motivation to elaborate on a persuasive communication, listening carefully to and thinking about the arguments presented.

• If the argument is strong (and only if) the persuasion will be strong and long-lasting.
• In general, People who base their attitudes on a careful analysis of the arguments will be more likely to:
  
  • maintain this attitude over time
  • behave consistently with this attitude
  • be more resistant to counterpersuasion than people who base their attitudes on peripheral cues

PERIPHERAL ROUTE TO PERSUASION – The case in which people do not elaborate on the arguments in a persuasive communication but are instead swayed by more superficial cues.

• Here, people will not be swayed by the logic of the arguments, because they are not paying close attention to what the communicator says. Instead, they are persuaded by surface characteristics – that it is delivered by an expert, celebrity, or attractive communicator.

PERSONAL RELEVANCE – The more personally relevant an issue is, the more willing people are to pay attention to the arguments in a speech, and therefore the more likely they are to take the CENTRAL ROUTE TO PERSUASION.

• HIGH PERSONAL RELEVANCE – A good argument rules over other considerations – even if the argument was from someone who lacked prestige. In other words, persuasion took place via the central route.
• LOW PERSONAL RELEVANCE – A good argument doesn’t matter because no one is listening. Instead, they’re only interested in the PRESTIGE, CELEBRITY, or ATTRACTIVENESS of the speaker. Here, the persuasion took a peripheral route.

FEAR-AROUSING COMMUNICATION – Persuasive message that attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears.

• This is effective if:
  
  • The fear is NOT overwhelming (aka. Moderate)
    
    • If people are terribly frightened, they will become defensive, deny the importance of the threat, and be unable to think rationally about the issue.
  • The arousal of fear is immediately followed by suggested steps to reduce that fear.
    
    • As long as these two elements are implemented, then the listener is more likely to be motivated to analyze the message carefully and change their attitudes via the central route.
• SUMMARY: Try to create enough fear to motivate people to pay attention to your arguments, but not so much fear that people will tune out what you say. And make sure to include some specific recommendations to reduce the fear.

Question 5

Heuristic–Systematic Model of Persuasion

Answer 5

HEURISTIC-SYSTEMATIC MODEL OF PERSUASION – An explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change:

1. SYSTEMATICALLY PROCESSING the merits of the arguments or using
2. HEURISTICS (MENTAL SHORTCUTS)
   
   • When people take the PERIPHERAL ROUTE to persuasion, they often use heuristics.
   • These Emotional Heuristics (or Emotional Shortcuts) can help us determine our attitudes.
     
     • Ex: When trying to decide what our attitude is about something, we often rely on the “How do I feel about it?” heuristic. If we feel good, we must have a positive attitude; if we feel bad, it’s thumbs down.
   • The problem with the “How do I feel about it?” heuristic is that we can make mistakes about what is causing our mood, misattributing feelings created by one source (our favorite song) to another (the couch in the furniture store we might buy).
     
     • Retailers count on this misattribution to sell their goods. That’s why they decorate and play music and burn incense. They want your good feelings about these things to spill over to the goods they’re selling.
   • Emotions can also influence the way that people think about persuasive messages.
     
     • Ex: When we’re in a good mood, we tend to relax a bit, comfortable in the assumption that the world is a safe place, which can lead us to be content with heuristic cues like the apparent expertise of a source. A bad mood, however, often puts us on alert, sharpening our skepticism and leading us to pay more attention to message quality.
     • Although we may be persuaded by a weak message from an attractive source when we’re happy, it usually takes a strong message to sway us when we’re sad.

Question 6

Emotions and Attitude Types

Answer 6

If an attitude is COGNITIVELY BASED, your best bet is to try to change it with RATIONAL ARGUMENTS.

• UTILITARIAN PRODUCTS – People’s attitudes toward such products tend to be formed after an appraisal of the functional aspects of the products and thus are cognitively based.
  
  • Ex: air conditioners and wrenches.

If an attitude is AFFECTIVELY BASED, you’re better off trying to change it with EMOTIONAL APPEALS.

• SOCIAL IDENTITY PRODUCTS – People’s attitudes toward these types of products tend to reflect a concern with how they appear to others and are therefore more affectively based.
  
  • Ex: perfume and greeting cards.
• IN GENERAL: Potential customers react most favorably to advertisements that matched the type of attitude they had toward the item for sale.

Question 7

Attitude Change and the Body

Answer 7

BODY AND ATTITUDE CHANGE – Our physical environment and even our body posture play surprising roles in the process of attitude change.

• Ex: In one study, researchers had participants wear headphones while they listened to some person give some arguments – either strong or weak. Some participants were asked to nod their head up and down as if they were signifying “YES” and others were asked to shake their head side-to-side as if they were signifying “NO”. The participants were told that the head shaking was to test the stability of these new headphones on the head.
  
  • It turned out that:
    
    • When the arguments in the editorial were strong,
      
      • people who nodded their heads agreed with them more than did people who shook their heads, because the head-nodders had more confidence in the strong arguments that they heard
    • But when the arguments were weak,
      
      • head nodding had the opposite effect. It gave people more confidence that the arguments they heard were, in fact, weak and unconvincing, making them less convinced than people who shook their heads from side to side
• The moral? What people are doing when you try to persuade them makes a difference.

Question 8

Advertising

Answer 8

ADVERTISING – is a direct application of social psychology.

• Most people think it works on everyone but themselves. Actually, it works on everybody.
• The trick to effective advertising is to make your product PERSONALLY RELEVANT.

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES – Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence judgments, attitudes, and behaviors.

• Do NOT work in advertising, though they have been shown to work in the lab under very specific conditions, but even there, they’ve never gotten anyone to do anything outside their values, morals, or usual desires.
• Ads are most effective when people CONSCIOUSLY perceive them.
• Culturally, Westerners were more swayed by ads that appealed to the INDIVIDUAL, while Asians were more swayed by ads that appealed to COMMUNITY.

Question 9

Resisting Persuasive Messages

Answer 9

ATTITUDE INOCULATION – Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position.

• This allows the person to think about the argument and be prepared for it when they come into contact with it. This preparation prevents them from being blind-sided by the argument and inoculated them from being persuaded by it.
  
  • In contrast, if people have not thought much about the issue ahead of time – for example, if they formed their attitude via the peripheral route – they are particularly susceptible to an attack on that attitude that uses logical appeals.
• PRODUCT PLACEMENT, an advertisement that works because it catches you with your guard down (since it isn’t explicitly apparent that they are trying to persuade you to do/buy something) can be INNOCULATED against as well simply by understanding that watching a show/movie, these things might be in the image, and they’re not there accidentally.
• PEER PRESSURE – can also be INNOCULATED against with both ATTITUDE INNOCULATION and ROLE PLAYING to prepare children for the situations they might encounter.

Question 10

Reactance Theory

Answer 10

REACTANCE THEORY – The idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of resistance is aroused, which they can reduce by performing the prohibited behavior.

• There is harm to administering strong prohibitions: The stronger they are, the more likely they will backfire, actually causing an increase in interest in the prohibited activity.
• LESSON: Try not to forbid behavior, if possible (and it’s not always possible). But try to find a milder path to the desired behavior first.