Ch. 7: Attitudes, Behaviour and Rationalization

Question 1

Attitude

Answer 1

An evaluation of an object in a positive or negative fashion that includes three components

Question 2

What are the three components of Attitude?

Answer 2

Affect, Cognition and Behaviour

Question 3

How does one measure attitudes?

Answer 3

through the Likert scale, response latency and implicit attitude measure

Accessibility of the attitude and Centrality of the attitude are also considered

Question 4

Likert Scale

Answer 4

A numerical scale used to assess attitudes; includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme

Question 5

Response latency

Answer 5

The amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, such as an attitude question

Question 6

Implicit Attitude measure

Answer 6

An indirect measure of attitudes that does not involve a self report

Question 7

What are some things to keep in mind regarding predicting behaviour from attitudes?

Answer 7

1. attitudes can conflict with other powerful determinants of behaviour
2. attitudes can be inconsistent
3. there is a mismatch between general attitudes and specific targets
4. sometimes automated behaviours bypass conscious attitudes

Question 8

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Answer 8

the theory that inconsistencies among a person’s thoughts, sentiments and actions cause an aversion emotional state (dissonance) that leads to efforts to restore consistency

Question 9

Effort Justification

Answer 9

the tendency to reduce dissonance by justifying the time, effort or money devoted to something that turned out to be unpleasant or disappointing

Question 10

Induced (forced) compliance

Answer 10

Subtly compelling people to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their beliefs, attitudes, or values, in order to elicit dissonance, and therefore a change in their original views

Question 11

Self Perception Theory

Answer 11

The theory that people come to know their own attitudes by looking at their behaviour and the context in which it occurred, and inferring what their attitudes must be

Question 12

System justification thoery

Answer 12

The theory that people are motivated to see the existing sociopolitical system as desirable, fair and legitimate

Question 13

Terror Management Theory

Answer 13

The theory that people deal with the potentially crippling anxiety associated with the knowledge of the inevitability of death by striving for symbolic immortality through preserving valued cultural world views and believing they have lived up to their standards