Chapter 4 - Active Recall

Question 1

How do attitudes predict behavior when they are potent?

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Explain the circumstances under which attitudes predict behavior. Give examples.

Answer 1

• Attitudes best predict behavior when they are formed by direct experience.
• Attitudes best predict behavior when they are accessible, enduring, and likely to guide actions.
• Attitudes best predict behavior when they are specific to the behaviors of subjects.
  
  • Ex. People’s attitude toward religion is a poor predictor of whether they will go to religious services during the coming week

Question 2

Explain the attitudes-follow-behavior principle and give an example.

Answer 2

• The attitudes-follow-behavior effect is strongest when people feel that they have some choice in their behavior.
  
  • If you are studying because you want to do well in your chosen course and truly want to understand the material, you are more likely to want to study in the future than students who view studying as compulsory. Attitudes follow behaviors for which we feel some responsibility.
  • Ex. Emily, an employee in a software company, dares to share confidential company information with a rival company as she was not caught doing a similar act earlier.

Question 3

Compare and contrast self-perception and dissonance with regard to the relationship between attitudes and behaviors.

Answer 3

Dissonance theory explains attitude change, whereas self-perception theory explains attitude formation.

Self-perception

• Self-perception theory assumes that hearing oneself talk informs one of one’s attitudes
• Self-perception theory assumes that our actions are self-revealing
• Self-perception theory states that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs
  
  • Ex. Ji-woo wakes up one morning and feels happy and cheerful. She concludes that she must be happy because her best friend paid her a visit the previous evening after a long time.
  • Felix sweats profusely just before an interview and feels uncomfortable. He concludes he is nervous. However, his nervousness disappears when he notices the lights are not working in the waiting room. In the context of psychology, which of the following is exemplified in this scenario?

Cognitive Dissonance

• It pertains mostly to discrepancies between behavior and attitudes.
• The tension that arises when a person’s two thoughts or beliefs are inconsistent
• Cognitive dissonance theory assumes that to reduce discomfort we justify our actions to ourselves
• It highlights the arousal of tension when two different thoughts coexist.
• In the context of cognitive dissonance theory, one can reduce dissonance after making important decisions by downgrading the unchosen option
• Dissonance theory insists that encouragement and inducement should be enough to elicit a desired action
• Cognitive dissonance theory focuses on what induces a desired action
  
  • Ex. After much deliberation, you select a college to enroll yourself. After you have made your decision, you can reduce dissonance by upgrading the chosen university and downgrading the unchosen universities.
  • Although you were opposed to the American war with Iraq, your attitude changed when you were required to present a report on the justification of the war as a newspaper journalist.
  • Sarah strongly believes that it is wrong to steal. However, after she steals a bottle of nail polish from a store, her attitude toward shoplifters becomes significantly less harsh. Which theory best accounts for her shift in attitude?

Question 4

How do evil acts influence evil attitudes? Provide research examples to support your answer.

Answer 4

• In the context of evil and moral acts, research indicates that if you wish to love someone more, you should act as if you do.