Chapter 4 (Midterms) Flashcards
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, First Series, 1841
“The ancestor of every action is a thought”
Beliefs and feelings related to a person or an event
Attitude
A computer-driven assessment of implicit attitudes; uses reaction times to measure
people’s automatic associations between attitude objects and evaluative words.
Implicit association test (IAT)
ABCs of attitude
Affect (feelings)
Behavior tendency
Cognition (thoughts)
Attitudes will predict our behaviour if? (3)
If these “other influences” are minimized
If the attitude corresponds very closely to the predicted behavior
If the attitude is potent
A theory of how one’s (a) attitudes, (b) perceived social norms,
and (c) feelings of control together determine one’s intentions, which
guide behavior; knowing people’s intended behaviors and their
perceived self-efficacy and control.
Theory of planned behaviour
Enacting a role that shapes our attitudes; when we act like those around us, we slightly change our former selves into being more like them.
Role playing
A set of norms that defines how people in a given social position ought to behave; refers to actions expected of those who occupy a particular social position
Role
A product of both the individual person and the situation
Behaviour
When does our behaviour affect our attitude? (4)
Role playing
Saying become believing
Evil and Moral Acts
Social movements
People often adapt what they say to please their listeners. They are quicker to tell
people good news than bad, and they adjust their message toward their listener’s
views
Saying becomes believing
The attitudes-follow-behavior principle also works with immoral acts
Evil and Moral Acts
Actions also affect our moral attitudes: That which we have done, even if it is evil,
we tend to justify as right
Social movements
3 possible sources as to why action affects attitude
Self-presentation theory
Cognitive dissonance theory
Self-perception theory
Assumes that for strategic reasons we express attitudes that make us appear consistent.
Self-presentation theory
Assumes that to reduce discomfort, we justify
our actions to ourselves.
Cognitive dissonance theory
Assumes that our actions are self-revealing: when uncertain about our feelings or
beliefs, we look to our behavior, much as anyone else would.
Self-perception theory
Theory about how we see making a good impression as a way to gain social and material rewards, to feel better about ourselves, even to become more secure in our social identities
Self-Presentation: Impression Management
Theory which assumes that we feel tension when two of our thoughts or beliefs are inconsistent; explains this attitude change by assuming that we feel tension after acting contrary to our attitudes or making difficult decisions.
Self-Justification: Cognitive Dissonance
The tendency to seek information and media that agree with one’s views and to avoid dissonant information.
Selective exposure
People would experience more discomfort (dissonance) and thus be more motivated to believe in what they had done.
Insufficient justification
The theory that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as would someone observing us—by looking at our
behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs.
Self-perception theory
The tendency of facial expressions to trigger
corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.
Facial feedback effect
Rewarding people for doing what they already enjoy may lead them to attribute their action to the reward.
Overjustification effect
Theory that (a) people often experience a self-image threat after engaging in an undesirable behavior; and (b) they can compensate by affirming another aspect of the self.
Self-affirmation theory
According to the theory of planned behavior, what together determine one’s intentions, which guide behavior?
Attitudes
Perceived social norms
Feelings of control
Our attitudes become potent if we think about them
Bringing attitudes to mind
When this is done, attitude becomes more accessible, more enduring, and more likely to guide actions
Forging strong attitudes through experience
