Chapter 6 Flashcards
Attitude
a positive, negative or mixed reaction to a person.
Four possible reaction to attitude objects
our attitudes can be positive, negative, ambivalent, or indifferent.
Two ways attitudes reveal things about individuals
1) people differ in terms of their tendency in general to like/dislike of things.
2) people differ in the extent to how quickly and strongly they react.
Why do we have attitudes?
cognitive heuristics enable us to judge quickly whether stuff is good/bad.
Self-report measures
respondents are asked to report directly on their own behaviours, beliefs, or attitudes.
Pros of self reports measure
simple
straight-forward
Cons of self reports measure
people can lie
questions might be too simple to capture idea.
Attitude Scale
a multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a person’s attitude toward some object.
Bogus pipeline
a phony lie-detector device that is sometimes used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions.
Indirect/Covert Measures of attitudes
covert measures of attitudes that cannot be controlled.
- reaction time, facial expression, tone of voice, body language.
How do we form attitudes?
nurture (environment)
nature (genetics)
Influence of attitudes on politics
- individuals who are more reactive to negative stimuli(snakes, loud noises, shocks) tend to be more conservative (favour capital punishment, gun rights, war).
Facial electromyogrpah (EMG)
an electronic instrument that records facial muscle activity associated with emoting and attitudes.
- zygomatic = happy
Implicit attitude
an attitude that one is not aware of having.
Implicit Association Test
covert measure of unconscious attitudes derived form the speed at which people respond to pairings of concepts.
Are attitudes inherited?
attitudes of identical twins are more similar than those of fraternal twins.
twins raised apart are as similar to each other as those raised in the same home.
Evaluative conditioning
the process by which we form an attitude toward a neutral stimulus because of its association with a positive/negative thing.
Richard LaPiere
noticed that attitudes and behaviour don’t always correspond.
Theory of planned behaviour
the theory that attitudes toward a specific behaviour combine with subjective norms an perceived control ton influence a person’s actions.
Attitudes are strongest when
1) affect own outcomes/interests
2) related to deeply held philosophical/religious values
3) are of concern to family/in-groups
Factors that indicate the strength of an attitude and its link to behaviour
1) when people are well-informed.
2) when info is acquired from personal experience.
3) when attitude is attacked by a persuasive message.
4) when attitude is quickly/easily brought to mind.
Identity & behaviour
getting people to think of their identities helps attitudes influence behaviour
Attitudes determine behaviour under what circumstances?
- when social influences on attitudes are minimized.
- when other influences on behaviour are minimized.
- when attitude corresponds closely to behaviour.
- when attitude is important.
Persuasion
the process by which attitudes are changed.
Central route to persuasion
the process by which a person thinks carefully about a communication and is influenced by the strength of its arguments.
- most effective when making strong arguments.
Peripheral route to persuasion
the process by which a person does not think carefully about a communication and is influences by superficial cues.
- most effective when including cues that people use to make decisions without much thought.
Mere exposure effect
- a women sits in front of the classroom.
- IV (how many classes she attended).
- DV (how much did the students like the women).
- people reported liking the women more, the more classes she attended.
Three factors of communication
1) source (who is saying the message)
2) message (elements of the message)
3) audience (who is receiving the message)
Elaboration
the process of thinking about and scrutinizing the arguments contains a persuasive communication.
Credibility
- need competence + trustworthiness + expertise.
Likeability
similar + psychical attractiveness.
Sleeper effect
a delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a non credible source.
Discounting cue hypothesis
people immediately discount the arguments made by non credible communicators, but overtime, they dissociate what was said form who said it.
Length of a message
- the longer a message, the more valid it must be to people who process message lazily.
Message discrepancy
1) take an extreme position in the hope that the more change you advocate, the more you will get.
2) exercise cation and not push for too much change so that the audience will not reject the message.
Fear appeals
fear arousal increases the incentive to change for those who do not actively resist it.
- ultimate impact depends on the strength of the arguments and on whether the message also contains advice on how to cop with the threatened danger.
Positive feelings
activate the peripheral route to persuasion, facilitating change and allowing superficial cues to take on added importance.
Primacy
information presented early has more influence.
Recency
information presented last can sometimes overwrite information that came first.
One-sided appeal
- mention only pros.
- is best if audience already agrees with the message, and will not find out about the cons.
Two-sided appeal
- address pros and cons.
- is best is audience already opposes the message, or knows/will find out the cons.
Need for cognition
a personality variable that distinguishes people on the basis of how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities.
Stanford Prison Experiment
- used to discuss power of situations on behaviour.
- role and own behaviours shaped attitudes, until “prisoners” were acing like prisoners and “guards” were acting like guards.
- solitary confinement, revolt, sadistic tendencies.
Self-monitoring
low self monitors = behave according to their own beliefs.
high self monitors= responsive to messages that promise desirable social images.
Regulatory fit
people are more likely to be influenced by messages that fir their frame of mind.
Promotion-oriented
people are drawn to the pursuit of success, achievement, and their ideals
Prevention-orientated
people are protective of what they have, fearful of failure, and vigilant about avoiding loss.
Forewarning
knowing in advance what position a speaker will take enables us to come up with counterarguments and become more resistant to change.
Inoculation hypothesis
the idea that exposure to weak versions of a persuasive argument increases later resistance tot hat argument.
Psychological reactance
the theory that people react against threats to their freedom by asserting themselves and perceiving the threatened freedom as more attractive.
- target may question credibility of the source & counter-argue.
Negative attitude change
moving in the direction that is the opposite of the one being advocated.
Self-generated persuasion
attitude change persists more when it is inspired by our own behaviour than when it stems from a passive exposure to a persuasive communication.
Cognitive dissonance theory
theory holding that inconsistent cognition arouses psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce.
Ways to reduce dissonance
1) change your attitudes.
2) change your perception of the behaviour.
3) add consonant cognition.
4) minimize the importance of the conflict.
4) reduce perceived choice.
Insufficient justification
a condition in which people freely preform an attitude-discrepant behaviour without receiving a large reward.
- paid 1$ –> if you can convince yourself the task wasn’t so bad, then saying it was interesting was alright.
- big rewards do not produce greater change.
Insufficient deterrence
a condition in which people refrain form engaging in a desirable activity, even when only mild punishment is threatened.
Why do hazing & initiation ritual exist?
- effort justification
- we alter our attitudes to justify our suffering (social embarrassment).
- the more you pay in physical excretion, pain, or money, the more you will come to like it.
Attitude-discrepant behaviour
action that is inconsistent with private attitudes.
self-persuasion
when people behave in ways that contradict their attitudes, they sometimes go on to change those attitudes without any exposure to a persuasive communication.
Cognitive dissonance and comparisons
- choice between two attractive options produces dissonance.
- we reduce the dissonance by:
(1) derogating the one we didn’t choose.
(2) boosting the one we did choose.
