Chapter 6- Attitudes and Attitude Change Flashcards
Attitudes
evaluations of people, objects, or ideas
An affective
component, consisting of emotional reactions toward the attitude object (e.g., another person or a social issue)
A cognitive
component, consisting of thoughts and beliefs about the attitude object
A behavioural
component, consisting of actions or observable behaviour toward the attitude object
Affectively Based Attitude
an attitude based primarily on people’s emotions and feelings about the attitude object
Cognitively Based Attitude
an attitude based primarily on a person’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object
Behaviourally Based Attitude
an attitude based primarily on observations of how one behaves toward an object
Explicit Attitudes
attitudes that we consciously support and can easily report
Implicit Attitudes
attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious
Theory of Planned Behaviour
a theory that the best predictors of people’s planned, deliberate behaviours are their attitudes toward specific behaviours, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control
Persuasive Communication
communication advocating a particular side of an issue
Yale Attitude Change Approach
the study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages; it focuses on the source of the communication, the nature of the communication, and the nature of the audience
Elaboration Likelihood Model
a theory explaining that there are two ways in which persuasive communication can cause attitude change: the central route, when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication, and the peripheral route when people do not pay attention to the arguments but are instead swayed by surface characteristics
Central Route to Persuasion
the case in which people have the ability and the motivation to elaborate on a persuasive communication, listening carefully to and thinking about the arguments
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
Fear-Arousing Communication
a persuasive message that attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears
Subliminal Messages
words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but that supposedly influence people’s judgments, attitudes, and behaviours
Attitude Inoculation
the process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position
Cognitive Dissonance
feeling of unease when actions don’t align with beliefs
Post-Decision Dissonance
dissonance that is aroused after making a decision; such dissonance is typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluing the rejected alternatives
Justification of Effort
the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain
External Justification
a person’s reason or explanation for dissonant behaviour that resides outside the individual (e.g., to receive a large reward or avoid punishment)
Internal Justification
the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (e.g., one’s attitude or behaviour)
Counterattitudinal Behaviour
acting in a way that runs counter to a person’s private belief or attitude
Insufficient Punishment
the dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object
Hypocrisy Induction
the arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run counter to their behaviours and then reminding them of the inconsistency between what they are saying and their actual behaviour
Self-Affirmation Theory
theory suggesting that people will reduce the impact of a dissonance-arousing threat to their self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat
Persuasive message
is the audience motivated an able to elaborate on the message
Mere exposure effect:
-the more we are exposed to a novel stimulus, the more we tend to like it
-after 20 exposures the influence is less
Fear appeals
sometiemes persuasive messages rely on fear to change people’s attitudes
-this works as long as the message also teaches the audience how to reduce the aroused fear
