Chapter 7- Attitudes and Attitude Change: Influencing thoughts and Feelings Flashcards
attitudes
- evaluations of people, objects, or ideas
- determine what we do
- result of genes and social experiences
3 components of attitudes
- ) cognitive
- ) affective
- ) behavioral
cognitive component
-thoughts and beliefs that people form about the attitude object
affective component
- emotional reactions toward attitude object
- stems from values and beliefs
behavioral component
- how people act toward attitude object
- stems from people’s observations of how they behave toward an object
cognitively based attitude
- evaluation based primarily of beliefs about properties of attitude object
- based on facts
purpose of cognitively based attitude
-classify positive & negative aspects of an object so we can decide if we want anything to do with it
sources of affectively based attitudes
- values
- sensory reaction (like taste)
- aesthetic rxn (admiring color)
- conditioning
classical conditioning
- stimulus (ucs) that elicits an emotional response (ucr) accompanied by a neutral one
- neutral eventually becomes cs and elicits emotional response (cr) by itself
operant conditioning
-behaviors become more or less frequent depending on whether they are followed by reward or punishment
commonalities of all affectively based attitudes
- ) not b/c of rational examination of issue
- ) not governed by logic
- ) linked to values- change is difficult
self-perception theory
- sometimes people don’t know how they feel until they see how they behave
- infer attitudes from behavior
when do people infer attitudes from behavior
- ) initial attitude is weak or ambiguous
2. ) no plausible explanation for behavior
explicit attitudes
-consciously endorsed and reported
implicit attitudes
-involuntary and uncontrollable
major reasons why attitudes change
- ) social influence -influenced by what other say and do
2. ) justifying dissonance
Yale Attitude Change Approach
-people are most likely to change attitudes in response to persuasive messages, focusing on the source of the communication, the nature of the communication, and the nature of the audience
persuasive communication
- advocates a particular side of an issue
- best way to achieve mass attitude change
Elaboration Likelihood Model
- two ways persuasive communication causes attitude change
1. ) centrally
2. ) peripherally
central route to persuasion
- people motivated and have ability to pay attention to arguments
- listen carefully and think about arguments
- looking for “proof”
- seen most when people are interested in topic or have a personal connection
peripheral route to persuasion
- people don’t pay attention to arguments, but are swayed by surface characteristics
- focus on speaker
- use of mental short-cuts (ex: legit speaker can be trusted)
- common when topic has low relevance/interest to audience
people using central route of persuasion
- engage in effortful cognitive activity
- use careful analysis
- more likely to maintain attitude over time
- more likely to behave consistently to attitude
- less likely to be subject to counter persuasion
fear arousing persuasive message
- attempts to change attitudes by arousing fears
- key is to elicit moderate amount of fear and then teach how to reduce it
- goal is for audience to take central route and analyze
failure of fear arousing communication
- ) succeed at scaring people, but don’t provide recommendations to alleviate
- ) so strong they overwhelm people
Heuristic Schematic Model of Persuasion
- two ways persuasive communications can cause attitude change
1. ) systematically- argument has merit
2. ) using mental shortcuts
mental shortcuts and attitude change
- peripheral route
- Ex: -“How do I feel about it” heuristic- if feel good have good attitude about it
- Ex: experts are always right
how to make message more effective
- increase people’s confidence in their thoughts about it
- arguments need to be strong and convincing
How to resist persuasive messages
- ) attitude inoculation
- ) be alert to produce placement
- ) resist peer pressure
Attitude Inoculation
- making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position
- less likely to change attitudes b/c have time to think about and contradict
Reactance Theory
- when people feel their freedom to perform a behavior is threatened an unpleasant state of reactance is aroused
- people reduce the reactance by performing the behavior
- shows harms of administering strong prohibitions
attitude prediction of spontaneous behavior
-when they are highly accessible
attitude accessibility
- strength of association between object and evaluation of it
- speed at which people can report attitude
- more direct experience people have with attitude, the more accessible, the more likely spontaneous behaviors are consistent with the attitude
theory of planned behavior
- how attitudes predict deliberate behavior
- people have time to contemplate how they are going to behave
best predictor of behavior
- intention
- determined by
1. ) attitudes toward SPECIFIC behavior
2. ) subjective norms
3. ) perceived behavioral control
subjective norms
- beliefs about how people they care about will view the behavior in question
- Ex: go to movie you don’t want to see b/f friend wants to see it
perceived behavioral control
- if behavior is easy to perform, people form a strong intention to carry it out
- Ex: remembering to buy milk
how to change cognitively based attitude
-change it with rational arguments
how to change an affectively based attitude
-change it with emotional appeals
subliminal messages
- words or pictures that are not consciously perceived by bay influence judgments, attitudes, and behaviors
- hidden persuasion techniques
- don’t work when encountered in everyday life
- only work in specific lab setting
How does advertising work
- ) targets affectively based attitudes with emotions (coke)
- ) targets cognitively based attitudes with facts (medication)
- ) makes products seem personally relevant
Mario dislikes roller coasters, but he decides to take a ride because his best friend really wants him to ride the new Tidal Wave. According to the theory of planned behavior, Mario’s intention to ride the Tidal Wave is influence by
subjective norms
Recall that Richard Petty, John Cacioppo, and Rachel Goldman (1981) systematically varied the quality of persuasive communications that advocated comprehensive exams for college students, and also varied the expertise of the communicator. These researchers found that when students believed their university was seriously considering requiring comprehensive exams next term, those students used the _____ route to persuasion, and were influenced by ________
central
quality of persuasive arguments
There is evidence that subliminal messages can influence people in ___________, but that such messages probably have very little influence in ___________
lab
the real world
You are reading a billboard that says, “L&H shoes: comfort and style for your whole family.” Where would such an ad be most effective, according to research by Han & Shavitt (1994) on cultural differences in persuasion?
China
The ______ route to persuasion results in more enduring attitude change, whereas the ______ route to persuasion results in more transient attitude change
central
peripheral
_-based attitudes are based primarily on people’s beliefs about properties of attitude objects.
cognitively
You have observed that there is more litter around signs that say “$500 fine for littering” than around signs that say “Please keep our state clean.” What social psychological theory would you use to explain this observation
reactance theory
Across cultures, the kind of stereotype found most consistently in advertising is that
women are portrayed as passive and dependent
People tend to be less aware of their _________ attitudes, which are more likely to influence behaviors they are not monitoring
implicit
What type of attitudes best predict spontaneous behavior?
highly accessible attitudes
Brinol & Petty (2003) conducted a study in which participants were presented strong or weak arguments on an issue while they were either shaking their head or nodding their head. Someone listening to a weak argument would be more persuaded if they were ______________
shaking head from side to side
The three parts that form our evaluations of attitude objects are:
affective
behavioral
cognitive
The Yale Attitude Change approach to persuasion emphasizes which of the following three aspects of persuasion
source
nature of communication
nature of audience
People who are high in the need for cognition tend to be best persuaded by
central route to persuasion
George is trying to decide which of two used cars to buy. He test drives each, listening to the radio while he does so. While he is test driving the Honda, his favorite song comes on the radio. George tells his friend, “I know the Toyota is a bit better of a deal, but somehow the Honda just feels better to me.” If George misattributed his liking for the song to the Honda, his decision is being influenced by
how do I feel heuristic
Paul has a very positive reaction to the smell of wood smoke. In all likelihood, this is because the smell of a fire reminds him of wonderful winter days he spent as a child in front of the fireplace at his grandparents’ cabin in the north woods. This example illustrates _____ as a basis for affectively based attitudes
classical conditioning
Jane is asked what kind of computer she prefers. She says, “Well, I always seem to be working on a Macintosh, so I guess I like them best.” In this case, Jane’s attitude appears to be
behaviorally based
When people don’t attend carefully to the substance of a persuasive communication, but instead pay attention to irrelevant cues, they are using the _____ route to persuasion.
peripheral
According to the theory of planned behavior, the best predictor of riding a roller coaster would be
one’s intention to ride coaster
Attitude inoculation is the process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by
exposing small doses of argument against their position
In order to change attitudes about something on a mass scale, whether it is a product, a social problem, or a political candidate, it would be best to use
persuasive communication
People are more likely to pay attention to characteristics of the communicator, rather than to the contents of the message, when
issues are too complex to comprehend fully
_____ refer(s) to words or pictures that are not consciously perceived, but that allegedly influence judgments, attitudes, and behaviors.
subliminal messages
Recall that Leventhal, Watts, and Pagano (1967) showed one group of smokers a grisly film depicting lung cancer, gave another group of smokers a pamphlet with instructions on how to quit smoking, and exposed a third group to both the film and the pamphlet. On average, which group(s) were smoking the fewest cigarettes per day three months later?
group that saw the film and got the pamphlet
To change a cognitively-based attitude, it is best to use ________. To change an affectively-based attitude, it is best to use ________
rational arguments
emotional appeals
