Exam 2 Flashcards
(42 cards)
Attitude
Implicit, internalized, NONverbal response entailing the approach or avoidance of someone or something.
A gut-level response (often rooted in ones beliefs, and exhibited in ones feelings and intended behavior).
Come from environment (learned) and biology (temperament).
Source Effects
The origin/source of a message affects how the audience receives it. (Credibility/believability).
Study: Hovland & Weiss (1953)- Nuclear submarine persuasion with articles from Yale or Pravda.
Persuasion
The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.
Sleeper Effect
A delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, such as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it.
Overtime, people dissociate the message from its source. (“cognitive momentum effect”).
Central Route Persuasion
Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.
Peripheral Route Persuasion
Occurs when people are influenced by incidental/heuristic cues without much thinking, such as speakers attractiveness.
Two-step flow of communication
The process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders who in turn, influence others.
Opinion leaders: individuals perceived as experts (doctors, teachers, talk show hosts, etc.)
Example: father gets computer info from son, son gets info from internet. If internet persuades son, father is persuaded too. Kids who don’t watch TV still influenced by TV through other kids who do watch.
Message Effects
The strength of a message depends on both its content and the style with which it is delivered.
The strength of message increases with the extent to which (1) the message rebuts possible counterarguments, (2) presents arguments that bolster or support the message conclusion, and (3) contains emotion-evoking material appeals (i.e. fear and threat).
Why might some intense attempts at emotional appeal not persuade us?
Extreme fear or sadness (ASPCA, pro-life commercials) can cause viewers to not watch in attempt to get away from negative emotions.
Hovland & Weiss (1953)
Studied Source Effects & Sleeper Effects with college students and belief in use of Nuclear Atomic Submarines.
Group 1 read message arguing in favor “written by Yale professor”
Group 2 read message in favor “written in Pravda (Russian newspaper)”
Group 1 was more persuaded immediately after, but less persuaded overtime. Group 2 was less persuaded immediately after but more persuaded overtime. There is no known reason for this!
Audience Effects
The impact that a passive audience has on a subject performing a task.
Depends on age, thoughts, self esteem, gender and distractions of audience.
Hostile Audience Phenomenon: Idea that when you speak to an audience, they will be hostile towards your subject.
Opinion vs Attitude
Opinion is a VERBAL response to a question of feeling. Attitude is a NONverbal response.
Attitudes get expressed through opinions.
Foot-In-Door Effects
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
Based on the “attitude follows behavior idea”. Remember the initial compliance is voluntary!
Cult indoctrination
Cults state persuasion and group influence principles that have been harvested by new religious movements. Uses hindsight analysis and states “why” someone believes.
To lure others in, cults use:
1) A charismatic leader/communicator
2) Vivid, emotional, & warm message to lonely/depressed people. (“It’s the one way”)
3) Audience at a “turning point” in life, looking for direction. (i.e. young men transitioning btwn adolescence and adulthood”
Channel of Communication
In persuading, easy-to-understand messages are most persuasive when videotaped. Difficult messages are most persuasive when written. Audio is least effective overall.
Attitude Inoculation
Exposing people to weak attacks of their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available.
Bringing up the opposing side to show it’s wrong.
Study: 7th graders and smoking. 7th graders were taught to respond to smoking ads and peer pressure were less likely to smoke in the future than un-inoculated students.
Balance Theory (Heider-1958)
Unbalanced relationships cause tension, create a motivation for us to reachieve balance.
Begin to change attitude to make more balanced.
Least effort relationship will win.
- POX Model
- P: Perceiver of the relationship
- O: Other
- X: Object we have about the attitude
- Valence: -/+ relationship
-Multiply signs of valences to determine if the relationship is balanced (+) or unbalanced (-)
Mere Exposure Effect
“Familiarity breeds liking”
Exposure to neutral stimuli will lead to liking of the stimuli. Unconscious action.
Example: Zajonc (1968)- “NANSOMA” study.
Zajonc -1968 (Mere Exposure Effect)
Asked UM students to rate goodness of word “Nansoma”.. when unfamiliar with the word, students rated it as 2.9 (indifferent) on a 1-5 scale.
After a campus paper was published with “NANSOMA” in middle, students rated it as 4.4.
Conclusion: The more times the students had seen the novel words, the more they rated it as good.
Interpersonal Consistency
People’s tendency to judge their own interpersonal behavior in a given situation in accordance with their general self-images, even if their actual behavior in the situation is partialled out.
Socialization Agents
Attitudes learned from environment. BIG 5: 1) School 2) Parents* 3) Peers 4) Media 5) Church/Place of worship
Parents are most effective- 1st to help us develop schemas. Primacy. Child has no reason not to believe parents.
Kids tend to assimilate rather than accommodate.
Janis & Feshbach- 1953 (Fear & Persuasion)
Study: 7 year old boys and brushing teeth given 3 levels of fear conditions. “If you don brush…”
1) Low: Toothaches & decay
2) Moderate: Toothaches, decay, fallout, drilling
3) High: All of above + gum infection, heart disease, paralysis, etc.
FOUND: Higher fear was LESS effective because audience stops listening (“backfire effect”). Low fear was most effective.
Greenwald et al. -1993 (Black-masking)
Study: Subjects given tapes with subliminal messages advertised to help change behavior.
- Tapes either labeled “Diet” or “Smoking”
- Subjects claimed tape helped them diet/stop smoking
- No actual improvement, the perceived improvement was based on what was on the label, rather than the actual content the tape.
Newcomb (1943)
Wanted to find out the effects of peer groups on children’s attitudes. Went to Bennington College, all girls liberal arts school. Asked them for whom they plan to vote for in 1940.
•Studied Parents: FDR 23% & Landon 76%
•Studied Incoming Freshmen Daughters: FDR 24% & Landon 75%
•Senior Students: FDR 63% & Landon 35%
•Conclusion: What’s causing the change? The freshmen would hang out with the seniors and the faculty who more liberal and they don’t see their parents very often to reinforce old ideals.
