Lecture 3 - Attitudes and Behaviour Flashcards
How does Allport define an attitude?
A mental and neural state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related
What is the attitude - behaviour gap?
Although attitudes and behaviour tend to be positively related, early research suggested that the relationship is weak
- Specific attitudes should predict behaviour better than general attitudes
- Strong/ accessible attitudes should predict behaviour better than weak attitudes
Explain Fazio & Williams (1986) study
Participants: 245 US Citizens
What they did: Examined accessibility of participants’ attitudes towards Reagan and Mondale (Presidential Candidates) as well as judgments of performance of candidates in debate, and actual voting behaviour
What they found: Attitudes were more strongly linked to judgments and actual voting behaviour when they were more accessible (reaction time based)
What is the Implicit Association Test?
Draws on cognitive theories of associative networks
- The more closely linked two concepts are in a person’s mind, the stronger the pathway should be between those things
- Concepts become linked when they repeatedly co-occur (i.e., experience)
Explain Friese et al (2008)’s study
Participants: 88 female undergraduate students from Switzerland
What did they do?
- 1 week before testing – how much do you like chocolate versus fruit? (Explicit Attitude)
- Complete a chocolate versus fruit IAT (Implicit Attitude)
- Choice task under high (remember 8 numbers) or low (remember 1 number) cognitive load
How do attitudes change?
Persuasion
Persuasion is focused on the role of what three factors?
- Communicator
- Message
- Audience
What is the elaboration likelihood model?
- Attitudes are swayed by characteristics of the source
- Attitudes are swayed by the argument quality
What are the two possible paths to persuasion?
One thoughtful (central) -> enduring change
One relatively thoughtless (peripheral) -> fleeting change
Who proposed the Cognitive Dissonance Theory?
Festinger, 1957
What is the Cognitive Dissonance Theory?
People are generally motivated to perceive consistency between their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours
When people become aware of inconsistency between how they think and act, they experience dissonance
When is dissonance most likely to change attitudes?
When people:
- Have expended effort
- Cannot attribute their behaviour to external factors
- Believe they have made a free choice
