Lecture 9 - Attitudes & Behaviours Flashcards
What are attitudes?
mental representation of a summary evaluation of an attitude object (stored in memory)
What do attitude objects include?
things, actions, events, ideas, self (esteem-esteem), groups (prejudice), other people (global impressions)
What are explicit attitudes?
attitudes that people openly and deliberately express (i like apples)
explicit attitudes are consciously accessible, and are revealed in explicit measures
An example of explicit measures
asking a person to report on their attitudes
e.g. self-report scales
- differential scale
- Likert scales
Explicit measures are limited by. . .
social desirability bias
implicit attitudes (may not be consciously assessed, and thus can’t be reported on)
What are implicit attitudes?
automatic, uncontrollable evaluations
might not be consciously accessible, or might be accessible but not willing to be reported
What are implicit measures?
assess implicit attitudes - these overcome motivated response biases (e.g. social desirability bias) & the limits of introspection
use response/reaction time paradigms + physiological responses
What are the 3 bases of attitudes?
1) affective - emotions / feelings about the attitude object (e.g. fear, love)
2) behavioural - an interaction that we have with the attitude object (e.g. frequent use of the attitude object)
3) cognitive - beliefs about the attitude object (e.g. the attitude object is good for my health)
What are the functions of attitudes?
1) knowledge function - to make sense of the world (to summarize our experiences w attitude objects)
2) instrumental / utilitarian function - we have/express attitudes to help guide our behaviour; achieve rewards & avoid punishments
3) social identity / value expressive function - to express their identities & values
4) impression management function - to fit into groups or relationships
5) self-esteem / defensive function - to protect the self (From low self-esteem, anxiety)
What are 2 properties of attitudes?
1) strength
2) ambivalence
What are strong attitudes?
those held with confidence / certainty, and are usually based on lots of one-sided information
strong attitudes are persistent, resistant, and are predictive of intentions and behaviour
What is an ambivalent attitudes?
contain positive and negative evaluative components & bases
People often simultaneously hold negative and positive evaluations of an attitude object. For example, one might enjoy the sensation of smoking and at the same time realize that tobacco is a danger to health
How do affective routes lead to attitude formation?
- mere EXPOSURE (familiarity) breeds liking
- repeated exposure increases the ease of processing an attitude object, & ease feels good
- EVALUATIVE CONDITIONS: pairing positive or negative stimulus w neutral stimulus (celebrity + food)
How do behavioural routes lead to attitude formation?
- DIRECT BEHAVIOURAL INFLUENCES - the valence of performing behaviour gets transferred onto attitude object
- SELF-PERCEPTION - we learn what we like from observing what we do
- COGNITIVE DISSONANCE REDUCTION - often our attitudes are inconsistent
with our behaviours and this inconsistency can be unpleasant – leading us to try to bring our behaviours and attitudes into line (by changing our attitudes).
How do cognitive routes lead to attitude formation?
REASONED INFERENCE - where you think through the facts about an object, & draw evaluative inferences about it (believing something is good for your health, & thereby choosing to like it)
What processes can result in attitude change?
1) social influence (conformity, obedience)
2) perceived norms (descriptive & injunctive)
3) cognitive dissonance reduction
4) persuasion - changing an attitude via the processing of a message about an attitude object
What is the standard persuasion frame?
source - message - recipient
The amount/nature of the attitude change depends on attributes of each of these elements, in conjunction with depth of processing
What is the dual process model of attitude change (via persuasion)?
- 2 processing routes: deep vs superficial
- the amount & kind of attitude change (e.g. persistent, predictive of behavior) depends on the processing route
- the factors that influence attitude change and the manner of influence are contingent on the processing route
What is the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) - Petty & Cacioppo
- attitudes can be changed by processes that involve more or less attitude object-relevant elaboration or thinking
- low elaboration characterizes the PERIPHERAL ROUTE of persuasion
- high elaboration characterizes the CENTRAL ROUTE of persuasion
What are some features of central route persuasion?
attitudes formed (or changed) based on more/higher elaboration:
- stronger
- more persistent over time (more stable)
- resistant to further change
- predictive of intention + behaviour
What are some features of peripheral route persuasion?
attitudes formed (or changed) based on less/lower elaboration are:
- weaker
- less persistent
- less resistant
- less predictive of intentions & behaviour
What influences route selection (peripheral vs central) in attitude change?
- if one is motivated + capable, they will process the message more deeply (central route)
- motivation
- capacity
What is motivation?
is influenced by goals, values, or self
What is capacity?
is influenced by one’s ability, and their focus (level of distraction)
What influences attitude change in the CENTRAL route?
1) argument quality - due to deep processing
Petty Cacioppo found people’s attitudes shifted more when processing arguments in central route
What 3 things influence attitude change in PERIPHERAL route?
1) Message characteristics – argument quantity (we rely on heuristics or mental shortcuts)
2) Familiarity – repeated exposure to a message increases liking
3) Source heuristics – credibility of the source + attractiveness (likeableness, e.g. good looking person)
Sources who are well-liked are also more influential (e.g. a source who uses mimicry)
How does acting on the attitude object influence attitude change?
if the attitude object is acted upon with a valenced behaviour, this can shape attitude formation & change
For example, Laham et al.
(2014) found that people formed more positive implicit attitudes towards pulled
stimuli than to pushed stimuli.
What is cognitive dissonance? What is cognitive consistency?
experienced negative arousal resulting from inconsistency between attitudes, beliefs, and our behaviours
people might try to reduce it by modifying attitudes to restore consistency
What are 3 experimental paradigms for studying cognitive dissonance?
- induced compliance paradigm
- effort justification
- post-decisional dissonance
What is the induced compliance paradigm?
–> a boring task creates a negative ATTITUDE towards the task
–> researchers concluded that attitudes modified to reduce dissonance are caused by ATTITUDE-DISCREPANT BEHAVIOUR, than cannot be attributed to an external reward / punishment
STUDY:
The experimenter than pays participants $1 or $20 to say that the task was fun
(behaviour) – an inconsistency between attitude & behaviour. Those paid $1 reported liking the task more than those paid $20 – as those paid $20 had sufficient justification for their behaviour (lying). Those paid $1 do not have sufficient
justification for lying – which creates a dissonance. They attempt to reduce this
dissonance by modifying their attitude.
When will dissonance lead to attitude change?
- when an action is perceived as inconsistent w attitude
- the action is perceived to be freely chosen
- the individual experiences physiological arousal
- the arousal is attributed to a perceived inconsistency b/w the attitude and action
Intentional behaviour is guided by. . .
attitudes, norms, and efficacy beliefs
What is habitual behaviour?
behaviour that does not require conscious intention that is repeated often, in stable contexts
is enacted via automatic repetition of established routines, triggered by env cues
habits have very little to do w attitudes
What is uncontrolled, spontaneous behaviour?
behaviour that does not require conscious intention, but is NOT frequently repeated in similar contexts
- this behaviour is enabled via automatic processes (though not by established routines)
For spontaneous behaviours, attitudes
DIRECTLY impact behaviour - implicit attitudes being most relevant here
For intentional behaviours, attitudes. . .
INDIRECTLY impact behaviour (via intentions) - explicit attitudes are most relevant here
For habitual behaviours, attitudes . . .
have very little impact. Past behaviour is a better predictor here.
Accessibility, strength, & stability of attitudes are increased by. . .
1) elaboration (motivation + capacity)
2) repeated expression of the attitude
3) direct experience with the attitude object
4) one-sidedness of informational base
5) confidence
Theory of reasoned action
suggests that attitudes & norms combine to predict intentions, which in turn predict actions
Theory of planned behaviour
based on theory of reasoned action, but also adds PERCEIVED BEHAVIOURAL CONTROL which then influences one’s intention & actual control of their behaviour
It posits that behaviors are immediately determined by behavioral intentions, which in turn are determined by a combination of three factors: attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.
Principle of compatibility (principle of correspondence)
states that attitudes will better predict behaviour if the specificity of a measured attitudes matches the specificity of the behaviour under consideration
as attitudes towards birth control use became more specific, attitudes predicted behaviours more strongly
What was found in the study about intentional vs spontaneous behaviours?
Explicit attitudes / prejudices predicted INTENTIONAL behaviour (verbal behaviour) whilst implicit attitudes / prejudices predicted NON-INTENTIONAL behaviour (non-verbal behaviour)
What is post-decisional dissonance?
attitude change to reduce dissonance caused by a freely made decision
- amplify positives of chosen option, amplify negatives of unchosen option
(spreading of alternatives)
free choice paradigm
What is effort justification?
- Effortful initiation can increase liking through dissonance reduction
- attitudes are changed to reduce dissonance caused by choosing to exert considerable effort / suffering to achieve a goal
Effort justification is a person’s tendency to attribute the value of an outcome they put effort into achieving as greater than the objective value of the outcome.
e.g. it’s worth it to spend so much money on college bc education is more important
