Lecture: Attitudes Flashcards
What are attitudes?
affective - emotion
cognitive - belief
Behavioral - action
How are attitudes measured?
Likert scale
Where do attitudes come from?
- Conditioning
- Genes
How does conditioning explain where attitudes come from?
Pair attitude object w/unconditioned stimulus
Ultimately, attitude object produces conditioned responses
How does genes explain where attitudes come from?
Concordance rates (twins)
Genetic aspects: sensory structures, body chemistry, intelligence, temperament/activity level, difference in conditionability
Heritability
Variance due to genetics over total variance (environment + genetics)
Yale’s attitude changes school
Carl Hovland (1950s)
Who says what to whom?
Source- expert?, attractive, similar to audience, persuasive intent
Communication- one-sided or two sided, emotional vs rational
Target person- commitment
Attitude inoculation
give weakened version of the other side’s argument
Sleeper effect
forget the discredited source
Present/present bias
Only pay attention to one cell in a 4-cell 2x2 table especially if it goes against their preexisting bias
Since it can be hard to take into account all the cells
Elaboration Likelihood Model
Central route to persuasion - cognitive scrutiny (facts and figures)
Peripheral route to persuasion- non cognitive elements (snappy jingle, fast-talking, attractive spokesperson)
Which route for persuasion should you use?
It depends on motivation (desire to elaborate) and opportunity/ability (cognitive resources)
Jack Dovidio Study
Procedures: Participants are introduced to two confederates (one- white, one- black). Black confederate bumps the other confederate when leaving. In the control, it passed as normal. In the conditions, the white says a slur towards the Black confederate when not present. They had to complete a survey. Then they would ask to choose a person to do an anagram with.
Forecasters told of the situation were told to predict what they would do and who they would choose for the anagram class. They predicted that they would choose the black confederates.
Findings: Non-black participants choose to affiliate with insulting white confederate.
Why? Experiencers just not that upset so they didn’t choose the black Confederate
Theory of Planned Behavior
The best (non-behavior) predictor of behavior is the intention to behave
Intention depends on attitude toward behavior, norms, and perceived control.
Norbert Schwartz
Attitude assessment depends on how you ask the question.
Zajonc 1980 Subliminal Stimuli
Showed two images
Which did you see before? - chance
Which do you like more? > chance - like more which one is familiar
Why?
The emotional system is just faster than the cognitive
Easier to process previously seen
When trying to influence..
Prime positive or negative info, then rate a person that does ambiguous behavior (believed that the rating was a second study)
If implicit influence, get “assimilation” (agreement w/prime)
If explicit persuasive intent (remind of priming exercise), get contrast
LaPiere’s study, which involved traveling the U.S. with a Chinese couple, showed that
Differences in question interpretation can affect the relationship between attitudes and behavior
