Liking People and Things (Attitudes)

Question 1

what is an attitude?

Answer 1

(object + evaluation)
- cognitive associations between some object and some evaluative response to it

Question 2

Jazz music Example

Answer 2

• jazz music appears on their perceptual radar, there’s going to be some sort of evaluative association (positive or negative response)
• jazz music = paired with positive evaluation
• ask the person: “Do you like jazz music?”
• their response will be an endorsement of their implicit attitude or not
• explicit endorsement: “Yea, I do”

Question 3

implicit attitude

Answer 3

implicit = object + evaluation
(need not involve conscious awareness)
(need not involve personal endorsement)

• automatic, fast, uncontrolled

Question 4

explicit attitudes

Answer 4

explicit = object + evaluation + personal appraisal of the truth of that association
(implies both awareness and endorsement)

• slow, controlled

Question 5

Bacon example

Answer 5

• bacon appears in their perceptual radar and have a positive implicit attitude to it
• ask them: “Do you like bacon?”
• possible explicit attitudes: “No, bacon is bad”
• they might have eaten bacon for years and like it, however, they refuse to eat it now because of health problems

Question 6

Rejecting initial implicit attitude

Answer 6

• think about oneself –> there is a positive association inside –> express it in a explicit way
• “I’m not so good”
• maybe to avoid social consequences (being seen as a bragger)
• comparison process: “I’m actually not that good compared to others”

Question 7

implicit egotism

Answer 7

• the tendency to unconsciously prefer things that are similar to ourselves
• research shows that NA/EA cultural differences in responses to questionnaires assessing self-esteem but not on implicit egotism

Question 8

main letter effect

Answer 8

• tendency of people to like their own initials
• implicit egotism

Question 9

People may express their opinions in ways that align with their beliefs

Answer 9

• person asked about outgroup (implicit rejection)
• say they like them (explicit attitude)
• inconsistent with the norms (social content matters)

Question 10

explicit and implicit attitudes may differ, for lots of reasons

Answer 10

• neither explicit nor implicit attitudes can be assumed to a person’s “true belief”
• explicit attitude may express what a person wants others to think they believe
• explicit attitudes may represent a person’s knowledge about others’ beliefs
• both explicit and implicit attitudes can influence behaviour, but their effects can differ depending on the type of behaviour or on the circumstances
• e.g. implicit attitudes may have a relatively bigger impact on unintended behaviour
• e.g. implicit attitudes may have a bigger impact under circumstances in which people are less able or less motivated to control their actions (drunk)

Question 11

Familiarity and liking (mere exposure effect)

Answer 11

• the more often a person is exposed to a stimulus, the more positive their attitude towards it
• repeated exposure = more positive attitude

Question 12

Inverted photos experiment

Answer 12

• other people like original photo more (not inverted)
• the person in the photo like the inverted version more

Question 13

Why?

Answer 13

• easier for the brain to quickly figure out what it is (processing fluency)

Question 14

processing fluency and liking

Answer 14

• how prototypical something
• repeated exposure to something
• these are easier for the brain to quickly figure out so positive attitude toward that thing