M2 attitudes Flashcards
attitude definition
favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction towards something or someone
explicit vs implicit attitudes
explicit: conscious; you know how you feel
implicit: unconscious; automatic feelings/associations
attitude structures (2) – which is more common?
univariate vs bivariate
univariate: can only have a pos or neg attitude toward something; one dimension
bivariate: can have a pos and neg attitude toward something; two dimensions more common
how to measure implicit and explicit attitudes?
implicit: indirect measures; implicit association test
explicit: just ask; self report
what is the bogus pipeline
when measuring explicit attitudes, hook ppl up to fake lie detector test to make them give more truthful answers
dual processing theories
suggest that implicit and explicit attitudes are different processes and often don’t agree
what types of behaviors do implicit and explicit behaviors predict?
implicit: automatic behaviors
explicit: planned/deliberate behavior
6 ways attitudes are formed
exposure, basic learning, cognitive appraisal, self-perception, physical movement, genetics
mere exposure, attitude formation, and evidence
- simply having more exposure to something creates more positive feelings
- zajonc study
- show chinese ideographs for 2 sec each
- some ideographs shown more times
- ppl guess if ideographs have pos or neg meaning
results: shown more frequently –> more pos rating
real life examples of mere exposure effect
- ads for already well known companies
- radio songs
- we prefer mirrored pics of ourselves
3 types of basic learning processes and attitude formation
1) classical conditioning: develop pos feelings toward initially neutral stimulus through repeated associations (Pavlov)
2) instrumental conditioning: learn attitudes and behaviors from rewards and punishments
3) observational learning: learn attitudes from vicarious rewards/punishments
cognitive appraisal and attitude formation
form attitudes rationally; by thinking through info
- we like to think most of our attitudes are formed this way; realistically it’s the minority
self perception and attitude formation
we infer our own attitudes by looking back on our own behavior
- conscious
“I guess I really do like _______”
physical movement, attitude formation, and experimental evidence
similar to self perception but unconscious
wells and petty study:
- listen to tape with headphones
- ask ppl to test sound quality by moving head up/down or side/side
- ask ppl to rate persuasiveness of tape
results: up/down people rated it more persuasive and were unconscious that nodding impacted their attitude; study showed embodied cognition
embodied cognition and attitude formation
brain and body are deeply intertwined; thinking and bodily states influence each other
- botox prevents brow furrowing –> less depression/sadness
genetics, attitude formation, and evidence
genes affect out personality, which affects our attitudes
evidence: MZ twins’ attitudes correlate stronger than DZ twins’ attitudes and no sig dif between attitude cor when MZ twins are raised together/apart
La Pierre study
concluded attitudes do not predict behavior but had bad methods
- asked for reservations with an Asian couple during a time of prejudice against Asians
- only 1/250 places denied them
- sent written requests for reservations to same places –> 50% responded, 92% of them denied
conclusion: situation predicts behavior, not attitudes
when do attitudes predict behavior (7 possible conditions)
1) absence of situational constraints
2) when attitude and behavior refer to the same level of specificity
3) when the attitude is strong
4) when attitude is formed through direct experience
- college housing shortage; willingness to collect signatures
5) when attitude and behavior are assessed around the same time (attitudes can change)
6) if person is low self monitoring
7) when ppl are self-conscious/looking in mirror
theories for how and why attitudes change
1) cognitive dissonance theory
2) self-perception theory
3) impression management theory
4) self-affirmation theory
4 premises for cognitive dissonance theory of attitude change
1) ppl desire consistency among cognitions
2) perceived inconsistency is uncomfy
3) dissonance is unpleasant
4) we try to reduce the dissonance
Who proposed cognitive dissonance theory? experimental evidence?
festinger and carlsmith
1) have ppl perform boring peg turning task
2) ask ppl to tell the next person about the task
3) 3 groups:
- control: can tell the trust, tell them it’s boring
- insufficient justification: give them $1 to lie and say the task is fun
- sufficient justification: give them $20 to lie and say the task is fun
4) subject tells next person
5) ask original subject how much they enjoyed the task (+/- 5 scale)
results:
- control: expect no dissonance; lowest enjoyment
- IJ: expect most dissonance; highest enjoyment ($1 not enough to justify lying so convince self they liked the task –> no longer lying)
- SJ: expect less dissonance; less enjoyment ($20 is sufficient to justify lying; don’t need to convince self it was actually fun)
4 examples of dissonance based phenomena
1) counter-attitudinal behavior
- do smth that contradicts attitude –> change attitude to match behavior
2) spreading alternatives
- dissonance from rejecting a good option when all choices are attractive
- incr perceived value of chosen thing
- decr perceived value of rejected thing
3) effort expenditure
- if expended lots of effort but then are disappointed –> dissonance because attitude doesn’t match behavior
- change attitude to match behavior
(effort for initiation in sex discussion group influences attitude/enjoyment; need to justify effort)
4) dehumanization
- treating others poorly creates dissonance
- dehumanizing them justifies the behavior in your mind
5 ways to reduce dissonance plus the bonus
1) change your attitude (classic way)
2) add other cognitions to justify behavior
3) adjust perceived importance of the discrepancy
4) reduce perceived choice
5) change behavior
bonus: ben franklin effect
- we like people for favors we have done for them
- do someone a favor but don’t like them –> dissonance –> change attitude to match behavior
3 alternatives to cog diss theory as to why attitudes change
1) self-perception theory
2) impression management theory
3) self-affirmation theory
