social psychology

Question 1

what are attitudes

Answer 1

• favourable or unfavourable evaluative reactions towards an object or person
• these evaluations can be
  1. affective
  2. behavioral tendency
  3. cognitive
• efficient way to size up the world

Question 2

forming attitudes

Answer 2

classical conditioning, operant conditioning, imitation, mere exposure

Question 3

bem’s self-perception theory

Answer 3

• downplays the importance of deliberation and introspection in the formation of attitudes
• infer our attitudes from our behaviour
  1. we attribute our own behaviour to either an external (situation) or internal (attitude) source
  2. attitude inferences if behaviour is freely chosen (and not coerced)
  3. holds best for weak attitudes

Question 4

cognitive consistency

Answer 4

• people try to maintain an internal consistency, order, and agreement between their beliefs
• we like people who think and act like us (Heider, 1946)

Question 5

balance theory

Answer 5

relationship between 3 elements (triads)

• person
• other
• attitude object

odd number of positive relationships = balanced triad

• unbalanced triads create tension - motivation to restore balance
• least effort
• support for cognitive balance theory

Question 6

implicit vs explicit attitudes

Answer 6

implicit
- true attitudes
- automatic =, non-conscious, difficult to change
implicit attitudes and prejudice
- cultural conceptions of race and sex stereotypes learned from an early age
- personal beliefs draw more from controlled processes

explicit
- consciously controlled, easier to change (social desirability)

Question 7

cognitive dissonance

Answer 7

one of the most well-known approaches in social psychology, and is based on cognitive consistency

• the feeling of discomfort that is caused by performing an action that is inconsistent with one’s attitudes