Social psychology midterm 2

Question 1

what are Attitudes ?

Answer 1

1. Our enduring evaluation of people, objects, or ideas.

2. Consist of three components: affective,cognitive, and behavioural component

Question 2

what are affective-based attitudes? emotionally based attitudes are typically:

Answer 2

attitudes based on our feelings and values. Emotionally-based attitudes are typically:

i. not based on rational examination of the topic;
ii. not governed by logic;
iii. difficult to change.

Question 3

what are cognitive-based attitudes?

Answer 3

cognitive attitudes are based primarily on factual information about the target object. Typically:

i. involves rational examination of object quality
ii. helps us decide the worth of the object based on cost-benefit analysis.

Question 4

what are behavioural-based attitudes?

Answer 4

Based on self-perception of one’s own behaviour when the initial attitude is weak or ambiguous. Can be easily influenced by situational factors

Question 5

what are explicit attitudes? They are typically (3 things)

Answer 5

are attitudes we consciously endorse and can easily report. They are typically:

1. a result of high-effort thinking,
2. based on recent experiences, and
3. more cognitively based.

Question 6

what are implicit attitudes? they are typically (3 things)

Answer 6

Implicit attitudes are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious. The are typically:

1. a result of automatic thinking,
2. based on childhood experiences
3. more affect based

Question 7

what is the theory of planned behavior?

Answer 7

a theory that the best predictors of a persons planned, deliberate behaviours are:

1. the persons attitudes toward specific behaviours
2. subjective norms
3. perceived behavioural control

Question 8

According to Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour, when do attitudes predict behaviors?

Answer 8

1. The attitude in question is specific to the behavior we try to predict.
2. The behavior is executed in a planned and deliberative manner.
3. When social constraints are minimal.
   i. The behavior is in line with the person’s subjective norms given the situation (i.e.: there are not social pressures for the person to act in ways that contradict his/her attitude).
   ii. The ease with which the person can execute the behavior.

Question 9

What is persuasive communication?

Answer 9

Persuasive communication is defined as communication advocating a particular side of an issue.

Question 10

What is the Yale Attitude Change Approach and what does it focus on?

Answer 10

a. The most recognized approach to studying persuasive communication and attitude change.
b. Focuses on determining the persuasiveness of a communication by evaluating:
i. The source of the communication: Speakers who are credible, trustworthy, attractive, or likeable are more persuasive than those who are not.
ii. The communication itself: Quality of the argument, one-sided versus two-sided argument, whether you should present your argument first or last, etc.
iii. The type of audience: Their knowledge about the topic, whether they are being distracted, their age, etc.

Question 11

What do the heuristic-systematic persuasion model (HSPM) and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) both specify?

Answer 11

They both specify when people are influenced by message content and when they are influenced by superficial characteristics of the message.

Question 12

when is message content most important?

Answer 12

a) the audience are motivated to learn about the facts,
b) the audience have the ability to pay attention to the facts
c. ) the facts are presented clearly and with good logic.

Persuasion through attending to message content is called systematic processing (HSPM) or central route to persuasion (ELM).

Question 13

when is the superficial quality of the persuasion (length of message, and attractiveness of speaker, etc.) is more important?

Answer 13

1. the message is jargon-filled
2. the audience are under cognitive load, and
3. when the audience are already in favor of the direction of the message.

Persuasion through superficial message characteristics is called heuristic processing (HSPM) or peripheral route to persuasion (ELM).

Question 14

Compared to attitude changes that take place through peripheral routes, changes that take place through the central route are: (3 things)

Answer 14

1. more likely to last over time
2. more resistant to counter-persuasion, and
3. more likely to predict actual behaviors

Question 15

Fear-arousing communications are most effective if the message:

Answer 15

1. induces a moderate amount (and not an intense amount) of fear.
2. provides the audience with methods they can use to reduce the fear.

For those who find the fear message too overwhelming, a bit of humor can reduce the threat and induces greater attitude change.

Question 16

How do advertisements work and how can they be effective?

Answer 16

1. Advertising works – in the sense that they increase sales. Yet, most people think that advertising does not work for them.
2. Advertisements should tailor to the type of attitudes they want to change.
   a. Attitudes toward everyday products (household cleaner, etc.) tend to be cognitively based. Informational, utilitarian ads are more effective.
   b. Luxury products (vacation, brand names products) tend to be emotionally based. Value or social-identity-laden ads are more effective.
3. Types of audience also matter: Informational ads are more effective on people high in need for cognition; whereas affect-based ads are more effective on people with high in need for affect.
4. Culture also makes a difference:
   a. Ads that stress independence and self-improvement are more effective in individualistic cultures (e.g.: America).
   b. Ads that stress interdependence and social standing are more effective (for the same product) in collectivist cultures (e.g.: Korea).

Question 17

What are subliminal messages and are they effective?

Answer 17

a. Are words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but that supposedly influence people’s judgments, attitudes and behaviors.
b. Subliminal messages may be effective in controlled, laboratory studies. However…
c. Controlled studies indicate that subliminal messages are NOT effective when used in everyday life.

Question 18

What is attitude inoculation?

Answer 18

1. Exposing people to small doses of the argument against their belief / position.
2. Can increase resistance to attitude change.

Question 19

How can one be alert to the persuasive power of media and advertisement?

Answer 19

1. Limit one’s exposure to media and advertisement.

2. Be mindful of the different tactics used by advertisers, such as product placement, to change attitudes

Question 20

What is cognitive dissonance?

Answer 20

1. A powerful motivator of human behavior is the need to preserve a stable, positive self-concept. During the course of a lifetime, we experience many challenges to our beliefs that we are reasonable, decent people.
2. Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort caused by information that is discrepant from your customary, typically positive, self-concept.
3. Leon Festinger originated the concept of cognitive dissonance, defining it as inconsistency between any two cognitions. Dissonance is most powerful when we perform an action or learn something that threatens our self image.

Question 21

How can dissonance be reduced?

Answer 21

a. Changing our behaviour to bring it in line with the dissonance cognition,
b. Justifying our behaviour by changing our attitudes to make it less dissonant,
c. adding new cognitions that are consonant with the behaviour.

Because actions already taken often cannot be easily undone, we opt to change our attitudes instead

Question 22

What is the definition of cognitive dissonance?

Answer 22

a feeling of discomfort caused by the realization that one’s behaviour is inconsistent with one’s attitudes or that one holds 2 conflicting attitudes

Question 23

What is the Rationalization Trap?

Answer 23

1. It is an attempts to justify an immoral act or immoral decision in order to reduce dissonance ; it can slowly lead us to become more comfortable with carrying out the act in the future.
2. The more we try to avoid facing our own immorality, the more immoral we will likely become!

Question 24

What is the Justification of Effort?

Answer 24

Justification of effort is the tendency for us to increase our liking for something we have worked hard for (e.g.: initiation rites increases club loyalty; parents extoling parenthood; etc.).

Question 25

How is Insufficient Justification as a Reason for Cognitive Dissonance?

Answer 25

1. When we have an external justification for performing a counter-attitudinal act, we experience little cognitive dissonance, and our attitude doesn’t change.
2. It is only when we cannot find an external justification that cognitive dissonance arise, motivating us to justify our action through changing our attitude

Question 26

What are the 2 Applications of internal justification?

Answer 26

a. Counter-attitudinal advocacy: Having people state publicly an attitude that runs counter to their own attitude ; it has been used to reduce racial prejudice and promote attitudes toward safe sex.
b. Use of mild punishment to reduce unwanted activities: Mild (insufficient) punishment causes dissonance about why one is not engaging in the behaviour that one likes. This leads to devaluation (and abandonment) of the activity over time.

Question 27

what is internal justification?

Answer 27

the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (ones attitude or behaviour)

Question 28

what is insufficient punishment?

Answer 28

the dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually result in individuals devaluing the forbidden activity/object

Question 29

What is self-affirmation theory?

Answer 29

a theory suggesting that people will reduce the impact of a dissonance-arousing threat to their self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat