Week 2 - Attitudes

Question 1

Attitude

Answer 1

A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object or idea

Question 2

Two ways of measuring attitudes

Answer 2

Direct - asking for attitudes, opinions, - Indirect, - covert

Question 3

Self-report measures are susceptible to influence by (3)

Answer 3

• wording - context - honesty -> social desirability

Question 4

Bogus Pipeline

Answer 4

A fake lie-detector device - increase accuracy of self-report measures and reduces social desirability bias

Question 5

Examples of covert measures

Answer 5

• Overt behav
• Lost letter technique
• IAT
• EMG

Question 6

Lost letter technique

Answer 6

• Milgram hid self-addressed envelopes around NYC with differing adressees (I.e John Smith or Nazi Support Group) in the 50s and counted how many returned (control vs nazi)

Question 7

LaPiere hotel & restaurant study in 1934

Answer 7

1 out of 250 refused service - later 90 % said they would have refused service

(Researcher and Chinese American couple eating in hotels and restaurants)

Indicates that there is a mismatch between attitudes and behaviour - social desirability

Question 8

1969 - meta analysis attitudes and behav corre.

Answer 8

only weakly correlated

Question 9

1995 - Meta analysis attitudes and behav

Answer 9

“Attitudes predict future behaviour” under certain conditions

Question 10

Factors influencing the link between attitudes and behaviour

Answer 10

1) context 2) strength

Question 11

Context influence on attitudes and behav

Answer 11

1) Level of correspondence (Similarity) between behav and attitude
2) Theory of planned behav

Question 12

Theory of planned behaviour

Answer 12

• attitudes affect behaviour as well as other factors; contextual subjective norm, and perceived behaviour control
• ^ influence the intention to perform behaviour < other factors influence this intention before leading to the actual behaviour

Question 13

Ways strong attitudes are formed (4)

Answer 13

1) More informed
2) Direct, personal experience
3) Resistance to a personal message
4) Accessibility

Question 14

When do attitudes predict behaviour?

Answer 14

When they are strong and specific

Question 15

Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986)

Answer 15

Two routes - Central and peripheral

Question 16

Three factors determining the route

Answer 16

1) The source
2) message
3) audience

Question 17

Central Route of ELM

Answer 17

Think carefully about message; influenced by strength and quality (high likelihood of elaboration)

Question 18

Peripheral Route of ELM

Answer 18

• Do not think carefully about message; influenced by superficial cues (low elaboration)

Question 19

Heuristics - Peripheral Route (5)

Answer 19

1) Numbers and big words 2) corresponding values 3) famous or successful people 4) High consensus 5) sex

Question 20

The source - effective speakers are determined by

Answer 20

credibility and likeability

Question 21

Credibility is influenced by

Answer 21

how competent and trustworthy the speaker seems

Question 22

Likeability is influenced by

Answer 22

similarity and physical attractiveness

Question 23

Source vs message

Answer 23

Involvement: High vs low Argument: strong vs weak Source: Expert vs non-expert

Question 24

Sleeper effect

Answer 24

Over time the credible source is less credible, and the less credible source seems more credible (Over time source no longer matters) - unless reminded of the source

Question 25

Persuasiveness of messages determined by (5)

Answer 25

1) Informational strategies 2) Message discrepancy 3) Fear appeals 4) positive emotions 5) Subliminal Messages

Question 26

Informational strategies (2)

Answer 26

1) Length - Peripheral route - longer messages; central route - better messages 2) Order - Primacy effect? Recency effect? > depends on delay

Question 27

Which two conditions are ideal in preventing recency and primacy effects?

Answer 27

3 & 4 (Message 1 Message 2 Decision) (Message 1 - 1 week delay) (Message 2) (1 week delay) (decision)

Question 28

How discrepant should the message be?

Answer 28

Moderately discrepant messages are most persuasive

Question 29

Fear is effective in persuading people when (2)

Answer 29

1) Arguments are strong 2) Solutions are included - i.e sunscreen can help prevent skin cancer

Question 30

Effect of positive emotions on persuasion

Answer 30

• peripheral route - cognitively distracted - let guard down - want to stay happy

Question 31

Subliminal Messages

Answer 31

-/Priming only has short term effects

Question 32

Which personality trait is most easy to persuade?

Answer 32

none - persuasion is determined by match between message and audience

Question 33

Factors influencing the match between audience and message (3)

Answer 33

1) Need for cognition - Individual difference -> some people like to think, some people don’t 2) Self-monitoring -> High SM influenced by image -> Low SM persuaded by information 3) Forewarning & resistance

Question 34

Inoculation Hypothesis

Answer 34

Exposure to weak versions of a persuasive argument increases later resistance to that argument

Question 35

Psychological reactance

Answer 35

People will react negatively to threats against their right to make their own choices

Question 36

Original Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Answer 36

Holding inconsistent cognitions arouses psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce

Question 37

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)

Answer 37

• Boring task 1 hour -> tell the next participant it was fun (control vs $1 vs $20) -> later and unrelated -> rated the experiment (People believe the lie more strongly if they only receive a small reward compared to none or a large reward)

Question 38

cultural influences on cognitive dissonance.

Answer 38

In Western cultures, individuals are expected to make decisions that are consistent with their personal attitudes and to make those decisions free from outside influences.

In East Asian cultures, however, individuals are also expected to make decisions that benefit their ingroup members

Question 39

“new look” of cognitive dissonance and how it expands upon the original
theory

Answer 39

According to Cooper and Fazio, four steps are necessary for both the arousal and reduction of dissonance

First, the attitude-discrepant behavior must produce unwanted negative consequences

2. feeling of personal responsibility for the unpleasant outcomes of behavior.

third necessary step in the process is physiological arousal

4. A person must also make an attribution for that arousal to his or her own behavior

Question 40

self-perception theory

Answer 40

The theory that when internal cues are difficult to interpret, people gain self-insight by observing their own behavior.

Question 41

impression-management theory

Answer 41

which says that what matters is not a motive to be consistent but a motive to appear consistent.

Question 42

theories of self-esteem

Answer 42

According to Elliot Aronson, acts that arouse dissonance do so because they threaten the self-concept, making the person feel guilty, dishonest, or hypocritical, and motivating a change in attitude or future behavior