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The Nature of Attitudes
• Attitudes central topic of study in social psychology.
• 3 Approaches to Understanding Nature of Attitudes:– Attitudes as Evaluations– Attitudes as Memories– ABC Tripartite Model of Attitudes
Attitudes as Evaluations
• Learned predispositions to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner to a particular person, object or idea.
• Represent positive or negative evaluation of an individual, behavior, belief or thing.
+ Women have the right to choose
- Abortion is immoral
+ Abortion is permissible in the first trimester
- Abortion is an invasive medical procedure
+ Abortion solves societal problems
Abortion
Attitudes as Memories
• Some regard as a set of memories that link cognitions regarding the topic about which the attitude is held.
• An attitude is a set of inter-related memories about a particular person, object or idea.
Attitudes as Memories
• Memories about different types of information– Beliefs, feelings, & behavior concerning the target.
• When a stimulus triggers one of these memories, activates entire network of related memories having to do with the object of the attitude.
ABC Tripartite Model of Attitudes
• Focuses on underlying structure of attitudes.
• 3 Components:– Affective component – encompasses emotional
reactions (negative and positive)• Strong positive or negative emotions associated with…
– Behavioral component – Predispositions or intention to act in a way that reflects the attitude
• Refers to your intention to participate in a pro-abortion or anti-abortion rally; or whether you will have one yourself.
ABC Tripartite Model of Attitudes
• Focuses on underlying structure of attitudes.– Cognitive component – Your beliefs or thoughts about
the object of the attitude• e.g., may hold a strong religious belief that may shape your
view of abortion as a legitimate procedure.
Affective Component
I have anxiety about the procedure
I am relieved not to have an out-of-wedlock child
Behavioral Component
I intend to seek an abortion if necessary
Cognitive Component
Abortion is a women’s right
Abortion is not morally wrong
Abortion
Formation & Maintenance of Attitudes: Affect-Based Explanations
• Mere Exposure Effect Tendency to develop more positive feelings toward objects/individuals the more we are exposed to them.– Does not require behavior nor formation of
beliefs
• Classical Conditioning
Formation & Maintenance of Attitudes:
Behavioral & Cognitive Explanations• Operant Conditioning
– Reinforcing behaviors congruent with attitude
• Social Learning– Reinforcement of imitative behavior– Vicarious reinforcement
Formation & Maintenance of Attitudes:
Somatokinesthesia• Facial expression, head movement & body
posture can affect attitude.– Pen in the mouth study– Facial Feedback Hypothesis
• Consistent w/ Self-Perception Theory
– Vascular Theory of Emotion• smiling causes air-cooled blood flow to brain
– Similar findings for posture
Formation & Maintenance of Attitudes:
Functional Approach• Develop & change attitude to satisfy psychological
need.
• Instrumental Attitude - based on cost/benefit of the attitude object.– e.g., positive attitudes for acceptance by others
• Symbolic Attitude - Object perceived not as it is, but as symbol of something else– e.g., environmentally conscious company
Psychological Function of Attitudes
Type of Attitude Function Served Perspective
Utilitarian Achieve rewards; gain approval Behaviorist
Knowledge Structure world; make sense Cognitive
Ego Defense Protect from self-truth Psychoanal
Value-Expressive Express self-concept Humanistic
Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?
• LaPiere (1934)
• Factors:– Level of attitude-behavior specificity
• e.g., Chinese in general v. specific couple
– Time factors• Greater the interval between measurement & behavior - the
higher the discrepancy
– Private v. Public Self-Awareness
Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?
• Factors:– Attitude strength
• Acquiring more information
• Personal involvement
• Direct experience
– Attitude accessibility• presidential election study
• Availability heuristic
IV = Self-Awareness
DV = Attitude Behavior Consistency
Mirror No Mirror
12% Took More Candy
34% Took More Candy
Beaman et al, 1979
Attitudes Toward a Behavior
• Fishbein & Ajzen (1975)
• If goal is to predict specific behavior, measure of attitude should be compatible w/ measure of behavior.– Behaviors specified along 4 dimensions:
• Action
• Target
• Context
• Time
Element Specified Measured Attitude Correlation w/ behavior
None Birth Control .08
Target B.C. Pills .32
Target/Action Using B.C. Pills .53
Target/Action/Time Using B.C Pills next 2 years .57
Davidson & Jaccard, 1979
Subjective Norms
• Judgement about whether other people will approve of a particular behavior.
• 2 Factors– Perceived expectations of significant others– One’s motivation to conform to those
expectations
Perceived Behavioral Control
• One’s perception of how easy/difficult to perform behavior– e.g., stopping smoking
Cognitive Consistency & Attitudes
• Cognitive Consistency– Introduced by Fritz Heider (1946)– has its roots in Gestalt Psychology
• Expect & prefer perceptions to be coherent & harmonious
– The tendency to seek consistency in one’s cognitions
Cognitive Dissonance
• Although appear to be logical in our thinking & behavior…– Engage in irrational & maladaptive behavior
behavior to maintain cognitive consistency
Cognitive Dissonance
• We all have cognitions (pieces of knowledge)– About attitudes, past behaviors, current states of the
world, etc.
• Dissonant w/ each other when 1 follows from the opposite of the other – “I believe in gun control & I own a gun”– “I believe in democracy & I don’t vote”
Cognitive Dissonance
• Dissonance can arise between…– Cognitive & affective component of an attitude– Affect felt toward a person & his/her behavior– Cognitions & behavior/behavioral intentions
Cognitive Dissonance
• Dissonant cognitions cause an aversive motivational state (tension, irritation)– We are motivated to reduce aversive state
• Change 1 cognition– “I smoke so little that it hardly counts as smoking”
• Add consonant cognitions– Nobody in my family has ever had cancer, and my other good health habits compensate for
the cigarettes I smoke
• Reduce importance of 1 cognition– “Although some do die…”
• Deny that cognitions are related – “I don’t believe that smoking causes lung cancer”
Insufficient Justification
• People perform, for a minimal inducement, a behavior that is discrepant with attitudes.
• Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)
Arousal or Attribution?
• Dissonance theory assumes physio. arousal as basis of attitude change– Evidence that attribution may also be involved
• Self-Perception Theory– We infer our attitudes from our behavior
• BEHAVIOR CAUSES ATTITUDES
– Placebo studies