Attitudes and Attitude Change
Social PsychologyLecture 3
Dr Amanda Rivis
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lecture, and with independent study, you should be able to:
Discuss the origins, structure and functions of attitudes
Evaluate methods for measuring attitudes Discuss the link between attitudes and
behaviour Discuss theories of attitude change
The different origins of Attitudes: Classical Conditioning
Stimulus 2(Visits to Grandmother)
PleasurableFeelings
Stimulus 1(Moth Balls)
(A)
Stimulus 1(Moth Balls)
PleasurableFeelings
(B)
The Different Origins of Attitudes: Instrumental Conditioning
Positive or NegativeAttitude TowardAttitude Object
Positive or NegativeReinforcement
(+ive = parents approval-Ive = parents’Disapproval)
Behaviour towardAttitude Object
(e.g., playing withchild of another
Race)
The Different Origins of Attitudes: Imitation
Social Learning Theory (Bandura 1977):
Attitudes are learned through imitation and modelling. Parents and society influence attitude
Attitude Structure
Three-component model views attitudes as having three components: Affective = feelings about the attitude object Behavioural = predisposition to act towards
the attitude object in a certain way Cognitive = beliefs about the attitude object
Any given attitude may be based in lesser or greater amounts on any of these components
Functions of Attitudes
Value-Expressive function enable us to express who we are and
what we believe inEgo-defensive function
enable us to project internally-held conflicts onto others (e.g., homophobia)
Knowledge function enable us to know the world
Utilitarian Function Enable us to gain rewards and avoid
punishment
How are attitudes measured?Overt Attitude MeasuresSelf-report (single-item) attitude measures Advantages:
Easy and quick to administer Relatively cheap
Disadvantages: Responses may not be reliable, e.g.,
Question wording Mood Social desirability (but see bogus pipeline
technique)
Assume people have an attitude! (cf. “spontaneous” attitudes)
How are attitudes measured?Overt Attitude Measures
Attitude scales Multiple items are used to measure the
same construct Eliminate some of the problems of single-
item measures (e.g., reliability) Some of the more popular scales include:
Likert scale Osgood’s Semantic Differential Scale Expectancy-Value Scale (Fishbein, 1971)
How are attitudes measured?Example of Expectancy-Value ApproachMy using birth control pills…
Belief Strength
Outcome
Evaluations
Product
Is convenient +3 +1 +3
Causes me to gain weight
+3 -2 -6
Gives me guilt feelings
+2 -1 -2
Enables me to regulate the size of my family
+2 +2 +4
Total -1
How are attitudes measured? Covert Measures
Covert Attitude Measures (CAM). These measures use physiological arousal to infer attitudes:
Electro-myograph (EMG). (Petty & Cacioppo 1981) which may include heart rate & pupil dilation
Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) : measures physiological arousal detected through skin resistance (Porier & Lott 1967)
How are attitudes measured? Evaluation of Covert Measures
More objective than self-report measures
Physiological measures (e.g. GSR) can be caused by fear or anger
Physiological measures cannot assess the direction of affective responses
How Well Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Early research evidence suggested a weak to
moderate link between attitudes and behaviour (e.g., LaPiere, 1934; Wicker, 1969)
More recent research has examined moderators of the attitude-behaviour relationship, e.g., Attitude strength Direct experience with the attitude object Attitudinal ambivalence Correspondence of attitudinal and behavioural
measures
How Well Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Correspondence of Attitudinal and Behavioural Measures
Attitude Measure Attitude-Behaviour Correlation
Attitude toward birth control
Attitude toward birth control pills
Attitude toward using birth control pills
Attitude toward using birth control pills
during the next two years
.08
.32
.53
.57
Source: Davidson & Jaccard (1979)
How Well Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour: Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)
This model posits an important mediator of the attitude-behaviour link, namely behavioural ‘intention’
The TPB holds that attitudes combine with other important factors in predicting intentions and, in turn, behaviour:- Perceived social pressure Factors that may facilitate or inhibit
performance of the behaviour
Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991)
PerceivedSocial
Pressure
Perceived Behavioural
Control
Attitudes BehaviourIntention
Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)
According to this approach, attitude change/persuasion influenced by 3 factors:-
Source – originator of communication Message – features of communication
itself Audience – characteristics of who is
receiving the message
Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)
Characteristics of Source
CredibilityExpertiseTrustworthiness
AttractivenessSimilarityAppearance
Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)
Message Factors One-sided vs. Two-sided messages
Order of messagesPrimacy Effects –v-Recency Effects
Repetition
Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)
Characteristics of Audience Distraction Intelligence Self-Esteem (?) Age (18-25 year olds most susceptible)
Problem: what conditions determine the relative importance of these factors?
Petty & Cacioppo’s (1986) Elaboration Likelihood (dual-process) Model of Persuasion (ELM)ELM holds that there are two ‘routes’
to attitude change: Central route to persuasion occurs when
we think critically about message content and are swayed by the strength and quality of its arguments.
Peripheral route to persuasion occurs when we do not do much thinking but are swayed by employing heuristics on the basis of non-content cues (e.g., “experts know best”)
The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986)
Whether persuasion results from the central or the peripheral processing route depends upon:
Ability e.g., attention, ‘receptive’
Motivation Personal Involvement
The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986)
PersuasiveCommunication
Ability & Motivationto pay attention?
No
YesCentral Route to
Persuasion
Peripheral RouteTo persuasion
Attitude Change
Theories of Attitude Change: Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger, 1957)This theory of self-persuasion holds
that:
Cognitive inconsistency creates a state of psychological tension (i.e., “dissonance”)
Such tension is aversive and motivating (where it poses a threat to the self)
Easiest form of dissonance reduction will be adopted
Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Attitude Change: Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behaviour
0
5
10
15
20
25
Rat
ing
of
task
en
joym
ent
No lie $20 lie $1 lie
Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)
Theories of Attitude Change: Bem’s (1965) Self Perception Theory
According to Bem, attitude change does not need to result from dissonance
People infer their attitudes from their behaviour
Cognitive dissonance when attitude-behaviour discrepancy large self-perception when not so large (Fazio, et al. 1977)
Reading
Hogg, M. & Vaughan, G. (2005) Social Psychology (4th Edition) Prentice Hall: London - chapter 5
Brehm, S, Kassin, S. & Fein, S. (2002) Social Psychology. Houghton Mifflin: London - Chapter 6
Aronson, E., Wilson, T., & Akert, R. (2005) Social psychology (5th Edition) - chapter 7
Morgan, C, King, R. & Robinson, N. (1979) Introduction to Psychology. McGrw-Hill: London- Chapter 14