93a87b8322
- Fixed some of the tittle and course name. - Fixed index.
163 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
163 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
# 4. Attitudes
|
||
|
||
> PSYG2504 Social Psychology
|
||
|
||
*Our <u>evaluations</u> of any aspects of the social world (including people, objects and ideas).*
|
||
Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond favorably or unfavorably to objects, people, and events
|
||
|
||
## 4.1 Attitudes
|
||
|
||
**Three components of attitude:**
|
||
|
||
### 4.1.1 Affectively Based Attitude
|
||
|
||
*An attitude based more on people’s feelings and values.*
|
||
Regarding the positive and negative feelings regarding the stimulus.
|
||
People vote more with their hearts than their minds.
|
||
|
||
We feel strongly attracted to something (or a person), despite the negative belief about him/her (e.g. knowing that the person is a “bad influence”).
|
||
|
||
### 4.1.2 Behaviorally Based Attitude
|
||
|
||
*An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an object.*
|
||
Based on observations of how one behaviors toward an object.
|
||
|
||
Do you like Apple products? If you use many Apple products, you may think you really like this brand.
|
||
|
||
### 4.1.3 Cognitively Based Attitude
|
||
|
||
*An attitude based on people’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object.*
|
||
|
||
Implicit attitudes are rooted in people’s childhood experiences, while explicit attitudes are formed in recent experiences (Rudman, Phelan & Heppen, 2007).
|
||
|
||
- **Explicit attitudes**
|
||
Consciously endorse and easily to report
|
||
E.g. I dislike people who are always late
|
||
- **Implicit attitudes**
|
||
Exist outside of conscious awareness
|
||
Test by Implicit Association Test (IAT)
|
||
|
||
### 4.1.4 Attitudes influence Cognitions
|
||
|
||
IAT: a test that measures the speed with which people can pair a target face (e.g. Black/White, old/young; Asian/White) with positive or negative stimuli (e.g. the words honest or evil) reflecting unconscious (implicit) prejudices.
|
||
People respond more quickly when white faces are paired with positive words and vice versa.
|
||
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html
|
||
|
||
## 4.2 Attitudes formation
|
||
|
||
### 4.2.1 Social learning
|
||
|
||
*The process that we acquire new information, forms of behavior, or attitudes from other people.*
|
||
i.e. by interacting with others, or observing others’ behaviors (imitation)
|
||
|
||
Social learning occurs in three processes:
|
||
|
||
- Classical conditioning (learning based on association)
|
||
- Instrumental/operant conditioning (rewards)
|
||
- Observational learning
|
||
|
||
### 4.2.2 Classical conditioning
|
||
|
||
*A basic form of learning in which one stimulus, initially neutral, acquires the capacity to evoke reactions through repeated pairing with another stimulus.*
|
||
|
||
### 4.2.3 Instrumental/operant conditioning
|
||
|
||
*A form of learning whereby a behavior followed by a positive response is more likely to be repeated.*
|
||
|
||
E.g. Insko (1965) showed that participants’ responses to an attitude survey were influenced by positive feedback on the responses they gave a week earlier.
|
||
Reinforcing one’s attitudes with positive feedback means that the attitudes are more likely to survive and be expressed on other occasions.
|
||
|
||
### 4.2.4 Observational learning
|
||
|
||
*A basic form of learning in which individuals acquire new forms of behavior as a result of observing others.*
|
||
|
||
## 4.3 Attitudes predict deliberative behavior
|
||
### 4.3.1 Theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991)
|
||
|
||
Several factors, including subjective norms, attitudes towards the behavior and perceived behavioral control, determine behavioral intentions concerning the behavior, and, in turn, intentions strongly determine whether the behavior is performed.
|
||
|
||
![Picture1.jpg](https://photo-1303301880.cos.ap-guangzhou.myqcloud.com/2024/05/11/663f827e3d12e.jpg)
|
||
|
||
## 4.4 Why does action/behaviour affect our attitude?
|
||
### 4.4.1 Cognitive dissonance
|
||
|
||
*The discomfort that is caused when two cognitions conflict, or when our behavior conflicts with our attitudes.*
|
||
Dissonance is most painful, and we are most motivated to reduce it, when one of the dissonant cognitions challenge our self-esteem (Aronson, 1969)
|
||
|
||
#### Three ways to reduce dissonance:
|
||
|
||
- Changing our behavior to make it consistent with the cognition/attitude.
|
||
- Attempting to justify our behavior through changing one of the dissonant cognition/attitude.
|
||
- Attempting to justify our behavior by adding new cognitions.
|
||
|
||
#### Less-leads-to-more effect
|
||
|
||
*Less reasons or rewards for an action often leads to greater attitude change.*
|
||
|
||
**Festinger and Carlsmith’s (1959) experiment: **
|
||
Performing a dull task for an hour: turning wooden knobs.
|
||
Effect of preconceptions on performance.
|
||
Manipulation: \$1, \$20 or no lie.
|
||
Results?
|
||
|
||
#### Insufficient Justification
|
||
*The less incentive one has for performing a counter-attitudinal behavior, the more dissonance is experienced.*
|
||
Needs to reduce the dissonance internally Vs Overjustification effect.
|
||
|
||
The effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do
|
||
the person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task.
|
||
Children promised a reward for playing an interesting puzzle or toy
|
||
|
||
**Four conditions to produce dissonance:**
|
||
|
||
1. The person has to realize that the *inconsistency has negative consequences* – e.g. the smokers realize smoking causes ill health
|
||
2. The person has to *take responsibility* for the action – e.g. smokers are freely responsible for the decision to smoke
|
||
3. The person has to *experience physiological arousal* – e.g. smoking causes anxiety as it could cause ill health
|
||
4. The person has to *attribute the feeling of physiological arousal to the action itself* - e.g. smokers need to be able to link the feeling and the behaviour
|
||
|
||
#### Alternative strategies to resolve/reduce dissonance
|
||
|
||
- Change the behaviour to more consistent with our attitude.
|
||
E.g. smoking fathers quit smoking.
|
||
- Acquiring new information to support our behaviour.
|
||
E.g. finding evidence that smoking away from the children would do no harm.
|
||
- Deciding that the dissonance is not important.
|
||
Smoking in the presence of children is not important.
|
||
|
||
#### Indirect methods to reduce dissonance
|
||
|
||
**To restore positive self-evaluations:**
|
||
*Self-affirmation – restoring positive self-evaluations that are threatened by the dissonance.*
|
||
E.g. Smoking father does not focus on his smoking behavior; but a responsible father as he earns the living.
|
||
|
||
#### Dissonance can be a tool for beneficial changes in behavior
|
||
|
||
*Hypocrisy induction – The arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run counter to their behaviors and then reminding them of the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behavior.*
|
||
The purpose is to lead individuals to more responsible behavior.
|
||
|
||
Aronson, Fried, & Stone (1991); Stone et al. (1994)
|
||
|
||
Asking college students to compose a speech describing the dangers of AIDS, advocating the use of condoms (safe sex)
|
||
Group 1: students merely composed the arguments
|
||
Group 2: after composing the arguments, the students were to recite them in front of a video camera and were told that the audience were high school students
|
||
Highest dissonance: Group 2
|
||
|
||
### 4.4.2 Self-perception theory (Bem, 1972)
|
||
|
||
*When we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer our attitudes from our behavior and the circumstances in which this behavior occurs.*
|
||
e.g. You choose to eat oranges from a basket of seven kinds of fruit and somebody asks you how you feel about oranges.
|
||
|
||
For 10 years the Cognitive dissonance theory was the only theoretical interpretation of effects of behaviors on attitude change.
|
||
|
||
Self-perception theory and cognitive dissonance theory make similar predictions but for different reasons.
|
||
Same prediction on Festinger and Carlsmith’s (1957) experiment.
|
||
|
||
#### Why the actions affect the attitudes?
|
||
|
||
- Cognitive dissonance theory – we justify our behavior to reduce the internal discomfort
|
||
- Self-perception theory – we observe the behavior and make reasonable inferences about our attitude
|
||
|
||
#### Both theories may be correct:
|
||
|
||
- Self-perception theory seems more applicable when people are unfamiliar with the issues or the issues are vague, minor, or uninvolving
|
||
- Cognitive dissonance theory seems more applicable to explaining people’s behavior concerning controversial, engaging, and enduring issues |