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Chapter 6: Attitudes

Terms in this set (38)

attitude
a positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object or idea
need for evaluation
if this need is high, you are likely to view daily experiences in judgmental terms and you likely have strong opinions
attitude scales
multiple-item questionnaires designed to measure a person's attitude toward some subject; a type of self-report measure
bogus pipeline
a phony lie-detector device that is sometimes used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions
physiological arousal
can tell us the intensity of our attitudes, but not whether they are positive or negative attitudes; ex. love and hate look very much the same
facial electromyograph
aka EMG; an electronic instrument that records facial muscle activity associated with emotions and attitudes; muscles around the eyebrows/forehead activated = disagree; muscles around the mouth/cheeks activated = agree
implicit attitude
an attitude, such as prejudice, that one is not aware of having
Implicit Association Test
aka IAT; a covert measure of unconscious attitudes derived from the speed at which people respond to pairings of concepts - such as black or white with good or bad; a slower speed at black/good and white/bad pairings likely shows implicit racism
attitude formation
results from exposure to attitude objects; our history of rewards and punishments; the attitudes that our parents, friends, and enemies express; the social and cultural context in which we live; and possibly our genetic makeup; basically, results from processes of learning
theory of planned behavior
the theory that attitudes toward a specific behavior combine with subjective norms and perceived control to influence a person's actions
subjective norms
our beliefs about what others think we should do
strength of an attitude
attitudes are strong if the issues involved 1. directly affect you, 2. are related to deeply held values, and 3. are important to friends, family, or social ingroups; indicated by amount of information on which the attitudes are based and also by how the information is acquired; can be increased by an attack against it from a persuasive message
persuasion
the process by which attitudes are changed; requires reception, elaboration, and acceptance
central route to persuasion
the process by which a person thinks carefully about a communication and is influenced by the strength of its arguments
peripheral route to persuasion
the process by which a person does not think carefully about a communication and is influenced instead by superficial cues
elaboration
the process of thinking about and scrutinizing the arguments contained in a persuasive communication; Greenwald said this came between reception and acceptance
overcorrection
sometimes people fear they are biased or overly influenced by nonrelevant factors and then try to correct for that bias, but they go too far in correcting for that bias
heuristics
rules of thumb; help us evaluate information in a predictable way based on simple factors; can lead to bias or error, or be accurate
the source
one of three factors that influence which persuasion route is chosen; must be credible (seen as competent and trustworthy) and likable to be effective
sleeper effect
a delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a noncredible source; happens because we often remember what we read but not who said it and whether or not it was a credible source
the message
the second of three factors that influence which persuasion route is chosen; longer = will seem valid to those taking the peripheral route, but length is a double-edged sword if the audience takes the central route (longer because more supporting info = effective; if new evidence is weak or new sources are redundant = less effective); order of presentation may matter (primacy effect vs recency effect); effective if moderately discrepant
emotion and persuasion
scare tactics are often used in persuasive arguments; arousing fear increases the incentive for change for those who don't actively resist it, but its ultimate impact depends on the strength of the arguments and on whether the message also contains reassuring advice on how to cope with the threatened danger; on the other hand, people are "soft touches" when in a good mood = ripe for persuasion
subliminal messages
messages presented in commercials that are outside of conscious awareness; only influences behavior if it is presented "while the iron is hot"; ex. presenting thirsty people with the name of a specific brand of soft drink was effective, but not for non-thirsty people
the audience
the last of three factors that influence which persuasion route is chosen; few people are consistently easy or difficult to persuade; however, certain personality characteristics can determine what kind of argument is most likely to persuade you
need for cognition
a personality variable that distinguishes people on the basis of how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities; high-NC = often persuaded by informative arguments; low-NC = often persuaded by peripheral cues
self-monitoring and persuasion
high self-monitors regulate their behavior from one situation to another out of concern for public self-presentation and are likely to be responsive to messages promising desirable social images; low self-monitors are less image conscious and behave instead according to their own beliefs, values, and preferences and are likely to be responsive to messages that are information-oriented
forewarning
more of this = more time to create counter-arguments, therefore more resistant to change; also, if known ahead of time that the speaker will try to change your opinion = more resistant to change
inoculation hypothesis
the idea that exposure to weak versions of a persuasive argument increases later resistance to that argument
psychological reactance
the theory that people react against threats to their freedom by asserting themselves and perceiving the threatened freedom as more attractive
culture and persuasion
members of individualistic cultures are more likely to be persuaded when ads focus on personal benefits, individuality, competition, and self-improvement; influenced by celebrities talking about using the product or by seeing celebrities use a product; members of collectivistic cultures are more likely to be persuaded when ads focus on the integrity, achievement, and well-being of one's ingroups; influenced by appeals to belongingness, family, and traditional values (less influenced by individual celebrities)
cognitive dissonance theory
the theory that holding inconsistent cognitions arouses psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce
Festinger and Carlsmith experiment
1959 experiment where a participant did simple, boring motor tasks (ex. turning pegs in square holes for 30 minutes, then taking spools of thread off of a board and putting them back on); some participants are then told they are in the control group and that you should tell the next participant that the experiment is fun and exciting (to see how motivation affects performance); some participants are offered one dollar for this, others $20. Those who didn't have to lie and those paid $20 to lie said the experiment was boring, while those paid $1 to lie rated the task as more enjoyable; disproved the idea that big rewards produce greater change; more money = feel more justified and less likely to change attitudes; small reward = insufficient justification for attitude-discrepant behavior
insufficient justification
a condition in which people freely perform an attitude-discrepant behavior without receiving a large reward
insufficient deterrence
a condition in which people refrain from engaging in a desirable activity, even when only mild punishment is threatened
justifying effort
people come to like what they suffer for, since they would be anxious if the outcome was disappointing (see dissonance theory); investing more effort and more time = more concerned about the outcome
self-perception theory
challenges dissonance theory by saying we observe ourselves and the circumstances of our behavior, and that these considerations lead to self-persuasion (not caused by the need to reduce tension or justify our actions, as in dissonance theory)
impression-management theory
challenges dissonance theory in saying that what matters isn't a motive to be consistent but a motive to APPEAR to be consistent; we calibrate our attitudes and behaviors publicly in order to present ourselves to others in a particular light and/or to avoid being responsible for unpleasant consequences
self-esteem theories
these theories challenge dissonance theory in saying that acts that arouse dissonance do so because they threaten the self-concept, making the person feel guilty, dishonest, or hypocritical; if this is the case, we change our attitudes in order to repair damage to the self (not to resolve cognitive inconsistency as in dissonance theory)
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