CHAPTER 5 - ATTITUDES. Attitude = person s predisposition or orientation toward some object.

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 5 - ATTITUDES I. HISTORY A. WWII - propaganda & persuasion B. Current - politics - advertisers II. DEFINITION Attitude = person s predisposition or orientation toward some object. Includes: 1) whether we like something 2) how we are likely to behave in response to that something 3) what we know about that something ABCs of attitudes = affect, behavior, & cognition III. ATTITUDE FORMATION A. Learning processes 1. Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning - US -> UR - CS -> CR EX Staats & Staats Nationality Study - words paired with nationalities IV: 1 nationality & pleasant word 1 nationality & unpleasant word Dutch/positive, Swedish/negative or Dutch/negative, Swedish/positive Un/pleasant words = US -> reaction Nationality = CS -> neutral reaction Ss more positive toward nationality paired with positive

2 2. Operant (Skinnerian) Conditioning - effects of reward & punishment on behavior/beliefs 3. Observational Learning (Bandura) - people imitate models B. Personality processes - attitudes can be formed to serve conscious/unconscious needs EX Herek (1987) attitudes towards gays & lesbians - ego-defensive attitudes C. Logical inference processes 1. Influence of beliefs upon attitudes - beliefs = cognitive information - can influence our attitudes Consistency in beliefs & attitudes - Heider s Balance Theory Strongly Neutral Strongly Disagree Agree

3 2. Influence of behaviors on attitudes Festinger s (1957) Cognitive Dissonance Theory - What we DO can influence what we BELIEVE Inconsistency -> unpleasant state of arousal (cognitive dissonance) -> actions/thought to reduce this state of tension Drive state (Drive Reduction Theory) - motivated to satisfy a drive/need - to achieve psychological consistency To reduce dissonance 1. Add more consonant cognitions 2. Change the dissonant element to be more consonant - changing attitudes is easiest EX Sherman & Gorkin Riddle Study - gave Ss a riddle to solve - measured Ss sexist/nonsexist attitudes - dissonance for nonsexist Ss who don t get riddle Low Sexist High Sexist Get riddle no problem no problem Don t get riddle dissonance no dissonance - Ss read about sex discrimination case Dissonance group awarded more money to complainant 1 paradigm = choice studies EX Brehm s Consumer Products 2 nd paradigm Insufficient Justification EX Counterattitudinal essays EX Festinger & Carlsmith $1/$20 - Ss perform boring task - experiment is over - appeal to S for help IV: Offered $1 or $20 for telling next S that experiment is exciting - unrelated experimenter surveyed Ss attitudes $20 reduces dissonance

4 - external justification $1 = insufficient justification -> change attitude to reduce dissonance EX IV: DV: Aronson & Mills Initiation Study - Female Ss recruited for ongoing discussion groups about sex - initiation 1) Control group = admitted to group 2) Mild initiation = read aloud sexual words 3) Severe initiation = recite aloud (to male) obscene words & sexual passages - all Ss heard boring discussion Ss rated how interesting the discussion group was Control & mild groups - said it was truly boring Severe initiation group - lots of dissonance - ratings were much higher ***** Fundamental social psych principle: we value that which is hard to obtain Bem s Self-Perception Theory - CDT requires hypothetical internal process Bem: infer our attitudes simply by observing our behavior - even in absence of tension EX IV: DV: Chaiken & Baldwin - Ecology Study - questionnaire re ecology attitudes ½ Ss would appear pro-ecology ½ Ss would appear anti-ecology Ss rated environmental attitudes - Ss induced to rate attitudes as pro-ecology rated selves as more pro-environment BUT only for Ss with weak attitudes

5 CDT vs. SPT = motivational state CDT: dissonance arouses unpleasant tension person is motivated to reduce SPT: no tension, just cool observation CDT applies to behaviors that violate attitudes important to person - that leads to tension SPT applies when attitudes are weak, uncertain, or less important - tension is not necessary to create attitude change IV. ATTITUDE FUNCTIONS Katz (1960) - attitudes resist change A. Instrumental function - attitudes help obtain rewards & avoid punishments B. Ego-defensive function - attitudes resolve personality conflicts & guard against anxiety C. Knowledge function - attitudes create cohesive & comprehensible world D. Value-expressive function - attitudes express underlying values EX Herek Attitudes toward Gays - analyzed content of essays to determine functions attitudes serve 3 different functions - knowledge/instrumental - ego-defensive - value-expressive 64% of essays = 1 function 34% = 2+ functions an attitude can serve > 1 function

6 V. ATTITUDES & BEHAVIORS Do people behave in a manner consistent with their attitudes? - prediction of 1-to-1 correspondence Wicker (1969) review - attitudes correlated very little with behavior (.30) EX La Piere (1934) - attitudes & behavior toward Asians - virtually unrelated La Piere traveled U.S. with Chinese couple - stopped at motels/restaurants - treated well - got 128 responses to questionnaire Wicker s conclusion -> why bother changing attitudes: won t change behavior Changed the question - WHEN are attitudes related to behavior - under WHAT circumstances

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