Introduction to Attitudes Madiha Anas Lecturer Department of Applied Psychology School of Social Sciences Beaconhouse National University

“Attitude”… What does it mean to you?

Attitudes in everyday life

Attitudes in everyday life

… Defining Attitudes An attitude is: “…a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings, and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols” Hogg & Vaughan 2005 “…a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour” Eagly & Chaiken, 1998

How do we form attitudes? Born or made? Are you born with attitudes?

Theories of Attitude Formation

Social Learning Classical conditioning Instrumental conditioning

Social Learning When we interact with others or merely observe their behavior.

1A. Classical Conditioning 1. Social Learning 1A. Classical Conditioning Studies indicate that when initially neutral words are paired with stimuli that elicit strong negative reactions, they acquire the capacity to elicit favorable or unfavorable reactions Racial prejudice

Classical Conditioning in Attitude Formation Stimulus 1 (Member of a Minority Group) Stimulus 2 (Signs of emotional upset on part of parent) Child becomes upset Stimulus 1 (Member of a minority group) Child becomes upset (B)

1B. Instrumental Conditioning How does a three-year old know Toyota is better than Suzuki? Reinforcement! Behaviour toward Attitude Object (e.g., playing with child of another Race) Positive or Negative Reinforcement (+ve = parents approval ve = parents’ Disapproval) Positive or Negative Attitude Toward Attitude Object

Structure of Attitudes

Attitude Structure: Affect Behaviors Cognitions how we feel about people or social objects Behaviors behavior directed at people and social objects Cognitions generalized beliefs about people and social objects

Attitude Structure Three-component model views attitudes as having three components: Affective feelings about the attitude object Behavioural act towards the attitude object in a certain way Cognitive beliefs about the attitude object

Attitude Change

Why discuss persuasion? Up to 3000 advertising messages a day! Include signs, flyers, scented ads, previews Blatant attempts include commercials We like to think that we are smart and thus immune to their deceit Are we?

Attitude Change/Persuasion Persuasion is the power to cause change in one’s actions or beliefs. How to get people to do what you want.

Routes of Persuasion Two routes can be used to persuade Central: relies on facts, figures, and thought. Changes tend to be more permanent due to effortful processing. Peripheral: attempts to persuade you without thought occurring. Relies on emotion. Leads to superficial and temporary change.

Attitude Measurement

Levels of Measurement Nominal – identity preserving Ordinal – order preserving Interval – difference preserving Ratio – ratio preserving The level of measurement is defined by the permissible ways there are of changing the numbers that we assign.

Measurement Scales Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio Are you satisfied with X? ___YES ___ NO Ordinal Rank order X, Y, and Z according to how satisfied you are with them. Interval How satisfied? __Not very … to …__Very satisfied Ratio How satisfied? Very dissatisfied…to…Very satisfied

Guess the scale? ____ Heavy Metal ____ Alternative Which scale is this? Answer: Ordinal Indicate your preferred type of music with a 1, your second favorite with a 2, and so on for each type of music: ____ Heavy Metal ____ Alternative ____ Urban Contemporary ____ Classical ____ Country

Which scale is this? Answer: Ratio (because Not sure = 0 value It is more fun to play a tough, competitive cricket match than to play an easy one. ___Strongly Agree ___Agree ___Not Sure ___Disagree ___Strongly Disagree

More exercise with scales. Favorite color Orange Blue Green White Choose the scale if the question is: Which one is your favorite color? NOMINAL SCALE Rate your favorite, second favorite, third favorite and fourth favorite color. ORDINAL SCALE

Example of ______ scale This year’s psychology course was Very hard Difficult Can’t say Easy Very Easy Answer: Ratio scale (Because “Can’t say” = O

Example of __________ scale This year’s psychology course was Very Hard Somewhat hard Not that hard This is an INTERVAL SCALE. Because each item increases with a consistent interval. No item = O