1. Chapter 4: Attitudes

2. Attitudes Evaluations of any aspect of our social world. Automobiles
Abortion
President Bush

3. Why Study Attitudes? Attitudes are important because they:
strongly influence our social thought
help to organize and evaluate stimuli (e.g., categorizing stimuli as positive or negative)
presumably have a strong affect on behavior
help to predict people’s behavior in wide range of contexts (e.g., voting, interpersonal relations)
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.5 4 10 10

4. Attitudes How are attitudes formed? Do attitudes influence behavior?
How are messages persuasive?
Can our behavior influence our attitudes?
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.4 4 10 10

5. Attitude Structure Affect Cognition Behavior Gun Control
Affect: “Guns make me sick!”
Affect
Behavior: “I vote for gun control
whenever possible.”
Cognition
Cognition: “Guns in the house
increase the likelihood of children
accidentally shooting themselves.”
Behavior

6. Attitude Formation social learning- acquire attitudes from others
classical conditioning- learning based on association
subliminal conditioning- without awareness
instrumental conditioning- learn to hold the “right” views
observational learning- learning by observing actions of others and exposure to mass media
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.6 4 10 10

7. Attitude Formation (con’t)
social comparison- compare ourselves to others to determine if our view of reality is correct
attitudes are shaped by social information from others we like or respect
genetic factors- inherited general dispositions (e.g., see world in a positive or negative light)
highly heritable attitudes and gut-level preferences (music) are especially influenced
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.7 4 10 10

8. Summary Attitudes are evaluations of any aspect of our social world
Attitudes are often learned
Attitudes are also formed through social comparison
New research suggests attitudes are influenced by genetic factors

9. Attitude-Behavior Link
Attitudes do not always predict behavior
LaPiere (1934) found that virtually all businesses served Chinese couple courteously, yet most owners held negative attitudes
Sun-worshippers know the dangers of exposure to the sun, yet they tan anyway
“looking good” attitude takes precedence over attitudes toward personal health
Forward
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.8 4 10 10

10. Would you serve Chinese people?
LaPiere Study
Would you serve Chinese people?
Back

11. Moderators of A-B Link Aspects of the situation Aspects of attitudes
situational constraints (e.g., sparing one’s feelings) may prevent us from expressing our true attitudes
often we choose situations where we can engage in behaviors consistent with our attitudes
Aspects of attitudes
origins- how attitudes were formed
strength- intensity, importance, accessibility
specificity- general vs. specific
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.9 4 10 10

12. How Do Attitudes Influence Behavior?
Theory of planned behavior (considered)
intentions are a function of attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control
Attitude-to behavior process model (impulsive)
attitudes spontaneously shape our behavior of situation
Prototype/willingness model (risky)
behavior is a function of attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, behavior intentions, willingness to engage in specific form of behavior, and prototypes
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.10 4 10 10

13. Theory of Planned Behavior
Attitudes
Subjective
Norms
Behavioral
Intentions
Behavior
Perceived
Behavioral
Control
Back

14. Attitude to Behavior Process Model
Perception of
Event
Social
Norms
Event
Attitude
Behavior
Back

15. Prototype/Willingness Model
Previous
Behavior
Attitude
Behavioral
Intentions
Willingness
Subjective
Norms
Prototype
Back

16. Summary
Several factors moderate the link between attitudes and behaviors.
Situational constraints may prevent us from expressing our attitudes.
We often engage in activities that allow us to express our attitudes.
Attitude formation, attitude strength, and attitude specificity also moderate the A-B link.
Attitudes influence behavior through several mechanisms.

17. Attitude Structure Affect Cognition Behavior Gun Control
Affect: “Guns make me sick!”
Affect
Behavior: “I vote for gun control
whenever possible.”
Cognition
Cognition: “Guns in the house
increase the likelihood of children
accidentally shooting themselves.”
Behavior

18. Attitude Functions Knowledge function Self-expression function
attitudes help organize and evaluate information
Self-expression function
attitudes help people express central values or beliefs
Self-esteem function
attitudes help people build and maintain self-esteem

19. Cognitive Approach to Attitude Change
Persuasion
efforts to change attitudes through various kinds of messages.
Early persuasion research focused on:
The communicator (source)
What they said (message)
Who was listening (audience)
Research suggests there are two routes through which information is processed
The Elaboration-Likelihood Model

20. Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Nonverbal
cues
important
Argument
strength
unimportant
Message
unimportant,
uninteresting
Heuristic
processing
Peripheral Route
Nonverbal
cues
unimportant
Argument
strength
important
Message
important,
interesting
Systematic
processing
Central Route

21. Source and Message Characteristics
Important Nonverbal Cues
Credibility
expertise
trustworthiness
Attractiveness
Speaking style
Important Message Characteristics
soft sell is often better than over persuasion
if audience is skeptical- use two-sided message

22. Factors Influencing Information Processing
We tend to use systematic processing when:
we are strongly motivated
accuracy motivation
impression motivation
defensive motivation
we have a high ability to do so
We tend to use heuristic processing when:
we are unmotivated
we lack the ability to systematically process info

23. Is Resistance Futile? Audience Effects
When systematic processing occurs, it is our reaction to the message that counts. - reactance
forewarning- prior knowledge of persuasion
increase arguments for and counterarguments against
selective avoidance- avoid contradictory info.
channel surf, tune out certain info.
biased assimilation- perceive information that disconfirms our views as unreliable
attitude polarization- interpret mixed evidence in ways that strengthen existing views

24. Summary: ELM Central Route Persuasive Response Appeal Peripheral
Analytical
&
Motivated
High effort
Elaborate
Agree
Counter-
argue
Strong
arguments
cause
enduring
agreement
Not
analytical or
involved
Low effort:
Use
peripheral
cues,
heuristics
Cues
trigger
liking
acceptance
Persuasive
Appeal
Response
Audience
Processing
Persuasion
Central
Route
Peripheral

25. Behavioral Approach to Attitude Change
Cognitive Dissonance- unpleasant state resulting from inconsistency between attitudes and behavior
Dissonance can occur in a number of ways
Selecting between two reasonably attractive alternatives
Lying (Engaging in counterattitudinal behavior)
Baron & Byrne- Social Psychology 9/e, Allyn and Bacon
4.15 4 8 8

26. Back

27. Induced Compliance Study
$20
Told next person
tasks were fun
and interesting
Asked how
much they
enjoyed experiment
Boring
Tasks
Told next person
tasks were fun
and interesting $1

28. Festinger & Carlsmith Study Results

29. Reducing Cognitive Dissonance
Ways to reduce dissonance (e.g., “dieter binges”)
Direct methods
change attitude to be consistent with behavior
“diets don’t really work anyway”
acquire supporting information
“many overweight people live long healthy lives”
trivialize the behaviors in question
“looking thin is not all that important”
Indirect methods
restore positive self-evaluations
“I like the way I look, regardless of my weight”
distractions

30. Affective Approach to Attitude Change
Inducing fear - works best when you also offer advice or coping strategy (how to avoid danger)
cigarette smoking
condom usage
drinking and driving
Inducing good feelings
enhance positive thinking
unhappy people think more before making decisions
“rose colored glasses”
associate message with good feelings