Originally meant as indicating physical properties such as
a position of the body, figure, or statue. Later, in aeronautics, it refers to orientation of an aircraft relative to the horizon.
Leaning Stance Position Direction A more current definition of attitude ---
A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor * * From: Eagley and Chaiken (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes. Components of Attitudes A) Affective (Emotional)
B) Behavioral
C) Cognitive (Thinking) Evaluation Process Stimuli Observable Inferred Attitude Cognition Affect Behavior Observable WHO Communicator Variables
Examples:
Credibility
Attractiveness
Status
Message Variables
Examples:
Single personal example versus factual
Fear appeals
One-sided versus two-sided arguments
Repetition Audience Variables
Examples:
Knowledge
Personality (e.g., self-esteem)
Pre-existing attitudes
Gender Basic factors that influence persuasion What To Whom Text (in favor of fluoride) versus Factual approach Emotional approach Campaign For and Against Adding Fluoride to Drinking Water (Against fluoride) Dont Put Rat Poison in Your Drinking Water Which approach would be the most effective? Text (in favor of energy conservation in homes) Campaign to Make Homes More Energy Efficient Factual approach Emotional approach Which approach would be the most effective? Fear Appeals Do they work? Create a lot of fear in the message (within ethical limits) Give audience additional information on how to deal with their fear (e.g., where to go, when, why) Self-esteem Personal relevance Perception of control Influence of other factors Examples of Fear Mesages Drunk driving
Drug Use
Seat Belt Use
Skin Cancer
Condom Use Odds of negative outcome (low)
Time frame may be long between behavior and negative outcome
Abiliity fo control behavior (e.g., habit, addiction) Why May They Not Work? Traditional Persuasion Techniques
A) Greater rewards lead to more responses
B) Greater punishment leads to less responses
C) Use of "credible" sources (experts, authority figures)
D) Use of conformity paradigms (e.g., Asch, Sherif)
Some Weaknesses of Traditional Persuasion Approachs
A) Effects not very strong
B) Short-term effects
C) Limited to less important issues THEORY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (1957) BASIC HYPOTHESIS The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try and reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance Attitude
Behavior inconsistent with the attitude Creation of dissonance Leon Festinger Some Options 1) Change behavior (e.g., Throw pack away)
2) Change cognitions (e.g., Smoking isnt all that bad; I dont really smoke that much)
3) Add supporting cognitions (e.g., Smoking relaxes me it helps me think better Attitude: Im not going to smoke cigarettes anymore) Behavior: Smoke cigarettes COGNITIVE DISSONANCE FESTINGER & CARLSMITH (1$ - $20 Study)
Perform boring task
Asked to tell participant that the task was interesting $1 $20 Rate task Which group rated the task as more interesting after lying, those paid $1 or $20? Key is lack of sufficient external justification for ones behavior TOY STUDY Children rate desirability of toys Told not to play with the most desirable toy MILD THREAT SEVERE THREAT Children did not play with the desired toy Children rate the desirability of the toys a 2 nd time after not playing with the desired Which group viewed the desirable toy most attractive? ATTITUDES REGARDING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
Original belief = No Asked to give speech opposite of their attitude (for legalization) Speech watched by research team Told speech taped and would be shown to high school students Attitudes regarding marijuana legalization More positive views of legalization
1) Choice is involved
2) Commitment has been made
3) Individuals are responsible for any consequences of their behavior (and if the consequences could be anticipated)
4) Negative consequences are believed to be likely to occur
5) Ones self-concept is involved More Cognitive Dissonance Occurs When: SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY Internal States (e.g., So-called private stimuli, physiological) Gross evaluation (e.g., I feel happy; I feel sad Use of external social cues for precise discriminations (e.g., other peoples behavior or ones own actions, statements, thoughts) Attitudes formed DARYL BEM Attutude survey (on environmental issues WEAK STRONG Behavioral survey (what people actually did about environmental issues Attitude survey (on environmental issues Those with weak initial environmental attitudes had their attitudes affected by their responses to the behavior questionnaire SELF-PERCEPTION STUDY Do Changing Attitudes Lead to Changes in Behavior? Norms regarding proper behavior in a given situation (& consequences)
Availability or absence of alternatives
Extraneous events Factors Affecting The Consistency of Attitudes and Behaviors ATTITUDES
Specific Role of Strength personal Accessibility
Range of behaviors assessed BEVAVIOR experience Central Processing Peripheral Processing In-Depth Thought; Detailed Analyses of Information Lazy Thinking; Superficial Analyses of Information
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Message Motivation to Process? (e.g., relevance, need for cognition, responsibility Peripheral Cues Present in Message? (e.g., attractive source, emotional content) Peripheral Processing Ability to Process? (e.g., knowledge, distractions, message comprehensibility)
Nature of Cognitive Processing Favorable thoughts Unfavorable thoughts Neutral thoughts Cognitive Structure Change (e.g., new thoughts stored in memory) Central positive attitude change Central negative attitude change No Yes No Yes ~ ELM Detail ~ Relatively permanent attitudes, More predictive of behavior
Keep initial attitude Yes Low High Low argument quality High argument quality Relevance Relevance Low High High Low STUDY OF ELM MODEL If high perceived relevance exists, argument quality is most important Status of Presenter Issue: To institute a comprehensive university exit exam Behavioral Beliefs (beliefs about the likely consequences of a behavior and the evaluation of the consequences Normative Beliefs (beliefs about the expectations of other people and the motivation to comply with these expectations) Control Beliefs (beliefs about the existence of factors that may help or hinder the performance of a behavior and the perceived power of these factors) Attitude toward the behavior (the specific attitude toward a behavior, favorable or unfavorable) Subjective norms (beliefs about how other people will view a behavior; social pressure) Perceived behavioral control (ease with which people believe they can perform the behavior) Behavioral Intention Behavior Actual behavior control ~THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR~ Beliefs Behavioral Beliefs (beliefs about the likely consequences of a behavior and the evaluation of the possible outcomes Normative Beliefs (beliefs about the expectations of other people and the motivation to comply with these expectations) Control Beliefs (beliefs about the existence of factors that may help or hinder the performance of a behavior and the perceived power of these factors) Predicting the use of birth-control pills; An example My taking the pill regularly will reduce my chances of becoming pregnant: Extremely unlikely _____________________ Extremely Likely Reducing my chances of becoming pregnant is: Extremely bad _______________________ Extremely good My close friends believe that I should __________________________________ I should not take birth control pills. On average, I really care what my close friends thinks I should do. Not at all _________________________________ Very much I forget to do some very important activities. Very rarely _______________________________ Very often My forgetfulness would make it very difficult for me to remember to take birth control pills Definitely not true _______________________ Definitely true Beliefs Attitude toward the behavior (the specific attitude toward a behavior, favorable or unfavorable) Subjective norms (beliefs about how other people will view a behavior; social pressure) Perceived behavioral control (ease with which people believe they can perform the behavior) For me to be able to take a birth control pill on a regular basis would be: Impossible ___________________ Possible Most of my close friends are using birth control pills Definitely untrue _______________________ Definitely true For me, taking birth control pills regularly is: Extremely valuable_______________________ Worthless B ~ BI = w1AB + w2 SN + w3 PC Behavioral Intention I plan on taking birth control pills regularly Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely true
I will make every effort to take birth control pills regularly Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely true Behavior Regularly taking birth control pills or not Role of past behavior and habits
Focus on the prediction of individual behavior; what about the role of others (e.g., cooperation), obtaining resources not possessed by an individual
Assumption that people engage in elaborate cognitions before behaving
Role of self-identity and/or moral obligations ~ Some Shortcomings the Theory of Planned Behavior ~ Attitude Inoculation Small (weak) doses of arguments against ones position Larger, stronger arguments given later Less likely to change ones attitudes (more able to fight off the stronger attack; received an inoculation earlier) Advertising --- Product Placement Quite frequent (e.g., greater than 40 products displayed in the move Iron Man) Why can this approach work?
Defenses are down (do not recognize our attitudes are being manipulated)
Failure to generate counterarguments Reactance Theory Persuasion messages, if too strong, can lead to a boomerang effect Why?
Belief than our freedom is being threatened DO NOT write on these walls under any circumstances**
Versus
PLEASE DONT write on these walls ** Significantly more graffiti writing on walls with the stern message