Chap 8: Attitudes
and Attitude Change

Moral Dumbfounding

Incest

Attitudes

Levels

Implicit

measured with the
Implicit Association Test

Existing association

Attitudinal Changes

Elaboration
Likelihood Model

Peripheral Route

Central Route

effective when

audience believes issue is personally relevant

processed cognitively

processed emotionally

Characteristics

Resisting Persuasion

Reactance Theory

"evaluations of people,
objects, or ideas"

Origins

Genes

Experiences

identical twins share more attitudes than fraternal twins, even if raised in different homes

Exercise

organised religion

Jazz music

indirectly affect attitudes through
temperament and personality

Components

Affective

Behavioural

Cognitive

"based on emotions and
physiological reactions
"

"based on observations of past
behaviour towards an object
"

"based on logical analysis
of relevant facts
"

Examples

topics that cannot be
discussed at the dinner table

Politics (attitudes
towards politicians)

Sex

Religion

Origins

Values

religious and moral beliefs

applies to attitudes on
abortion, death penalty

Physiological
Reactions

result of sensory reactions
like taste and touch

Eg. food

Aesthetic
Reactions

admiring paintings

prints and colours
of dresses

Conditioning

Classical

Operant

UCR that also elicits an
emotional response
paired with US

US becomes CS

Behaviour one is free to perform is linked with emotional
reward / punishment

Emotional reaction
is learned

Development of
racist attitudes

Characteristics

often linked to people's values

not a result of rational
examination or logic

tools for expressing and communicating
our identities to the world

Conditions

initial attitude is weak
and ambiguous

no external
justifications

Eg. No need to infer from behaviours
if a strong attitude already exists on exercise

Eg. Exercising because
of doctor's orders

Perceptions may not be objective

usually not the basis for attitudes
on important things in life

faster reaction time

Explicit

Breaking association

"attitudes we consciously endorse
and can easily think and talk about"

involuntary, uncontrollable and
beyond conscious awareness

Obesity
Attitudes

Results

implicit attitudes rooted more
in childhood experiences

explicit attitudes rooted more
recent experiences

Procedure

slower reaction time

students asked to report current weight and childhood weight

measured explicit and implicit
attitudes towards overweight people

Eg. consciously thinking
that racial bias is wrong

Eg. Growing up with ➖
stereotypes about black ppl

Poor eye contact

Feelings of
nervousness

signing hiring
inclusivity petition

Origins

mental associations

influence of negative stereotypes in
ways individual is unaware of

Predictions

LaPiere

Procedure

followed a Chinese couple on
a roadtrip in racist USA

observed service offered
at establishments

Results

Only 1 out of 251 establishments
refused to serve the Chinese couple

Only 1 out of 251 establishments responded
that they would serve Chinese visitors

wrote letters to establishments asking
if they would serve Chinese visitors

cannot be sure respondents were
same people who served Chinese couple

cannot be sure attitudes did
not change in the months

Spontaneous
Behaviour

attitudes predict behaviour only
when they are highly accessible

Attitude Accessibility

"strength of association between
object and its evaluation
"

measured by speed people
can report their attitudes

Factors

Degree of experience
with the object

volunteering at
homeless shelter

reading about
homelessness
in newspapers

Deliberate
Behaviour

Theory of Planned
Behaviour

intentions predict behaviours

intentions have
three determinants

Specific
Attitudes

Subjective Norms

Perceived
behaviour control

increased specificity of attitude
linked with better prediction

Birth Control 💊

Results

General question:
attitudes towards birth control

low correlation
with behaviours

Specific question:
attitudes towards using
birth control pills

higher correlation
with behaviours

" beliefs about how others they
care about will view the behaviour
"

Eg. going for a violin concert because you think friend will be disappointed if you don't go

"ease people believe
they can perform behaviour
"

if behaviour perceived as hard,
weaker intention will be formed

TV

Reasons

Social
influence

Eg. entire premise
of advertising

people change attitudes
because of publicity

cognitive dissonance

Yale Attitude
Change Approach

persuasive
communication

Source 📢

Communication 📜

Audience 👥

who says what to whom

credible and has
subject-matter expertise

attractive physically or
personality-wise

Sleeper effect

messages from a source with negative connotations may be maintained longer

presenting a
two-sided argument

order effects in
sequence of speeches

Distracted audience more
easily persuaded

📉 IQ => 📈 persuasion

Moderate self esteem =>
📈 persuasion

Impressionable age of 18 - 25

Limitations

does not identify which aspects are
more important than others

complex

Determinants

"when audience is motivated and able to elaborate on message content and think about arguments"

"when audience lacks motivation and ability to attend to arguments and focuses on superficial cues"

length of message

characteristics of
the speaker

anything that influences
motivation and ability

Personal Relevance

Ability to pay
attention

College Students

Procedure

how relevant is the topic
to one's well being

asked to listen to speech advocating comprehensive exam before graduation

1/2 told university was seriously considering requiring comprehensive exams

1/2 told university was considering it but
not for the next 10 years old

varied strength of arguments

varied prestige of speaker

Results

📈 personal relevance

📉 personal relevance

📈 agreement when
arguments were strong

📈 agreement when
speaker was prestigious

low influence of
speaker identity

adoption of
central route

adoption of
peripheral route

low influence of
strength of arguments

Cooper

Procedure

showed mock jurors video of
product liability trial

varied level of qualification
of the witness

Results

focused on strength of arguments when
scientific testimony was easy to understand

Ignored credentials

focused on speaker's credentials when scientific testimony was complicated and technical

more resistant to
counter persuasion

more likely to behave
consistently

more likely to maintain
similar attitude over time

motivated but unable

Fear-Arousing
Communication

"persuasive message that attempts to change attitudes by arousing fear"

Effectiveness

Right amount of fear
leads to 📈 motivation

Smoking 🚬

Results

Watched film and
read pamphlet

📉 smoking significantly

Film raised fear and pamphlet
reassured them by providing a way out

More willing to analyse messages

Read pamphlet

Little motivation to
read it carefully

Watched film

People are scared but no ways
are provided to help reduce fear

Too much fear

Defensive

Unable to rationalise

Deny importance of the topic

Emotions 🌈

In a 😃 mood

In a 😒 mood

Relaxes us

More receptive to
heuristic cues

Puts us on alert

Pay more attention to
message quality

Body posture

Headphone 🎧

Participants asked to either shake or
nod head to test headphone durability

Listened to editorial arguing
for ID cards on campus

Half heard 💪 arguments while
half heard ♿ arguments

Results

Nodding heads increased confidence that argument was 👍 when arguments were strong

Shaking heads increased confidence that
argument was 👎 when arguments were weak

People do not like to be told what to do regarding fertility because it is a private matter

Attitude
Inoculation 💉

similar to concept of
immunisation

thinking about counterarguments
to one's own position

become more resistant
to further persuasion

weak arguments motivate us to
think about limitations of argument

strengthening
original attitudes

Awareness of
Product Placement

Why it works?

people don't realise attempt to
influence attitudes and behaviour

people don't attempt to
generate counterarguments

forewarning people about
attempts to change attitudes

Resisting Peer
Pressure

Why it works?

leverages on
fear of rejection

desire for freedom
and autonomy

importance source
of social approval

using attitude
inoculation

when people perceive their
freedom is threatened

arouses an unpleasant
state of reactance

people reduce reactance by
performing threatened behaviour

Graffiti on walls

Procedure

One sign says "Do not write…"

One sign says "Please don't…"

Results

Significantly more people vandalised bathroom with "Do not write"