Attitudes!

Question 1

Define an attitude.

Answer 1

– An evaluation of a person, object, or idea.
– Can be positive or negative.
– Comprised of three components: affective, cognitive, and behavioural.

Question 2

What is an affectively based attitude?

Answer 2

An affectively based attitude is based primarily on people’s
emotions and feelings about the attitude object.

Question 3

What is a cognitively based attitude?

Answer 3

A cognitively based attitude is based primarily on a person’s
beliefs about the properties of an attitude object.

Question 4

What is a behaviourally based attitude?

Answer 4

A behaviourally based attitude is based primarily on observations
of how one behaves toward an attitude object.

Question 5

What is the difference between explicit and implicit attitudes?

Answer 5

Explicit Attitudes: We can consciously endorse and easily report.
– Are likely rooted in recent experiences.
* Implicit Attitudes: Involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times
unconscious.
– Tend to be rooted in long-term experiences.

Question 6

Define the theory of planned behaviour

Answer 6

• Knowing someone’s attitude does not necessarily mean you can successfully predict their behaviour.
• Deliberate behaviours (those that people think intently about) can be predicted quite well.
• The Theory of Planned Behaviour maintains that the best predictor of people’s deliberate behaviour is their intention.

Question 7

What are the best predictors of people’s intentions? (3)

Answer 7

– Attitudes towards the specific behaviour.
– Perceptions of social norms regarding that behaviour.
– Perceived behavioral control regarding the behaviour.

Question 8

What is the difference between persuasion and compliance?

Answer 8

– Persuasion involves the change of attitude, whereas
compliance is the change of behaviour, even for a short
period.

Question 9

Define persuasion communication.

Answer 9

– A communication (e.g. a speech or television advertisement) advocating a particular side of an issue.

Question 10

What is the Yale Attitude Change Approach?

Answer 10

The study of the conditions under which people are most
likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive
messages.

Question 11

The effectiveness of the communication depends on what 3 things?

Answer 11

– The Source of the Communication
* Credibility
* Perceived attractiveness
– The Nature of the Communication
* Intentionality
* Two-sided perspective
* Primacy / recency effect
– The Nature of the Audience
* Distractedness / receptiveness
* Cultural differences

Question 12

What is the elaboration likelihood model?

Answer 12

There are two ways in which
persuasive communications can cause attitude change.

Question 13

What are those two ways? Explain.

Answer 13

– The central route occurs when people are motivated and have
the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the
communication.
– The peripheral route occurs when people do not pay attention
to the arguments but are instead swayed by surface
characteristics.

Question 14

Define fear-arousing communication.

Answer 14

Fear-arousing communication is a persuasive message that
attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears.
– A moderate level of fear followed by recommendations to enable change is the most effective way to use fear-arousing communication.

Question 15

What is the take on advertising and attitude change?

Answer 15

• Most people think that advertising works on everyone but themselves.
• Contrary to such beliefs, advertising works; when a product is advertised, sales tend to increase.

Question 16

Which type of ads work best?

Answer 16

• Which type of ads work best? It depends on the basis of the
  attitude.
  – For cognitively based attitudes, using rational arguments and
  personal relevance is best.
  – For affectively based attitudes, using emotion is best.
• Individuals also vary on how important cognitively based and
  affectively based messages are to them.
• People react more favourably to ads that match their attitude type.

Question 17

What are cultural differences in advertising and attitude change?

Answer 17

Cultural Differences
– People in individualist cultures tend to favour advertising that
stresses independence (e.g. “It’s easy when you have the right
shoes”).
– People in collectivist cultures are more likely to be persuaded
by advertising that stresses interdependence (e.g. “The right
shoes for your family”).

Question 18

What is attitude inoculation?

Answer 18

– The process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by exposing them to small doses of the
arguments against their position.
– Doing so allows people to develop their own
– Doing so allows people to develop their own counterarguments and thus strengthen their attitude.

Question 19

What is product placement?

Answer 19

Product placement
– A persuasion method whereby advertisers place their product
into the script of a movie or television show.
– Forewarning people that someone is about to try to change
their attitude is an effective strategy against attitude change.

Question 20

Define cognitive dissonance.

Answer 20

Cognitive dissonance:
– A feeling of discomfort caused by the realization that one’s behaviour is inconsistent with one’s attitudes or that one holds two conflicting attitudes.
– Most often occurs whenever we do something that makes us feel unintelligent or immoral.

Question 21

The discomfort from cognitive dissonance motivates us to take
one of the following three steps to reduce it:

Answer 21

– Change the attitude.
– Change the behaviour.
– Change the cognition.

Question 22

What is post-decision dissonance?

Answer 22

– Dissonance that is inevitably aroused after a person makes a
decision – “chooser’s remorse”
– Typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the
chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives.
– The more permanent and less revocable the decision, the
greater the need to reduce dissonance.

Question 23

What is the decision to behave immorally?

Answer 23

The Decision to Behave Immorally
– When presented with a moral dilemma (e.g., to cheat or not
cheat on an exam) the decision made will evoke dissonance,
and result in more extreme attitudes.
– In the example above, cheaters grew more lenient toward
cheating, while resisters developed stricter attitudes toward
cheating.

Question 24

Define the justification of Effort.

Answer 24

The tendency for individuals to increase
their liking for something they have worked hard to attain (e.g., group membership).

Question 25

What is the counter attitudinal behaviour?

Answer 25

* Sometimes we find ourselves stating an opinion that runs counter to our private belief or attitude. * In trying to understand why we have done so, we look toward external sources to justify our behaviour. * If none are found, we must then look inward.

Question 26

In the counter attitudinal behaviour, what is the external and internal justification?

Answer 26

* External Justification: a person’s reason or explanation for dissonant behaviour that resides outside the individual (e.g., in order to receive a large reward). * Internal Justification: the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (e.g., one’s attitude or behaviour).

Question 27

Describe Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) study

Answer 27

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959): – Participants were paid $20 or $1 to lie to a fellow student. – Those who had insufficient external justification (i.e., paid $1) changed their attitudes to make themselves feel like they were telling the truth.

Question 28

Using counter-attitudinal advocacy to tackle social problems.

Answer 28

– In several different studies, participants generated counter- attitudinal arguments for a social cause they did not originally support. – The hypocrisy created resulted in changes in positive behavioural changes. * E.g., Leippe & Eisenstadt (1994)

Question 29

Describe the power of mild punishment/insufficient punishment.

Answer 29

Insufficient punishment is the dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in the individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object.

Question 30

What is the aftermath of bad deeds?

Answer 30

According to dissonance theory, when we hurt someone, we come to dislike or hate that person as a way to justify our cruelty. – E.g.: Dehumanizing the victims of war.

Question 31

What is the hypocrisy paradigm?

Answer 31

* Sometimes people are not aware that they are behaving in a manner that is inconsistent with their stated values. * By bringing this to their attention through hypocrisy induction, dissonance is aroused and this can lead to attitude and behavior change.

Question 32

What is the self-affirmation theory?

Answer 32

When the typical strategies for reducing dissonance fail, one can find relief through self-affirmation, that is, affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat.

Question 33

Does culture influence whether dissonance is experienced?

Answer 33

Whether a culture is individualistic or collectivist may influence whether or not dissonance is experienced, and whether a subsequent change in attitude occurs. – See Heine & Lehman (1997). * Research shows that an independent self-affirmation diminished the need for dissonance reduction among European-Canadians (Hoshino-Browne et al., 2005). * An interdependent self-affirmation diminished the need for dissonance reduction among East Asians.