Chapter 6 Attitudes Attitudes positive negative or mixed reaction to a person object or idea are evaluations of various aspects of the social world central topic in social psychology General Attitudes operate as schemas cognitive frameworks thus they strongly color our perceptions and thoughts about the issues persons objects or groups to which they refer o We view info that supports our attitudes as convincing and accurate o We view info that is contrary to our attitudes as unreliable biased and highly suspect Once attitudes are formed they tend to persist especially if they are strongly accepted and closely related to interests or outcomes of persons who hold them Attitudes strongly affect our social thought ways in which we think about and process many kinds of social info Attitudes may represent a very basic aspect of all forms of thought o Tendency to categorize stimuli as positive vs negative o Appears to be the first step in information processing Attitudes strongly affect behavior o Can be used to predict behavior o Essential to relations with other people Attitude Formation Tesser believed strong likes and dislikes are rooted in our genetic makeup however genetics actually only contribute minimally to attitude formation not much supportive empirical data Studies completed on twins raised apart identical twins have genetic predispositions Relatively weak findings Attitudes involving gut level preferences ex Favorite type of music are usually more strongly influence by genetic factors Attitudes highly heritable may be more difficult to change and may exert stronger effects on behavior Attitudes are formed through social learning process of acquiring new info behavior attitude People form strong positive and negative attitudes toward neutral objects that somehow are linked to emotionally charged stimuli Many of our views are acquired in situations when we interact with and observe others Social comparison is the process through which we compare ourselves to others in order to determine whether our view of social reality is or is not correct We often change our attitudes to hold views closer to those of others Our ideas must be accurate if others have the same view May contribute to the formation of new attitudes Ex Why celebrities do advertisements socializing gossiping with your friends friends talking about a product LaPiere was the first to notice that attitude and behavior did not always go hand in hand Widespread prejudice in Asia traveled with a Chinese couple to hotels and restaurants only one place did not serve them Wrote to those same places later asking if they would serve Asians 91 said no Study was flawed attitudes could changed from the appearance of the couple they spoke English well and were friendly Businesses could have ignored their own prejudices or could have been the presence of LaPiere himself Moderators are factors that influence the extent to which attitudes affect behavior Situational constraints moderate relationship between attitudes and behavior and prevent attitudes from being expressed in overt behavior ex Sports game wearing different jersey We want to be in situations where what we say and what we do coincide We avoid cognitive dissonance We want to engage in behavior consistent in our attitudes Attitudes can be formed on the bases of direct experience having a stronger effect on behavior The stronger the attitude the greater the impact Attitude importance is the extent to which people care about an attitude Attitude specificity is the extent to which attitudes are focused on specific objects or situations vs generalities Theory of Planned Behavior theory of how attitudes guide behavior suggesting that individuals consider the implications of their actions before deciding to perform various behaviors aka Theory of reasoned action Time consuming and slow Ex Getting a piercing Attitude towards behavior in question ex How painful is it Belief of how others will evaluate behavior in question ex Will I get a job with this Influence of perceived behavioral control extent to which person sees the behavior as being difficult or easy ex Is it easy to get done where to go Attitude to Behavior Process Model model of how attitudes guide behavior that emphasizes the influence of both attitudes and stored knowledge of what is appropriate in a given situation on an individual s definition of the present situation this in turn influences overt behavior Act quickly An event activates an attitude the attitude influences our perceptions of the attitude object our knowledge about what s appropriate is activated and this with the attitude shape our definition of the event Ex Pan handler approaches you your attitude your knowledge of how people are supposed to behave on the streets together influence the definition or perception of the event ex Feel bad for them vs go get a job and this definition or perception shapes your behavior Persuasion efforts to change others attitudes through the use of various kinds of messages A source directs a message communication to a person or group of people audience A comprehensive account of how persuasion occurs was needed Current research focuses on the HOW Central issue to understanding the process of persuasion is a cognitive question How do we process absorb interpret evaluate info contained in persuasive messages We process messages in two distinct ways 1 Systematic processing central route processing info in a persuasive message that involves careful consideration of message content and ideas Involves careful consideration of message content and ideas Quite effortful and absorbs much of our information processing capacity work Engage in this when o Our capacity to process info relating to the persuasive message is high ex When we have a lot of knowledge time to engage with them o We are motivated to do so ex When the issue is important to us o We believe that it is important to form an accurate view 2 Heuristic processing peripheral route processing info in a persuasive message that involves the use of simple rules of thumb or mental shortcuts Can often lead to error ex When people believe all expert opinions are true automatically Much less effortful and allows us to react to persuasive messages Occurs in response to cues in the message or situation that evoke various mental shortcuts ex Model speaking advertising marketing salesmen politicians Engage in this when o We lack the ability or capacity to process carefully