Class Notes2/19/2014Chapter 7: Attitudes and BehaviorsAttitudes:- An attitude is a favorable, unfavorable, indifferent, or ambivalent evaluative reaction toward something or someoneo Ex. “I like Tom Cruise”- How are attitudes different from beliefs?o Beliefs are statements that you hold to be true or false (objective facts)o Belief: “His name is Tom Cruise”- Where can attitudes come from?o Affecto Behavioro Cognition- From Affects & Emotions to Attitudeso Feelings influence attitudeso The mere exposure effect Favorability for a particular thing increases with greater exposure to it Zajonc (1968) “Chinese” character study- Participants were subliminally exposed to a particular Chinese symbol during a reading task- They were then asked to pick which Chinese character they liked most from a list- Participants picked the character that they were exposed to more often- Cognition Influences Attitudeso Attitude is based on people’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude objecto People prefer information that is easier to process If it is easier to read, people will form more positive attitudes toward it- Cognitively Based Attitudeso Recipes that are easier to read People find them easier People find them quicker People are more willing to try them- Behaviorally Based Attitudeso These are attitudes based on observations of how one behaves towardan attitude object I drink beer often, I must have a favorable attitude toward beero Self-perception theory People don’t know how they feel until they actually see how they behave- Behavioral Attitude Formationo Classical conditioning We pair something we already like or dislike with something that is neutral Ex. We eat sushi for the first time and like it but we throw up afterwards, we form an unfavorable attitude towards sushi. The previously neutral stimulus is now associated with bad feelingso Operant Conditioning People develop a positive attitude toward behavior that is rewarded- Ex. Receiving money/praise for getting good grades means we will have a more positive attitude toward good gradeso Social Learning People can learn attitudes through observation- Ex. You observe other people having fun playing a game so you think that you might enjoy it too- Consequences of Attitudeso Lord, Ross & Lepper (1919) Participants were either extremely pro- or anti-capital punishment They were asked to read one of two studies – one pro and one anti-capital punishment Did they change their views due to the mixed evidence?- No- In fact, participants were likely to become MORE in favor with their initial stance. Attitude Polarization:- Attitudes become more extreme by convincing ourselves that they are righto LaPierce (1934) He traveled with an Asian couple across the United States Expected that anti-Asian attitudes would cause discrimination against the couple, but most of the hotels allowed them to stay A few months later, LaPierce wrote to the hotels and asked if they would accommodate Asians- Findings: 90% said noo Wicker (1969) Meta-Analysis This was a meta-analysis based off numerous studies Showed that attitudes don’t predict behavior- We have an attitude that says we want to help others because of our “ideal self” but we do not behave that way because of our “actual self” There is also a disconnect between attitude and behavior due to social desirability- We might have an attitude of discrimination towards Asians but don’t act on it because society would think less of us- When do attitudes affect behavior?o Regan & Fazio (1977) Housing crisis at Cornell Some students were in permanent housing while others were in temporary housing Both groups shared negative attitudes towards the housing crisis However, the group that acted on their attitudes were the ones in temporary housing because they were at a disadvantageo Fazio & Williams (1986) Measured how quickly people rated candidates for president Four months later they asked who the participants voted for Tell you political opinion quicker, you can tell who I voted for easier Quicker responses = more accessible attitudes- Measuring Attitudeso Dual Attitudes Explicit Attitudes: controlled and conscious evaluative responses- Ex. “I like Tom Cruise” Implicit Attitudes: automatic and nonconscious o Measuring Implicit Attitudes: This is done through the Implicit Attitude Test Measured by reaction time and accuracy Other implicit measures:- GNAT (Go/No Go Association Test)- Primingo Measuring Explicit Attitudes There are unobtrusive attitude measures based on- Social desirability- Creativity- Dual Attitudeso There is a weak relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes One possible reason for this is social desirabilityo Dovidio, Kawakami, & Gaertner (2002) Measured implicit and explicit attitudes of white participants toward blacks Explicit attitudes predicted:- Verbal behavior- Self-reported friendliness Implicit attitudes behavior predicted:- Non-verbal behavior- Others-reported friendlinesso Where do the different attitudes come from? Rudman et al. (2007)- Developmental Source Hypothesis:- Implicit attitudes stem from past (likely forgotten) experiences during childhood- Explicit attitudes stem from recent experiences - Cognitive Dissonanceo When behavior and attitude are inconsistent Cognitive Dissonance: an unpleasant psychological state Must change something to reduce dissonanceo Change behavior or attitude? It’s hard to take back behavior It’s easier to change attitudeso Attitude change is more likely if there is insufficient justification for the behavior Paying participants to lie to other participants- $1: “Why did I do that?” – Insufficient justification for behavior- $20: “I obviously did it for the money” – Sufficient justification for behaviorChapter 8: Conformity and ObedienceConformity:- Conformity is a change in behavior/belief as a result of real or imagined group pressureIs Conformity Good or Bad?- Good Examples:o Standing in line at an amusement parko Leaving a tip for a waiter at a restauranto Showing excitement at a football game- Bad Examples:o Joining in racist behavioro Drinking and driving because your friends are doing it- Sometimes conformity can be indifferent:o Wearing black to a nice party- REMEMBER:o Views on conformity are highly dependent on
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