Ch 4 Behavior Attitudes February 8 2012 Attitude Attitude a general evaluation that people hold of themselves other people objects and issues Based on three components ABC s of Attitude 1 Affect feelings or emotions that people have about the attitude object 2 Behavior people s actions with respect to the attitude object 3 Cognition thoughts that people have about the attitude object i e Attitude toward cats 1 Affective I feel loving toward cats 2 Behavioral I want to adopt or pet cats when I see them 3 Cognitive Petting cats reduces my blood pressure or decreases my loneliness Why Attitudes Are Important Clicker belief about dolphins being intelligent cognitive Strongly influence social thought the way we think and process social information i e Feelings about the homeless We use attitudes like heuristics Assumed that attitudes influence behavior i e What is your attitude about being honest Most people have a positive attitude about being honest but does this always guide their behavior i e Friend asks you what you are doing this weekend there is a surprise party for THIS friend are you honest with them We can come up with situations where honesty is not the best policy 1 Aspects of the Situation Situational constraints sometimes people cannot express their attitudes because doing so would be contrary to the norms in a given social situation i e friend s surprise party Time pressure Attitudes often function as cognitive frameworks for processing social information Under time pressure we use our attitudes as a quick and easy guide Yields stronger link between attitude and behavior in these time pressured situations we will see a greater link between our attitudes and the behaviors we engage in it s like we don t have time to be fake because we are in a rush i e If you are a celebrity and paparazzi is following you to your court trial and you are late and a homeless man approaches you if you have a bad attitude toward homeless people you are probably going to treat the homeless man in a rude way because you don t have time to pose as the Good Samaritan because you are late for your court trial Aspects of Attitudes Attitude origins attitudes formed from direct experience exert stronger effects on behavior than ones formed indirectly i e from observing others Self reference effect information about ourselves is easier to retrieve and is retrieved faster Attitude strength 1 Extremity or intensity of an attitude how strong the emotional reaction is provoked by the attitude object i e Picture of maggots cid 224 feel nauseous 2 Importance the extent to which an individual cares deeply about and is personally affected by the attitude i e If you are gay you are going to have strong attitudes toward gay rights i e If you are a woman you might have strong attitudes toward gender equality 3 Knowledge how much an individual knows about the attitude object i e If you read about topics you are interested in you then have more cognitions to strengthen your attitudes 4 Accessibility how easily the attitude comes to mind in various situations i e Woman who feels strongly about gender equality hears the word fireman and in her head changes it to firefighter Strong attitudes are likely to Exert a greater impact on behavior Be more resistant to change Be more stable over time Have greater impact on several aspects of social cognitions how you interpret things Attitude specificity the extent to which attitudes are focused on specific objects or situations rather than general ones Important for measuring attitudes i e General attitude about religion it is important for everyone to have some religious conviction i e Specific attitude about attending services once a week either important or unimportant to go every week Attitude behavior link will be strongest when you measure attitudes and behavior at the same level of specificity must line up Attitude measurement Semantic differential measure s people s reactions to stimulus words and concepts in terms of rating on bipolar scales defined with contrasting adjectives at each end Simple economical means for obtaining data on people s reactions Likert scale respondents indicate their own attitudes by checking how strongly they agree or disagree with statements that correspond to the stimulus February 13 2012 Aspects of Individuals Attitudes are a better predictor of behavior for certain people Self monitoring adjust your behavior in response to social situations Continuum high conatsntly assessing cid 224 biggest concern is positive feedback never the same person in different situations low they are who they are all the time have strongest attitude behavior link Not advantageous to be high or low all the time How Attitudes Influence Behavior Models that predict behavior i e cheating on spouse reporting UFO sighting condom use Often used in areas outside psychology 1 Theory of Reasoned Action TRA Ajzen Fishbein 2 Theory of Planned Behavior TPB Subjective norm other peoples reaction to your behavior Perceived behavioral control self efficacy is it logistically possible When Your Behavior Affects our Attitudes Cognitive dissonance unpleasant state that occurs when we notice that various attitudes we hold or our attitudes and our behavior are somehow inconsistent People don t like inconsistency and are uncomfortable when it occurs Examples I am on a diet because I want to be slim I am sitting here eating a fatty dessert I am against prejudice I do not want a minority living in my neighborhood How to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance Three mechanisms 1 We can change our attitude or behavior so that these are more consistent with each other i e Believe in recycling After throwing away can in trash take it out and put it in recycling bin 2 Acquire new information that supports our attitude or behavior i e People who smoke will seek out information that the harmful effects of this habit are minimal or far from conclusive 3 Trivialization concluding that the attitudes or behaviors in question are not important ones We will use the one that requires the least amount of effort Self Perception Theory We look at our behavior to infer our attitude i e pen in mouth funny i e Notice that a lot of what I own is red I guess red is my favorite color i e Notice that you have a growing collection of Bebel Gilberto CDs realize you have developed a taste for bosanova Advertisers and sales personnel take advantage of the connection between behavior and attitude change Sponsor slogan
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