12 Social Psychology HOW DO ATTITUDES GUIDE BEHAVIOR Attitudes The evaluation of objects events or ideas Attitudes are shaped by social context and play an important role in how we evaluate and interact with other people We Form Attitudes through Experience and Socialization Mere exposure effect greater exposure to the item and therefore greater familiarity with it caused people to have more positive attitudes about the item Attitudes can be conditioned classical and operant conditioning Attitudes are also shaped through socialization Behaviors Are Consistent with Strong Attitudes The stronger and more personally relevant the attitude the more likely it will predict behavior be consistent over time and be resistant to change The more specific and direct the attitude the more predictive it is Attitude accessibility the ease with which memories related to an attitude are retrieved it predicts behavior consistent with the attitude Easily activated attitudes are more stable predictive of behavior and resistant to change Explicit attitudes Attitudes that people can report Implicit attitudes Attitudes that influence our feelings and behavior at an unconscious level Implicit attitudes involve brain regions similar to the parts associated with implicit memory Researchers assess implicit attitudes through indirect means such as through behaviors rather than through self reports Implicit Association Test IAT a reaction time test that can identify implicit attitudes It measures how quickly we associate concepts or objects with positive or negative words Discrepancies Lead to Dissonance Cognitive dissonance An uncomfortable mental state due to conflicts between attitudes or between attitudes and behavior A basic assumption of dissonance theory is that dissonance causes anxiety and tension and therefore motivates people to reduce the dissonance and relieve displeasure Postdecsional dissonance it motivates the person to focus on the positive aspects of the chosen factor and the negative aspects of the other o Results from holding positive attitudes about 2 options but having to choose one of them Attitude change Justifying effort o One way to get people to change their attitudes is to change their behaviors first using as few incentives as possible o When people put themselves through pain embarrassment or discomfort to join a group they experience a great deal of dissonance o They resolve the dissonance by inflating the importance of the group and their commitment to it 12 Social Psychology Attitudes Can Be Changed through Persuasion Persuasion The active and conscious effort to change attitudes through the transmission of a message Elaboration likelihood model A theory of how persuasive messages lead to attitude changes Central route people pay attention to arguments consider all the information and use rational cognitive processes which leads to strong attitudes that last over time and are resistant to change Peripheral route people minimally process the message which leads to more impulsive action Cues that influence a message s persuasiveness Source Content Receiver Mere exposure effect repeating the message over and over in the hope that multiple exposures will lead to increased persuasiveness 12 Social Psychology HOW DO WE FORM OUR IMPRESSIONS OF OTHERS Nonverbal Actions and Expressions Affect Our Impressions Nonverbal behavior The facial expressions gestures mannerisms and movements by which one communicates with others body language Body language Facial expressions o Thin slices of behavior o Gait We Make Attributions about Others Attributions People s casual explanations for why events or actions occur Just world hypothesis the victims must have done something to justify what happened to them Such attributions make the mistreatment seem more understandable and more justified and make the world seem safer and saner Attributional dimensions o Personal attributions internal or dispositional attributions Explanations that refer to things within people such as abilities traits moods or efforts o Situational attributions external attributions Explanations that refer to outside events such as the weather accidents or people s actions Attributional bias o Fundamental attribution error The tendency to overemphasize personal factors and underestimate situational factors in explaining behavior o Corresponding bias people expect others behaviors to correspond with their own beliefs and personalities o Actor observer discrepancy when people make attributions about themselves they tend to focus on situations rather than on their personal predispositions more commonly observed in negative events Stereotypes Are Based on Automatic Categorization Stereotypes cognitive schemas that allow for easy fast processing of information about people based on their membership in certain groups Stereotyping occurs automatically outside of our awareness Stereotypes are neutral and simply reflect efficient cognitive processes Stereotypes guide attention toward information that confirms the stereotypes and away from disconfirming evidence People s memories are biased to match stereotypes Subtyping when people encounter someone who does not fit a stereotype they put that person in a special category rather than alter the stereotype o Self fulfilling prophecy People s tendency to behave in ways that confirm their own or others expectations o Our thoughts and behaviors are influenced by events about which we a re Self fulfilling effects not consciously aware o Mechanisms relevant to stereotype threat Physiological stress 12 Social Psychology Tendency for people to think about their performances Attempts to suppress negative thoughts and emotions o People s beliefs about how others viewed them altered their behaviors in ways that confirmed the stereotypes even though they had no conscious knowledge of these influences Stereotypes Can Lead to Prejudice Prejudice The usually negative affective or attitudinal responses associated with stereotypes Discrimination The inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people based solely on their group membership Ingroup outgroup bias o Ingroups groups to which we belong o Outgroups groups to which we do not belong o People are disposed to be wary of others who do not belong to their groups o Outgroup homogeneity effect people tend to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members o Ingroup favoritism The tendency for people to evaluate favorable and privilege members of