ATTITUDES

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ATTITUDES
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Attitude A positive or negative
evaluation of an object.
Attitude strength The importance of the
attitude.
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Positive
Strong
Weak
Negative
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Attitudes can be based on

• Affect/Feelings
• Cognitions
• Behaviors
• Or any combination of the three

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Tricomponent model- attitudes are made up of all
three categories (Affect, Behavior, Cognition).

• We now know this is wrong

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Values Indirectly Influence Behavior Through
Attitudes

• Values
• Enduring beliefs about important life goals that
  transcend specific situations.

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Values Indirectly Influence Behavior Through
Attitudes
Values
Attitudes
Behavior
Peace
Anti-war
Picket
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Values do not influence all of our attitudes
Influenced by values
Not influenced by values
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Values do not influence all of our attitudes
Symbolic attitudes Attitudes that are formed
through the influence of long-standing values.
Instrumental attitudes Attitudes based on
benefits and costs associated with the attitude
object.
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An attitude that is symbolic for one person may
be instrumental for another
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How Are Attitudes Formed and Maintained?
Repeated exposure can impact attitudes Mere
exposure effect- the tendency to develop more
positive feelings towards objects and individuals
the more we are exposed to them.
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• Attitudes can be formed through classical
  conditioning.

Classical Conditioning Learning through
association, when a conditioned stimulus is
paired with an unconditioned stimulus that
naturally produces an emotional response.
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• Attitudes can be formed through classical
  conditioning.

Classical Conditioning Learning through
association, when a conditioned stimulus is
paired with an unconditioned stimulus that
naturally produces an emotional response.
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Staats Staats (1958)
German Table Dutch Gift Swedish
Failure American Chair
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Reinforcement and punishment of behavior can
shape attitudes.
Operant Conditioning A type of learning in
which behavior is strengthened if followed by
reinforcement and weakened if followed by
punishment.
Observational Learning
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Self-perception theory contends that behavior
causes attitudes.
Self-Perception Theory The theory that we
often infer our internal states, such as our
attitudes, by observing our behavior.
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Self-perception theory contends that behavior
causes attitudes.
Self-Perception Theory The theory that we
often infer our internal states, such as our
attitudes, by observing our behavior.
Internal or External Attribution?
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Attitudes are influenced by changes in facial
expression
Strack (1988) had students hold a pen in their
mouths while viewing cartoons
Facial feedback hypothesis
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When Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?
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Richard LaPiere (1934)
Would restaurant and hotel managers act on their
negative attitudes towards Asians and refuse
service to the Chinese couple?

• 1 of 66 hotels turned them away
• 0 of 184 restaurants turned them away
• Over 90 of respondents said they would not
  serve the Chinese couple

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Issues Related to Attitudes Predicting Behavior
Level of Attitude Behavior Specificity Specific
attitudes are better predictors of behavior than
are general attitudes.
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Issues Related to Attitudes Predicting Behavior

• Private Versus Public Self-Awareness
• Froming (1982)
• Participants had private attitudes that they
  thought differed from public standards
• Some participants gave shocks while looking in a
  small mirror
• Some participants gave shocks in front of a small
  audience
• Some participants gave shocks with no mirror or
  audience

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Issues Related to Attitudes Predicting Behavior
Private Versus Public Self-Awareness
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Issues Related to Attitudes Predicting Behavior

• Attitude Strength
• What makes an attitude strong?
• Acquiring more information about the attitude
  object
• Personal involvement with the attitude object
• 1978 Michigan Initiative to Raise the Drinking
  Age From 18 21

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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions
Fishbein Ajzen (1975) Theory of Reasoned
Action Ajzen (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior
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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions
Theory of planned behavior- the theory that
peoples conscious decisions to engage in
specific actions are determined by their
attitudes towards the behavior in question, the
relevant subjective norms, and the perceived
behavioral control.
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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions
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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions
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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions
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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions

• Subjective norms- a persons judgment about
  whether other people will approve of a particular
  behavior
• Product of 2 factors
• Perceived expectations of others
• Motivation to conform to those expectations

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Theory of planned behavior asserts that attitudes
influence behavior by shaping intentions
Perceived behavioral control- ones perception of
how easy or difficult it is to perform a behavior
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Criticisms of the theory of planned action
Theory ignores the possibility that attitudes can
result in spontaneous behavior.
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Implicit Explicit Attitudes
Implicit Attitude An attitude that is
activated automatically from memory, often
without the person's awareness that she or he
possess it.
Explicit Attitude A consciously held attitude.
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Implicit attitudes may create explicit attitudes
Implicit Attitudes
Explicit Attitudes (through self-perception)
Behavior
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You Can Have Conflicting Implicit Explicit
Attitudes
Dual Attitudes The simultaneous possession of
contradictory implicit and explicit attitudes
toward the same object.
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When do implicit and when do explicit attitudes
predict behavior?
Explicit rewards or social norms are
salient Implicit situational factors are
missing and the person is behaving more
spontaneously