Psych 585: Psychology of Persuasion Attitudes

1
Psych 585 Psychology of PersuasionAttitudes

• Professor Icek Aizen
• Office Tobin 625
• Email aizen_at_psych.umass.edu
• Tel [phone]

2
Persuasion Domain Marketing/Advertising
Objective
Sell product or service Cars, drugs,
toothpaste, furniture, etc.
Means
Mass media / person-to-person
Target
Attitudes toward brand / company
3
Persuasion Domain Election Campaign
Objective
Vote for candidate (or party)
Means
Mass media / person-to-person
Target
Attitudes toward candidate / issues
4
Persuasion Domain Health
Objective
Exercising, quit smoking, avoid drugs, moderate
drinking, safer sex practices,
Means
Mass media / person-to-person
Target
Attitudes toward health, exercising, medications,
alcohol,
5
Persuasion Domain Environment
Objective
Conserve energy, recycle, dont litter
Means
Mass media / person-to-person
Target
Attitudes toward environment, global warming,
energy dependence
6
Persuasion Domain The Law?
Objective
Theft, speeding, assaults,
Means
Mass media / person-to-person
Target
Attitudes toward crime, obeying the law
7
Beliefs or Opinions

• Belief Subjective association between a
  psychological object and some attribute.
• Examples

• Object
• Smoking cigarettes
• Mitt Romney
• The Lexus
• Plastic grocery bags
• Most Muslims
• Smoking pot

Attribute lung cancer born-again
Christian expensive car pollute the
environment support terrorism use of hard drugs
causes is a is an leads to
8
Belief Elicitation Genetically Modified Food

• Please take a few minutes to write down your
  beliefs about genetically modified food.
• What qualities, attributes, and characteristics
  come to mind when you think about genetically
  modified food?
• Write one thought per line. Dont deliberate too
  much your first thoughts are best.

9
Definition of Attitude

• Attitude Hypothetical construct cannot be
  directly observed. Must be inferred from
  observable responses.
• Definition Readiness to respond to a
  psychological object with some degree of
  favorableness.
• The evaluative reaction of favor or disfavor can
  range from extremely negative to extremely
  positive, through the neutral point, on a
  dimension such as good bad, pleasant
  unpleasant, or in favor opposed.

10
Attitude vs. Beliefs

• Attitude toward an Object
• Readiness to respond to a psychological object
  with some degree of favorableness or
  unfavorableness.
• negative --------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------- positive
  
• Beliefs about an Object
• A belief is the subjective probability that an
  object has a certain attribute.
• Example
• Object Attributes
• Genetically modified food is nutritious
• causes cancer
• reduces the need for pesticides
• poses a danger to the food supply
• etc ...

11
Attitude Formation Information Processing
Perspective

• An attitude is formed automatically and
  inevitably as we form beliefs about an object.
• Each belief links the object to a certain
  attribute.
• The positive, negative, or neutral evaluations of
  the attributes become associated with the object.
• The aggregate evaluation is part of the objects
  meaning. We thus have attitudes toward any and
  all meaningful aspects of our worlds.
• Actual or symbolic exposure to an object or
  concept automatically activates its acquired
  evaluative meaning, i.e., the attitude toward the
  object.

12
Reasoned Evaluation(Ajzen Fishbein, 1980)

• Beliefs about using Womens Attitudes
• birth control pills Positive
  Negative
• Leads to major side effects 3.65 5.19
• Best method available 6.04 4.88
• Is immoral 1.26 3.31
• Regulates menstrual cycle 6.35 4.81
• Gives me guilt feelings 1.75 4.06
• Removes worry of pregnancy 6.37 5.13
• Increases sexual pleasure 4.51 3.88

13
Expectancy-Value Model A Sbiei
14
Expectancy-Value Model Research
Example(Fishbein, 1963)

• Salient belief about black people Mean
  belief strength
• dark skin 2.66
• curly hair 2.43
• musical 1.92
• athletic 2.24
• friendly 1.20
• all 1.02
• uneducated .97
• unintelligent .30
• hard workers .57
• lazy .50

15
Attitude Measurement Overview

• Explicit Measures Transparent purpose
  responses under conscious control.
• Direct evaluations
• Single-item measures
• Multi-item measures
• Inferred evaluations
• Standard attitude scaling
• Disguised Measures Hidden purpose responses
  under conscious control.
• Error-choice technique
• Judgment biases (e.g., judged rationality)
• Unobtrusive measures (e.g., seating distance,
  facial expressions)
• Implicit Measures Purpose hidden or
  transparent responses not under
  conscious control.
• Bodily responses
• Physiological reactions (e.g., palmar sweat,
  heart rate, pupil)
• Facial electromyogram (EMG)
• Evoked brain potential
• Response latency
• Implicit Association Test (IAT)

16
Direct EvaluationsExamples of Single-Item
Measures

• Do you approve of the way the President is doing
  his job?
• ____ Approve very much ____ Disapprove
• ____ Approve ____ Disapprove very much
• Were the tasks interesting and enjoyable? . . .
  Would you rate how you feel about them on a scale
  from 5 to 5, where 5 means they were extremely
  dull and boring, 5 means they were extremely
  interesting and enjoyable, and zero means they
  were neutral, neither interesting nor
  uninteresting. (Festinger Carlsmith, 1959)
• My attitude toward being religious is (Fishbein
  Ajzen, 1974)
• extremely extremely
• unfavorable ___________________________
  ______ favorable
• I have high self-esteem (Robins et al., 2001)
• Not very true of me ______________________
  ______ Very true of me

17
Direct Evaluations Multi-Item MeasuresRepeated
Evaluations With Variations

• Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale
• 1. I feel that I am a person of worth, at least
  on an equal basis with others.
• _____ Strongly agree
• _____ Agree
• _____ Disagree
• _____ Strongly disagree
• 2. I feel that I have a number of good
  qualities.
• 3. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am
  a failure.
• 4. I am able to do things as well as most other
  people.
• 5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.
• 6. I take a positive attitude toward myself.
• 7. In the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
• 8. I wish I could have more respect for myself.
• 9. I certainly feel useless at times.
• 10. At times I think I am no good at all.

18
Semantic Differential Rotated Factor
LoadingOsgood, Suci, Tannenbaum, 1957

• I II III IV h2
• 1. good-bad .88 .05 .09 .09 .79
• 2. large-small .06 .62 .34 .04 .51
• 3. beautiful-ugly .86 .09 .0l .26 .82
• 4. yellow-blue -.33 -.14 .12 .17 .17
• 5. hard-soft -.48 .55 .16 .21 .60
• 6. sweet-sour .83 -.14 -.09 .02 .72
• 7. strong-weak .19 .62 .20 -.03 .46
• 8. clean-dirty .82 -.05 .03 .02 .68
• 9. high-low .59 .21 .08 .04 .40
• 10. calm-agitated .61 .00 -.36 -.05 .50
• 11. tasty-distasteful .77 .05 -.11 .00 .61
• 12. valuable-worthless .79 .04 .13 .00 .64
• 13. red-green -.33 -.08 .35 .22 .28
• 14. young-old .31 -.30 .32 .01 .29
• 15. kind-cruel .82 -.10 -.18 .13 .73
• 16. loud-soft -.39 .44 .23 .22 .45
• 17. deep-shallow .27 .46 .14 -.25 .37

I II III IV h2 26. wet-dry .08
.07 -.03 -.14 .03 27. sacred-profane .81
.02 -.10 .01 .67 28. relaxed-tense .55
.12 -.37 -.11 .47 29. brave-cowardly .66 .44
.12 .03 .64 30. long-short .20 .34
.13 -.23 .23 31. rich-poor .59 .03 .10 -.16
.38 33. hot-cold -.04 -.06 .46 .07 .22 34.
thick-thin -.06 .44 -.06 -.11 .21 35.
nice-awful .87 -.08 .19 .15 .82 36.
bright-dark .69 -.13 .26 .00 .56 37.
bass-treble -.33 .47 -.06 .02 .33 38.
angular-rounded -.17 .08 .43 .12 .23 39.
fragrant-foul .84 -.04 -.11 .05 .72 40.
honest-dishonest .85 .07 -.02 .16 .75 41.
active-passive .14 .04 .59 -.02 .37 42.
rough-smooth -.46 .36 .29 .10 .44 43.
fresh-stale .68 .0l .22 -.11 .52 44.
fast-slow .0l .00 .70 -.12 .50 45.
fair-unfair .83 .08 -.07 .11 .71 46.
rugged-delicate -.42 .60 .26 .27 .68 47.
near-far .41 .13 .11 -.05 .20 48.
pungent-bland -.30 .12 .26 .05 .17 49.
healthy-sick .69 .17 .09 .02 .59 50.
wide-narrow .26 .41 -.07 -.11 .25
I II III IV h2 Total
Variance 33.78 7.62 6.24 1.52 .4916
Common Variance 68.55 15.46 12.66 3.08 .9975
19
Multi-Item Direct Attitude Assessment
Evaluative Semantic Differential

• One of the options being considered in the
  abortion debate is to make abortion illegal in
  the United States. Please indicate how you feel
  about this policy by marking the appropriate
  space on each of the following scales.
• Making Abortion Illegal is
• desirable _________________________________
  _________ undesirable
• productive ________________________________
  __________ destructive
• bad ______________________________________
  ____ good
• harmful ___________________________________
  _______ beneficial
• right ____________________________________
  ______ wrong
• cautious __________________________________
  ________ rash
• inconsistent ______________________________
  ____________ consistent
• ugly _____________________________________
  _____ beautiful
• foolish ___________________________________
  _______ wise
• timely ____________________________________
  ______ untimely
• useful ____________________________________
  ______ useless
• progressive _______________________________
  ___________ regressive

20
Belief-Based Attitude Scales Attitudes Toward
Abortion Potential Items

• 1. It is better to have an abortion than to give
  birth to an unwanted child.
• 2. I have reservations about the easy
  availability of abortions.
• 3. Abortion is equivalent to murder.
• 4. The right of the mother to control her own
  body is more important than any rights of the
  unborn fetus.
• 5. I would be willing to sign a petition to make
  abortion illegal.
• 6. The question of abortion involves fundamental
  human values.
• 7. The Government should not provide funds for
  abortion clinics.
• 8. The decision to have an abortion during early
  pregnancy should be left up to the mother.
• 9. Doctors who perform abortions are despicable.
• 10. If abortion were outlawed, women would
  obtain abortions with the help of unqualified
  people, putting their lives in danger.
• 11. There are valid arguments on both sides of
  the abortion debate.
• 12. If I or my wife had an unwanted pregnancy, I
  would be willing to abort the child.
• 13. Abortion is justifiable only when the
  mother's life is in danger.
• 14. The Constitution of the United States should
  be amended to guarantee women's right to freedom
  of choice in matters of abortion.
• 15. When I think about aborting a tiny fetus, I
  feel disgusted.

21
Likert Scaling Method of Summated Ratings

• Construct large number of items.
• Experimenter eliminates items judged ambiguous
  (neither clearly positive nor clearly negative).
• Administer questionnaire 5-point response scale
  strongly agree (5), agree (4), undecided (3),
  disagree (2), strongly disagree (1). Negative
  items are reverse-scored.

22
Relevance of Items to Attitude

• Relevance of some items is not assured.
• Example Attitude toward legalizing marijuana.
• People who support legalizing marijuana should be
  brainwashed
• agree _____________________ disagree
• Disagreement can indicate negative attitude
  toward legalizing marijuana or negative attitude
  toward brainwashing.

23
Determining Relevance of Items

• Preliminary attitude score sum of item scores.
• Assumption The preliminary attitude score is a
  good first approximation of the attitude.
• Item selection Criterion of internal
  consistency.
• Retain items with high (positive or negative)
  item-total correlations, i.e., items that are
  representative of, or reflect, the total
  attitude.

24
Item Selection Criterion of Internal Consistency
25
Attitudes Toward Illegal ImmigrantsSample Items
from an Actual Likert Scale(Ommundsen Larsen,
1997)

• 1. Illegal aliens should not benefit from my tax
  dollars. (N .68)
• 2. Our taxes should be used to help those
  residing illegally in the United States.
• (P .67)
• 3. There is enough room in this country for
  everyone. (P .65)
• 4. Illegal aliens are not infringing on our
  country's resources. (P .67)
• 5. Illegal aliens are a nuisance to society. (N
  .67)
• 6. There should be open international borders. (P
  .62)
• 7. Access to this country is too easy. (N .76)
• 8. Illegal aliens should receive food stamps. (P
  .65)
• 9. Illegal aliens who give birth to children in
  the United States should be made
• citizens. (P .65)
• 10. The United States should accept all political
  refugees. (P .59)
• 11. Illegal aliens cost the United States
  millions of dollars each year. (N .75)
• 12. Illegal aliens should be eligible for
  welfare. (P .66)
• Direction of items N negative, P positive
  item total correlation.

26
Understanding and Changing Attitudes

• Attitude scales provide a measure of attitude
  Locate individuals on an evaluative dimension in
  relation to a given issue. But they do not
  explain why an individual hold a certain
  attitude.
• To change attitudes, we must understand the
  factors that produce the measured attitude.
• The expectancy-value model of attitude is the
  best tool available for this purpose.

27
Expectancy-Value Model A ? Sbiei
28
Logic of the Expectancy-Value Model

• Salient beliefs (readily accessible in memory)
  are elicited in a free-response format.
• The most frequently mentioned beliefs are
  selected.
• Belief strength (b) and attribute evaluation (e)
  are assessed for each salient belief.
• Attitude A ? Sbiei

29
Example Beliefs and Evaluations

• A. Beliefs Strength Making abortion illegal
  will
• 1. prevent women from using abortion for birth
  control.
• likely ___ 1_____ 2_____ 3_____ 4_____
  5_____ 6_____ 7__ unlikely
• 2. result in the birth of unwanted children.
• 3. hold people responsible for the consequences
  of their actions.
• 4. revive the idea of life as a precious gift.
• 5. lead women to seek "back alley" abortions.
• 6. make more babies available for adoption by
  childless couples.
• B. Attribute Evaluations
• 1. Preventing women from using abortion for
  birth control is
• good ___ 1_____ 2_____ 3_____ 4_____
  5_____ 6_____ 7__ bad
• 2. Giving birth to unwanted children is
• 3. Holding people responsible for the
  consequences of their actions is
• 4. Reviving the idea of life as a precious gift
  is
• 5. For women to seek "back alley" abortions is
• 6. Making more babies available for adoption by
  childless couples is

30
EV Model Anti-Abortion Beliefs
Attitudes(Petkova, Ajzen, Driver, 1995)

• Accessible outcomes (12)
  Belief strength (b) Outcome evaluation (e)
  b x e
• Preventing women from using abortion as a
  0.59 0.80 .26
• method of birth control
• Giving birth to unwanted children 1.74
  1.55 .25
• Holding people responsible for the
  1.06 1.45 .56
• consequences of their actions
• Reviving the idea of life as a precious gift
  0.39 1.41 .49
• Women seeking "back alley" abortions 2.43
  2.86 .57
• Making more babies available for
  adoption 1.05 1.68 .31
• .
• .
• Saving the lives of defenseless unborn
  babies 0.90 0.93 .61

A Sbiei r .77
31
Validity Concerns

• Response Biases
• Acquiescence bias
• Extremity bias
• Left or right-sided bias
• Position bias
• Reactive Effects
• Impression management
• Independence
• Cooperation
• Social desirability

32
Dealing With Social Desirability Biases

• Individual Differences
• Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale
• Self-deception impression management (Paulhus)
• Item Wording
• Racial attitude scales
• Disguised Techniques
• Errorchoice method
• Ratings of item rationality, validity, others
  responses
• Implicit Responses
• Bodily responses facial expressions, blood
  pressure, heart rate, GSR, pupillary response,
  facial EMG
• Reaction time
• Implicit Association Test
• Sequential evaluative priming

33
Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale(30-item
scale)

• Listed below are a number of statements
  concerning personal attitudes and traits. Read
  each item and decide whether the statement is
  true or false as it pertains to you.
• T F Before voting I thoroughly investigate the
  qualifications of all the candidates.
• T F I never hesitate to go out of my way to help
  someone in trouble.
• T F It is sometimes hard for me to go on with my
  work if I am not encouraged.
• T F I have never intensely disliked anyone.
• T F On occasion I have had doubts about my
  ability to succeed in life.

34
Racial Attitude Scales Sample Items1950
Ethnocentrism Scale (Adorno et al.)

• Negroes have their rights, but it is best to keep
  them in their own districts and schools and to
  prevent too much contact with whites.
• Manual labor and unskilled jobs seem to fit the
  Negro mentality and ability better than more
  skilled or responsible work.
• Most Negroes would become overbearing and
  disagreeable if not kept in their place.

35
Racial Attitude Scales Sample Items1967
Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory (Woodmansee
Cook)

• I would not take a Negro to eat with me in a
  restaurant where I was well known.
• I think Negroes have a kind of quiet courage
  which few whites have.
• A hotel owner ought to have the right to decide
  for himself whether he is going to rent rooms to
  Negro guests.

36
Racial Attitude Scales Sample Items1982
Modern Racism Scale (McConahay)

• Over the past few years, blacks have gotten more
  economically than they deserve.
• It is easy to understand the anger of black
  people in America.
• Blacks are getting too demanding in their push
  for equal rights.

37
Implicit Association Test Initial
Task(Greenwald, McGhee, Schwartz, 1998)
38
Sequential Evaluative Priming(Fazio et al., 1996)
39
Implicit Association Test Reversed
Task(Greenwald, McGhee, Schwartz, 1998)
40
Story 1 Explicit True Attitude(Except for
social desirability bias)
Implicit Prejudice Measure Cultural Stereotype (
Automatically activated)
Explicit Prejudice Measure True Attitude (Can
override cultural stereotype)
Dissociation Model (Devine)
41
Story 2 Implicit True Attitude
Implicit Prejudice Measure True Attitude (Auto
matically activated)
Explicit Prejudice Measure Cannot be
trusted (Can override implicit attitude)
Bona-Fide Pipeline (Fazio)
42
Story 3 Implicit and Explicit True Attitude
Explicit Prejudice Effortful Activation
Implicit Prejudice Automatic Activation
Dual-Attitudes Model (Wilson)
43
Validation of Attitude MeasuresPredictive
Validity

• Primary criterion for validity of attitude
  measure
• Predictive validity, i.e., prediction of actual
  behavior.
• Questions
• Do standard attitude measures, such as Thurstone,
  Likert, or the semantic differential scales,
  predict behavior?
• Do implicit attitude measures predict behavior
  better than explicit measures?