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Persuasion, Attitudes & Behavior
Chapter 8
What are attitudes?
Evaluations of people, objects
and/or ideas that often determine
what we do
Where do attitudes come from?
They may be indirectly linked to genes
via temperament, personality, etc.
They definitely come from social
experiences.
The social component of attitudes:
Has three sub-components:
Cognitive: rests on relevant facts
Affective: connected to emotions, values
Behavioral: works by self-perception only
when the initial attitude is ambiguous
The affective component of attitudes:
May have gained its emotional values
from:
Values, morals or religion
Sensory experiences/aesthetics
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
The affective component of attitudes:
Is not rational
Is not based on logic
Explicit vs. Implicit Attitudes
 - are often contradictory
 Explicit attitudes are consciously endorsed
 Implicit attitudes are non-conscious and at times may
be involuntary and/or uncontrollable
How do attitudes change?
By what others have to say
By changing behavior (Cognitive
Dissonance/internal justification)
Persuasive communication
Persuasive Communication
Attitude Change on a Mass Scale
Yale Attitude Change Approach – Hovland, et.
Al.
Many factors go into this
Source
Nature of the communication
Nature of the audience4
Elaboration Likelihood Model
Central Route to Persuasion
Listeners are likely to elaborate
Logic matters
Listeners must be able and motivated to pay
attention
Peripheral Route to Persuasion
Listeners are not likely to elaborate
Logic does not matter
Listeners take mental shortcuts
Yale Attitude Change Approach
Source
A credible source (expert) is more likely
to be believed that one less credible
An attractive source (physical or
personality) is more likely to be believed
than one less attractive
Nature of the Communication
People are more persuaded if they believe
that the communication was not designed
to persuade them.
A two-sided communication is generally
more persuasive than a one-sided one.
However, the communicator should be
careful to refute the counterarguments.
The Nature of the Audience
A distracted audience is easier to persuade.
An audience of lower intelligence is easier to
persuade than a more intelligent one.
The audience with moderate self-esteem is
easier to persuade than one with high or low
self-esteem.
People between the ages of 18-25 are
easier to persuade. Attitudes will become
more stable and resistant to change as we
age.
Paying Attention
Distraction
Fatigue
Boring Speaker
Need for cognition
Motivation to pay attention
Speaker credibility
Topic relevance/ personal relevance