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Transcript
Chapter 7 - Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency • What Are Attitudes and Why Do People Have • • • • Them? How Attitudes Are Formed Consistency Do Attitudes Really Predict Behavior? Beliefs and Believing Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency • Jack Kevorkian – Assisted suicide • What attitudes about life are expected from a • • medical doctor? What attitudes about life did Dr. Kevorkian espouse? How do these seemingly contrary attitudes represent consistency? Attitudes and Beliefs • Attitudes • – Global evaluations toward some object or issue Beliefs – Information about something; facts or opinions Dual Attitudes • Implicit attitude • • • – Automatic evaluative response Explicit attitude – Conscious evaluative response Some attitudes are not shared with others We may not be aware of all our own attitudes Implicit Association Test (IAT) • Measures implicit attitudes – Those we are unwilling or unable to report – Attitudes about stigmatized groups Implicit Association Test PLAY VIDEO Why People Have Attitudes • Attitudes help us deal with complex world • Attitudes are evaluations (like or dislike) • – Initial evaluations are immediate and unconscious Attitudes are helpful in making choices Is Bad Stronger Than Good? Optimism, Pessimism – and Life and Death • Being optimist is healthier than being • pessimistic – Optimism effects appear weaker over time than pessimism Cancer study (Schulz, et al., 1996) – Pessimists were more likely to die – Optimism made no difference How Attitudes Are Formed • Mere-exposure effect • – Exception - If you dislike something initially, repeated exposure will not change that attitude • Zajonc (1968) Stimuli may be presented at subliminal level How Attitudes Are Formed • Classical Conditioning – Can form both explicit and implicit attitudes – Develop a positive attitude toward the conditioned stimulus – Helps explain prejudiced attitudes • Negative information in the media linked to social groups – Advertisers link celebrities and products How Attitudes Are Formed • Operant Conditioning • – Develop a positive attitude toward something being reinforced Social Learning – Learn attitudes acceptable through observation How Attitudes Are Formed? • Polarization - Attitudes become more extreme as we think about them – Especially true in strong initial attitude – Evaluate evidence in a biased manner • Accept evidence that confirms attitude • Accept evidence from ingroup members Consistency • Commonalities in theories about consistency – Specify conditions required for consistency and inconsistency – Assume inconsistency is unpleasant – Specify conditions required to restore consistency Balance Theory • P-O-X Theory • – Person – Other Person – Attitude Object Relationships among P-O-X – Sentiment relationships – Unit relationships Balance Theory • Individuals prefer balanced to unbalanced – Unbalanced – motivated to change Critique of Balance Theory • Assumes symmetry of relationships • Doesn’t consider strength of relationships • Only accommodates situations involving three elements Cognitive Dissonance Theory • Cognitive dissonance refers to unpleasant • state when attitude and behavior are inconsistent – Causes people to rationalize their behavior and bring their attitude into line with actions Festinger & Carlson (1959) Cognitive Dissonance Theory • Effort Justification • • – (Aronson & Mills, 1959) – People seek to justify and rationalize any suffering or effort they have made Greater choice is necessary for dissonance Dissonance is marked by unpleasant arousal Cognitive Dissonance Theory • While people have desire to be consistent in • their own private mind, they have stronger desire to be viewed consistent by others Self-presentation plays a role in cognitive dissonance Food for Thought Would You Eat a Bug or a Worm? • Eat a worm? • Change your attitude! (Comer & Laird, 1975) Sometimes people will choose to suffer an expected consequence, but only if they change their beliefs and attitudes. Consistency • Drive for consistency • – Rooted in our biology – Strengthened by learning and socialization Consistency involves both automatic and conscious parts of the mind Do Attitudes Really Predict Behavior? Attacking Attitudes • A – B Problem • – Inconsistency between attitude (A) and behavior (B) Link between attitudes and behavior is weak The Social Side of Sex A-B Inconsistency and Erotic Plasticity • Gender gap in A-B consistency • Men’s attitudes predict their sexual behavior much better than women – Women’s sexual responses are specific to the person and the situation so general attitudes are not as relevant Defending Attitudes • Predictions of behavior based on attitudes is best when – Measures of attitude are very specific – Behaviors are aggregated over time and situations – Attitudes are consciously prominent and influence thought regarding the choice – Attitudes come to mind easily Beliefs and Believing • Believing is automatic; understanding • requires controlled, conscious thought Duplex mind – Automatic system – uncritical and accepting - believing – Conscious system – can override and change belief to disbelief Belief Perseverance • Once beliefs form – resist to change • – Despite bogus evidence, continue to believe Opposite theory – Reduces belief perseverance Belief and Coping • Coping • – Attempt to deal with trauma and return to effective functioning in life Assumptive worlds – Beliefs about reality – World is benevolent – World is fair and just – I am a good person Belief and Coping • Coping Strategies – Self blame – “I made a mistake.” • Allows sense of control – No explanation for misfortune • More likely to feel vulnerable Cognitive Coping • Beliefs that need to be restored after trauma – Downward comparison • Things could be worse – Restore self-esteem and control – All things have a higher purpose Religious Belief • Provides social support, sense of meaning, • • • • direction and fosters development of virtues Help people cope Appeal to superordinate reduces dissonance Cognitive level - beliefs may be inconsistent Emotional level - may elicit fear and guilt Irrational Belief • People who hold irrational beliefs • – Tend to be more anxious – Cope less well with terminal illness – Are more likely to be depressed over time – Possess lower levels of self-esteem Often maintained despite contradictory evidence What Makes Us Human? • Humans have more complex attitudes • Pressure for consistency • • – We seek and ask for explanations Humans can hold dual attitudes Beliefs help people cope with misfortune