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Social Psychology
Chapter 16
Why Study Attitudes?
Attitudes are important because they:
 strongly influence our social thought
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help to organize and evaluate stimuli (e.g.,
categorizing stimuli as positive or negative)
presumably have a strong affect on behavior

help to predict people’s behavior in wide range of
contexts (e.g., voting, interpersonal relations)
4.5
Attitudes
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How are attitudes formed?
Do attitudes influence behavior?
How are attitudes changed?
4.4
Definition

Evaluations of any aspect of our social world.
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Automobiles
Abortion
President Bush
Attitude Structure
Gun Control
Affect: “Guns make me sick!”
Behavior: “I vote for gun control
whenever possible.”
Cognition: “Guns in the house
increase the likelihood of children
accidentally shooting themselves.”
Behavior
Attitude Formation

social learning- acquire attitudes from others
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classical conditioning- learning based on
association
 subliminal conditioning- without awareness
instrumental conditioning- learn to hold the
“right” views
observational learning- learning by observing
actions of others and exposure to mass media
Attitude Formation (con’t)

social comparison- compare ourselves to others
to determine if our view of reality is correct
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attitudes are shaped by social information from
others we like or respect
genetic factors- inherited general dispositions
(e.g., see world in a positive or negative light)
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highly heritable attitudes and gut-level preferences
(music) are especially influenced
Summary
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Attitudes are evaluations of any aspect of our
social world
Attitudes are often learned
Attitudes are also formed through social
comparison
New research suggests attitudes are
influenced by genetic factors
Attitude-Behavior Link

Attitudes do not always predict behavior
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LaPiere (1934) found that virtually all businesses
served Chinese couple courteously, yet most owners
held negative attitudes
Sun-worshippers know the dangers of exposure to
the sun, yet they tan anyway
 “looking good” attitude takes precedence over
attitudes toward personal health
Forward
LaPiere Study
Would you serve Chinese people?
Did Serve
120%
100%
Would Serve
99%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Back
8%
9%
0%
Restaurants
Hotels, Motels
Attitude Change

Dissonance Theory

Persuasion
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Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Attitude Formation & Change
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Cognitive Dissonance Theory
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Festinger and Carlsmith study
$20
Told next person
tasks were fun
and interesting
Asked how
much they
enjoyed experiment
Boring
Tasks
Told next person
tasks were fun
and interesting
$1
Festinger & Carlsmith Study Results
Enjoyment of the Task
25
20
15
10
5
0
Control
Condition
$1 Condition
Reward Conditions
$20 Condition
Cognitive Approach to Attitude Change

Persuasion
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Early persuasion research focused on:
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efforts to change attitudes through various kinds of
messages.
The communicator (source)
What they said (message)
How they said it (channels)
Who was listening (audience)
Research suggests there are two routes through
which information is processed

The Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Message
unimportant,
uninteresting
Heuristic
processing
Peripheral Route
Message
important,
interesting
Systematic
processing
Central Route
Nonverbal
cues
important
Argument
strength
unimportant
Nonverbal
cues
unimportant
Argument
strength
important
Figure 16.10 Overview of the persuasion process
Factors Influencing Information
Processing

We tend to use systematic processing when:
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we are strongly motivated
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accuracy motivation
impression motivation
defensive motivation
we have a high ability to do so
We tend to use heuristic processing when:
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we are unmotivated
we lack the ability to systematically process info
Competing
Collaborating
High
Concern for Your Goals
Distributive
Dimension
Integrative
Dimension
Compromising
Accommodating
Low
Avoiding
Low
Concern for Other’s Goals
High
Factors That Influence Strategy Selection
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Skills
Willingness of other participant
Perception of future relationship
Attributions about others’ behavior
Person Perception:
Forming Impressions of Others
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Effects of physical appearance
Cognitive schemas
Stereotypes
Prejudice and discrimination
Subjectivity in person perception
Evolutionary perspectives
Attribution Processes: Explaining
Behavior
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Attributions
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Biases in attributions
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Internal vs. External
Kelley’s covariation model
Fundamental attribution error
Defensive attribution
Self-serving bias
Cultural influences