Psychology Attitudes and Ambivalence

Attitude Formation and Ambivalence

• Positive beliefs and feelings toward an object lead to a positive attitude, while negative beliefs result in a negative attitude.
• Attitudinal ambivalence occurs when attitudes toward an object are mixed, reflecting both positive and negative feelings.
• Examples of attitudinal ambivalence:
  • Donating blood (knowing it’s good but fearing needles).
  • A friend who is generous but rude combines cognitive (mixed beliefs) and affective (torn feelings) aspects.

Attitude-Behavior Relationship

• Wicker's meta-analysis indicated a weak correlation (~0.3) between attitudes and behavior, highlighting limited predictive power.
• LaPiere's study revealed a discrepancy between stated discriminatory attitudes and actual behavior in serving Chinese customers.
• Fishbein & Ajzen found that matching the specificity of attitudes and behaviors enhances predictive correlation (General-Specific vs. General-General).

Conditions Guiding Attitude Behavior

• Specific attitudes predict specific behaviors; general attitudes predict general behaviors.
• Situational factors like time pressure can influence whether attitudes guide behavior.
• Attitude strength and accessibility play significant roles; strong, accessible attitudes resist change and guide behavior consistently.

Theory of Reasoned Action

• Behavioral intention arises from attitudes toward the behavior and subjective norms regarding it.
• Evaluations of possible outcomes influence intentions, underscoring the importance of specific attitudes over general beliefs.

Persuasion Mechanics

• Source Characteristics*
• Credible speakers: Persuasive due to expertise and trusted knowledge, even with occasional errors.
• Attractive speakers: Physical or personality-based attractiveness increases persuasive impact.
• Communication Dynamics*
• Perceived intent: Audiences less persuaded when they sense manipulation; authentic endorsements enhance credibility.
• One-sided arguments are effective for supportive audiences; two-sided arguments are better for mixed audiences.
• Order of presentation influences persuasion, with the first speaker setting expectations, and the last speaker being more memorable.
• Audience Factors*
• Distracted audiences are more easily influenced when engaged in mixed stimuli.
• Younger individuals (18-25) tend to be more persuadable due to limited life experience.
• Self-monitoring, need for cognition, and intelligence impact how individuals process persuasive messages.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

• Central Route: Involves deep cognitive processing; quality of the argument is essential.
• Peripheral Route: Relies on heuristics and superficial cues; effective when the audience lacks motivation or ability to process deeply.

Compliance Techniques

• Reciprocal concessions (Rejection-then-Retreat Technique): Proposal of a large request followed by a smaller request increases compliance likelihood.
• Commitment consistency: Higher likelihood of compliance when individuals act consistently with prior commitments (Foot-in-the-Door Technique).
• Social proof demonstrates conformity through group behaviors in ambiguous situations.
• Authority increases compliance to requests perceived from authoritative figures, as shown in Hofling's experiment.

Social Norms and Conformity

• Social norms represent collective evaluations and behaviors accepted by a group, varying in significance and context.
• Individual attitudes may conflict with group norms, creating social disapproval.
• Asch’s experiments revealed high rates of conformity under group pressure, with implications for understanding social influence.

Types of Conformity

• Public conformity: Surface-level compliance without internal acceptance.
• Private conformity: Internal acceptance of group norms as personal values.

Functions and Influences of Conformity

• Informational influence: Consensus perceived as an indicator of correctness.
• Normative influence: Facilitates connectedness and rewards within social groups, encouraging conformity.

Challenges of Perceived Consensus

• Misleading consensus can create illusions of agreement without substantial independent agreement among group members.

Group Performance Dynamics

• Task Types*
• Conjunctive tasks: Group performance determined by the weakest member, often leading to inferior performance compared to individuals.
• Disjunctive tasks: Group output dictated by the strongest member, generally leading to superior group performance.
• Additive tasks: Individual contributions summed, but groups may underperform due to social loafing.
• Social Loafing*
• Defined as a reduction in individual effort within a group context, evidenced by studies showing lower engagement in group shouting tasks.
• Solutions include evaluating individual performance, enhancing group identity, and utilizing the Collective Effort Model.

Leadership in Groups

• Leadership involves influencing and motivating group members toward common goals. Types include decision-making and task performance-focused behaviors.