Psychology: Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency

Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency

Definition of Attitudes

• Attitudes are evaluations people make about objects, ideas, events, or other people
• Attitudes denote a functional state of readiness that determines how an individual reacts to certain stimuli or situations
• Attitudes are a way of being set towards or against certain things

ABC Components of Attitude

• Affect: Emotional responses (e.g., love, hate, like, dislike)
• Behaviour: Behavioural tendencies (verbal and non-verbal actions)
• Cognition: Thoughts, knowledge, and beliefs about the attitudinal object

Characteristics and Properties of Attitudes

• Attitudes imply a subject-object relationship
• Attitudes may or may not have motivational appeal initially
• Attitudes give direction to one's behaviour and actions
• Attitudes are coloured with motivational and evaluative characteristics
• Attitudes are not innate but learned, acquired, and conditioned
• Attitudes can be changed depending on circumstances, experiences, and information

Theories of Attitude Formation

• Experience: Attitudes form directly as a result of experience
• Social Factors: Social roles and social norms can influence attitudes
• Learning: Attitudes can be learned through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning

Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov: Learning through repeated pairings of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus
• Example: Advertisers using classical conditioning to influence people's attitudes towards a product

Operant Conditioning

• B.F. Skinner: People are more likely to repeat behaviours that have been rewarded and less likely to repeat behaviours that have been punished
• Example: Advertisers using operant conditioning to sell products

Social Learning

• Albert Bandura: People are more likely to imitate behaviours if they have seen others rewarded for them
• Example: Children imitating aggressive acts they observed in aggressive models

Cognitive Dissonance and Attitude Change

• Cognitive dissonance theory: Inconsistencies produce an unpleasant mental state called cognitive dissonance, leading people to rationalize their behaviour or change their attitudes
• Balance theory: Balanced states are preferred over unbalanced states, and unbalanced states motivate people to change them to balanced states

Attitudes and Behavior

• The Theory of Planned Behaviour: Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control influence behavioural intentions
• Attitudes do not always predict behaviour: Expressed attitudes may not match actual behaviour, and moral hypocrisy can occur

Summary

• Attitudes and beliefs reflect how we view the world
• Attitudes are formed through automatic and deliberate processes and are fairly stable once formed
• Beliefs are the facts and information that we accept as true, which can help us cope or hurt us if they are irrational