Behaviour and Attitudes PDF

BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES Chapter 4 ARE WE ALL HYPOCRITES? ▪ Attitude A favourable or unfavourable evaluative reaction toward something or someone, exhibited in one’s beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior ▪ Attitudes are not a great predictor of behaviour ▪ e.g., Cheating, church attendan...

BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES Chapter 4 ARE WE ALL HYPOCRITES? ▪ Attitude A favourable or unfavourable evaluative reaction toward something or someone, exhibited in one’s beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior ▪ Attitudes are not a great predictor of behaviour ▪ e.g., Cheating, church attendance, racism, safe sex, etc. 2 WHEN DO ATTITUDES PREDICT BEHAVIOUR? ▪ When social influences on what we say are minimal  Facial muscle responses, implicit association test (IAT), etc. ▪ When other influences on behaviour are minimal ▪ When attitudes specific to behaviour are examined ▪ When attitudes are strong  Something reminds us of it  We gained it in a manner that makes it strong 3 THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR 4 ROLE PLAYING Role ▪ Actions expected of those who occupy a particular social position ▪ e.g., teacher, soldier, business person, etc. ▪ Gender roles 5 IMMORAL AND MORAL ACTS ▪ Immoral acts sometimes result from gradually escalating commitments: ▪ e.g., after harming their victim, aggressors often blame the victim, which serves to justify their behaviour ▪ Dehumanization and moral disengagement ▪ Moral acts can be arrived at similarly 6 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ▪ Public conformity can lead to private acceptance ▪ e.g., political rituals such as singing “O Canada” or greeting people with “Heil Hitler” ▪ “One does what one is; one becomes what one does” (Robert Musil, Kleine Prosa, 1930) 7 SELF-PRESENTATION: IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT Impression management: ▪ Being concerned with making a good impression in order to gain social and material rewards, to feel better about ourselves, or to become more secure in our social identities ▪ Wanting to appear consistent 8 SELF-JUSTIFICATION: COGNITIVE DISSONANCE ▪ Cognitive dissonance: ▪ We feel tension (dissonance) when we are aware that we have two thoughts that are inconsistent or incompatible. ▪ Also occurs when our behaviour is inconsistent with our attitudes ▪ Selective exposure: ▪ People prefer to expose themselves to information that agrees with their point of view 9 SELF-JUSTIFICATION: COGNITIVE DISSONANCE 10 SELF-JUSTIFICATION: COGNITIVE DISSONANCE Dissonance after decisions: ▪ Occurs when we choose between two equally attractive (or equally unattractive) alternatives. ▪ This can create dissonance. ▪ We “manage” this dissonance by upgrading the chosen alternative and downgrading the rejected alternative. 11 SELF-PERCEPTION When we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them by looking at our behaviour and the circumstances under which it occurs. 12 SELF-PERCEPTION 13 COMPARING THE THEORIES Self-perceiving when not self-contradicting: ▪ Dissonance theory is inconsistent with two findings. ▪ People with no change arousal can have attitude change. ▪ Overjustification effect 14