Topic 6__Attitudes__SV.pptx

Attitudes Topic 6 Topic Overview Attitudes Defined Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Attitude Change and Persuasion Applications: Advertising  Resisting Persuasive Messages Cognitive Dissonance Attitudes  Attitudes: o Evaluations of people, objects, or ideas  Three Components of Attitudes...

Attitudes Topic 6 Topic Overview Attitudes Defined Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Attitude Change and Persuasion Applications: Advertising  Resisting Persuasive Messages Cognitive Dissonance Attitudes  Attitudes: o Evaluations of people, objects, or ideas  Three Components of Attitudes o Affective: emotional responses toward attitude object o Cognitive: thoughts and beliefs about attitude object o Behavioural: actions or observable behaviour toward the attitude object.  Attitudes can be based on any of these, or a combination of them Explicit and Implicit Attitudes  Explicit Attitudes: o Attitudes that we can consciously endorse and can easily report  Implicit Attitudes: o Attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious  Explicit attitudes may be formed based on recent experiences, while implicit may be formed based on childhood experiences (Rudman et al., 2007) Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Attitudes have some predictive power, but it is often weak (Wicker, 1969)  LaPiere (1934) o Travelled the US with a Chinese couple o Prejudiced attitudes towards Asians were common o Most establishments provided service, but said they wouldn’t on a questionnaire Spontaneous Behaviours o Often do not have time to think when “behaving” o Accessibility is important Predicting Deliberate Behaviours  Theory of Planned Behaviour: o A theory that the best predictors of planned, deliberate behaviours are attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control Predicting Deliberate Behaviours The Theory of Planned Behaviour has been widely applied: o o o o o o o Remaining smoke-free/quitting smoking Avoiding drug use Reducing gambling Exercise Food Choices Distracted Driving Safe sex practices Often there is support for the theory, but the ability to predict actual behaviour ranges from weak to moderate o “Behaviour” is often self-reported Attitude Change Many people have the goal of changing attitudes o o o o Activists Advertisers Politicians Friends and Family Persuasive communication: o Communication advocating for a particular side of an issue Yale Attitude Change Approach  The study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages The Source of the Communication o Credible, attractive, and likeable speakers are most persuasive The Nature of the Communication o Strong messages (logical), emotional messages, messages that do not seem to be designed to influence o Order of messages: primacy and recency effects The Nature of the Audience o Age, intelligence, existing beliefs o Attention Elaboration Likelihood Model Elaboration Likelihood Model: two routes to that persuasive messages can cause attitude change – a central route and a peripheral route. Central Route: used when people have the ability to pay attention to the arguments and their content o Attitudes tend to be more resistant to change o Behaviour is more consistent with attitudes Peripheral Route: used when people do not pay attention to the arguments and are instead swayed by surface characteristics o Attitudes are more susceptible to change o Behaviour is less consistent with attitudes Fear and Attitude Change  Fear-Arousing Communication: o A persuasive message that attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears o E.g., driving behaviours, smoking, safe sex, COVID-19  Threat and Efficacy o Perceive a threat but have a way to mitigate it o Severity and susceptibility Optimal level of fear o Can overwhelm people if too strong o Humor may be a tool Applications: Advertising Advertisers want to change attitudes o Mere exposure and associations o Emotions o Cognitions Ads can be tailors to attitudes o “Fight fire with fire” Culture and Advertising o Individualist and collectivist frames Subliminal Messages: o Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but supposedly influence people’s judgments, attitudes and behaviours • Some lab evidence • Do not work in the real world – normal advertising works better Resisting Persuasive Messages Attitude Inoculation: o This is the process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by exposing them to small doses of the the arguments against their position o E.g., Avoiding smoking, alcohol and drugs, in elementary school children (McAlister et al., 1980) • Taught them how to rebuff peer-pressure Being Aware of Product Placement: o Advertisers place products in shows/movies (among other places) to get exposure for their product or brand o Remind yourself that people are trying to influence you! Cognitive Defense o Mental strategies to reduce the effects of advertising on yourself o Can also lead to biases Cognitive Dissonance  Cognitive dissonance refers to a feeling of discomfort caused by the realization that one’s behaviour is inconsistent with one’s attitudes, or that one holds two conflicting attitudes. Example: Wright et al. (1992) o Asked to write counterattitudinal essays (pro6:30 am classes) o Study was presented as a test of a “memory enhancing drug”  side effect was tension o “tension” condition changed attitudes less than “no side effects” condition Cognitive Dissonance We can reduce cognitive dissonance by: 1. Changing Behaviour 2. Change Cognitions 3. Justify with Consonant Cognitions Cognitive Dissonance Post-Decision Dissonance: o Dissonance that is aroused after making a decision o Typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluing In decision-making, rarely is the selected option entirely positive and the rejected option entirely negative Testing post-decision dissonance: o Ps evaluate a set of items o Ps make a choice to make from options they found attractive o Rate options again Cognitive Dissonance Permanence of the decision o More need to reduce dissonance for permanent decisions Immoral behaviour o Dissonance can lead to either more or less ethical behavior in the future Justification of effort: o The tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain The End