Exam 3 Study Guide: Emotion's Influence on Attitudes PDF

Attitudes & Persuasion Exam 3 Study Guide: Emotion’s Influence on Attitudes In addition to knowing the definitions and descriptions of listed concepts, you may be expected to apply or give examples related to these concepts. This guide is not exhaustive. 1) What is emotion...

Attitudes & Persuasion Exam 3 Study Guide: Emotion’s Influence on Attitudes In addition to knowing the definitions and descriptions of listed concepts, you may be expected to apply or give examples related to these concepts. This guide is not exhaustive. 1) What is emotion learning? Exposure to an attitude object that is accompanied by events that have emotional consequences 2) What is exposure/evaluative conditioning? How is it different from classical conditioning? Exposure Conditioning: the repeated presentation of an attitude object paired with an affective sensation (AKA evaluative conditioning, affective conditioning) Classical Conditioning: a form of learning that occurs when an organism encounters a stimulus that repeatedly signals a second stimulus Key difference: Classical Conditioning: the conditioned response is a specific behavior (e.g. salivation) Exposure Conditioning: the conditioned response is an internal affective response (i.e., a positive or negative feeling) 3) Know the features of exposure/evaluative conditioning that make it unlike other types of conditioning. ▪ Attitudes formed from exposure conditioning are resistant to change from extinction procedures extinction: presenting the attitude object without the emotion provoking unconditioned stimulus ▪ Depends on the number of presentations that pair the attitude object and the emotion provoking unconditioned stimulus, rather than the proportion ▪ The effect does not depend on conscious awareness of the attitude object and emotion provoking unconditioned stimulus link 4) What is behavioral conditioning? Behavioral Conditioning: pairing an emotion with a behavior that has been performed. Caveat: When people are aware of the reinforcement, sometimes it can backfire 6) What is observational/vicarious conditioning? Observational (vicarious) conditioning: when someone sees and experiences or empathizes with the emotional response that happens to another person who has performed a particular behavior. Example: Toddlers acquire their mother’s emotional reaction to a toy 7) What is mood and how is it different from emotion? Know how affect relates to mood and emotion. Mood: A prolonged, consistent feeling state, either positive or negative. Not directed at a specific thing Emotion is directed at something, mood is not Affect Broader all-encompassing term Refers to general topics of emotion, feelings, and moods together 8) What is the mood-congruence effect? Mood-congruence effect: the tendency for people to express attitudes that match their current mood. 9) What is the mood-as-information explanation of the mood-congruence effect? Who’s definition of an attitude best fits with the mood-as-information perspective? Mood-as-information: People use their current mood as one piece of information when evaluating an attitude object Mood can only act as information when we don’t realize that it comes from an irrelevant source (such as the weather) Consistent with who’s definition of an attitude? Constructivist theory 10) When do people not use their mood as information? When the person realizes that it comes from an irrelevant source. 11) What is one personality limit on the mood-congruence effect? People who habitually experience stronger emotions (high affect intensity personality trait) = Greater mood congruence People who experience emotions more weakly (low affect intensity personality trait) = Little to no mood congruence 12) Know the different ways mood can influence persuasion and where mood fits in the framework of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (e.g., how is mood used under low elaboration, high elaboration, and when motivation and ability are moderate). Peripheral Route Mood can act as a simple cue when people are processing with low elaboration (peripheral route) Mood as source of information Central Route Mood can bias the processing of a message when elaboration is high (central route) Bias processing causes people to be more influenced by content that matched their current goals (maintaining a positive mood) Mood as a goal Motivation & Ability = Moderate When motivation & ability are moderate, mood can influence how much people elaborate People in a positive mood are less likely to carefully process a message compared to those in a negative mood Positive Emotion → Low Elaboration Negative Emotion → High Elaboration 13) How does the certainty associated with specific emotions influence how a person processes a persuasive message? Certainty related emotions cause people to process information less carefully (low elaboration, peripheral route) 14) What is integral affect? What is incidental affect? Which one has a bigger influence on attitudes? Incidental affect: An affective state that is not linked to the attitude object Integral affect: Feeling associated with an attitude object The affect portion of the CAB model of attitudes Fear appeals use integral affect to try to persuade Incidental affect is less likely to influence attitudes when people experience precise and/or intense integral affect Attitudes & Persuasion Exam 3 Review Sheet: Attitudes’ Influence on Thoughts This guide is meant to help you organize your thought before the second exam. In addition to knowing the definitions and descriptions of listed concepts, you may be expected to apply or give examples related to these concepts. This guide is not exhaustive. Also, be sure to study each of the readings. 1) What is selective attention? Know the results of Roskos-Ewoldsen & Fazio’s (1992) study on selective attention and attitude accessibility. Selective Attention: The tendency to notice and focus on attitude-congruent and attitude-incongruent information to different degrees. Rokos-Ewoldsen & Fazio’s 1992 study results:  2) What is selective exposure? Under what conditions are selective exposure effects larger vs smaller? Selective Exposure: The tendency to seek out different amounts of attitude-congruent and attitude-incongruent information. Selective exposure effects are larger when: The attitude-objects are value-relevant People felt high commitment to the attitude position Selective exposure effects are smaller when attitude inconsistent information seems: Highly useful High in quality Non-refutable 3) Be able to describe how attitudes can bias our interpretation of information, political judgements, and face perception. Selective exposure effects are larger when: Attitude certainty was high Selective exposure effects are smaller when: Attitude accessibility was high Attitude importance was high Sawicki et al. (2011, 2013): Looked at the role of new information familiarity (when people are knowledgeable about an issue, they are more likely to be familiar with information related to the issue) When the information is likely familiar, high certainty and low ambivalence predicted preference for attitude-congruent information When the information is likely novel, low certainty and high ambivalence predicted preference for attitude-congruent information Key Points from The Influence of Attitudes on Attention: Our attitudes influence the type of information we actually perceive. Our attitudes influence the type of information we are likely to process and seek out. The size of the effects of attitudes on processing, exposure, and perception depend on attitude strength, including effects of its importance, value-relevance, ambivalence, certainty, and accessibility  The role of attitude strength depends on how it is measured and on relevant individual differences (e.g., topic familiarity) Selective Exposure & Attitude Strength: Influence of Attitudes on How Information is Interpreted: Effects on Political Judgments: Krizan, Miller, & Johar (2010): Tracked American students’ attitudes toward the candidates during the 2008 Presidential Election (Obama vs McCain). Participants preference for who they wanted to win earlier in the study predicted who they expected to win later in the study. Our attitudes shape our beliefs about what will happen in future. Effects on Face Perception: Young, Ratner, & Fazio (2014) Political attitudes can bias people’s mental representation of candidates faces Participants selected which of two digitally scramble images looked more like Mitt Romney, across 450 image pairs The images each participant selected were then averaged together to estimate the participant’s mental representation of Mitt Romney The researchers then averaged together the “mental representations” of Romney supporters vs opponents, democrats vs republicans, people who voted for Romney vs Obama New participants where then presented with the two pictures of Romney and asked to indicate in which of the two pictures did he look more: Trustworthy Competent Caring Better Looking The “mental images” of Romney supporters were rated as more trustworthy and better looking than the “mental images” of Romney opponents.  4) What is selective memory? What is the congeniality effect? Under what conditions is the congeniality effect larger? Selective Memory: The effect of attitudes on the types of attitude-relevant information we remember (e.g. attitude congruent vs. incongruent) Congeniality Effect: People remember more extreme statements (both attitude congruent and incongruent) better than less extreme statements Congeniality effect was larger when the attitude object was value-relevant Found only a small memory advantage for attitude-congruent information 5) Know and be able to describe the two motivational accounts for why attitudes bias attention, encoding and interpretation, and memory. Motivational Accounts: Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger, 1957) - It is emotionally aversive to have inconsistent thoughts and feelings. We may attend to attitude-congruent information, process it more deeply, and remember it better because it helps people defend and feel good about their attitudes. People are motivated to see the world in a way that is favorable to them (Kunda, 1990). We are more likely to encode and store information in a way that is favorable to their attitudes. 6) Know how our attitudes influence how we interpret news events and what (false) information we may remember. Kahan, Hoffman, Braman, Evans, & Rachlinski (2012): People inclined to support abortion rights thought the protesters were more disruptive in the abortion clinic condition.  People who had strong egalitarian ideals were more likely to express support for the protesters for LGBTQ rights. Fake News: Suggestions that are congruent with prior attitudes and evaluations can produce feelings of familiarity and recognition. 7) What are echo chambers and how does the research on attitudes and information processing help explain why echo chambers happen? Echo Chambers: Situations where one is exposed only to opinions that agree with their own People are much less likely to click on ideologically inconsistent articles (compared to consistent) on Facebook Political Bubbles and Echo Chambers: Frimer, Skitka, & Motyl, 2017 - Participants could read an opinion they agree with → Raffle to win $7 Read an opinion they disagree with → Raffle to win $10 ▪ 63% of participants chose to read the attitude congruent opinion People will give up a chance to win money to avoid hearing arguments against their political stances Listening to a political opponent is a very unpleasant experience 8) What is affective polarization and how does the research on attitudes help explain why affective polarization occurs? Affective polarization: The tendency for people to dislike and distrust those from opposing political parties. 9) What is disinformation? What are the reasons disinformation “works” and spreads? Disinformation: Information presented with the intent to deceive Reasons why disinformation works and spreads: Disinformation is commonly used by a variety of parties, including some governments, to influence public opinion Disinformation works because many people fail to recognize false information when it’s presented to them.  Disinformation is often shared over social media by friends and family, people we otherwise this as trustworthy 10) What is inoculation theory? How can inoculation theory be used to prevent the spread of disinformation? Know the most common aspects of disinformation and how they work to help the spread of disinformation. Inoculation Theory: People are able to build up a resistance against false or misleading information by being presented with a weakened version of a misleading argument before being exposed to the “real” information. How can inoculation theory be used to prevent the spread of disinformation: Changing search engines’ and social media sites’ search and display algorithms Fact-checking tools Government Regulation The most effective method of combating disinformation is to foster critical and well-informed news consumers Most common aspects of disinformation: Impersonation Impersonating a real person or organization by mimicking their appearance, for example by using a slightly different username. Posing as a legitimate news website or blog without the usual journalistic credentials and guidelines. Emotion Emotional content is content that is not necessarily ‘fake’ or ‘real’ but deliberately plays into people’s basic emotions such as fear, anger, or empathy. Polarization Deliberate attempts to expand the gap between the political left and the political right False Amplification Amplify existing grievances and make them look more important or popular than they really are Conspiracy theories The belief that unexplained events are orchestrated by a covert group or organization. Discredit Discrediting your opponents is an important part of disinformation. Trolling Deliberately evoking an emotional response by using bait PS-415 Attitudes & Persuasion Exam 3 Review Sheet: The Influence of Behavior on Attitudes In addition to knowing the definitions and descriptions of listed concepts, you may be expected to apply or give examples related to these concepts. This guide is not exhaustive. 1) What is self-perception theory? Individuals sometimes derive their own attitude by making inferences about their own behavior. 2) What types of attitudes are and are not likely to be influenced by self-perception? When attitudes are weak then people will rely on self-perception and when attitudes are strong, they should be uninfluenced by self-perception. 3) What is the foot-in-the-door effect? How does self-perception help explain the foot-in-the-door effect? Agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second request. Self-perception theory explains the foot-in-the-door effect by suggesting that when someone complies with a small initial request, they begin to see themselves as a more helpful or agreeable person, making them more likely to agree to a larger subsequent request 4) What is the overjustification effect? Be able to describe it in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards/motivation. When rewards decrease the intrinsic attractiveness of an activity or object. 5) How does self-perception help explain the overjustification effect? According to self-perception theory, we are seldom aware of our specific motives. Instead, we make inferences about our motives according to what seems to make the most sense. 6) What is cognitive dissonance? a feeling of discomfort caused by an inconsistency between two cognitions (thoughts) 7) Why do we feel cognitive dissonance according to Festinger’s original theory? Why do we feel cognitive dissonance according to more modern theories? The need to feel consistent—Original Theory (Festinger). The need to maintain self-esteem— Modern Theories (e.g., Aronson). Cognitive dissonance is most aversive when we act in ways that are inconsistent with our positive self-image. 8) What are the three ways people can reduce cognitive dissonance? Be able to provide examples of each. Which way is most common?: Three ways to reduce cognitive dissonance 1) Change our behavior (Stop smoking) 2) Change our cognitions (our thoughts/attitude)---(Smoking is fine, it’s not that dangerous) 3) Add consonant cognitions (thoughts)---(I don’t smoke that often, only when I’m stressed) Many times, it is easiest to change our attitudes to be consistent with our behaviors…Rationalizing our behaviors as opposed to behaving rationally…Especially if we have put forth a lot of effort 9) Know generally how Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) tested cognitive dissonance and what they found. They were asking participants to perform a boring task, then paying them either $1 or $20 to tell the next participant that the task was enjoyable; they found that those paid only $1 rated the task as more enjoyable than those paid $20, because the $1 group had to justify their lie by convincing themselves the task was actually fun due to the lack of a substantial external justification for lying.\ 10) Know what external and internal justification are and how they relate to cognitive dissonance. External Justification: A reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual (e.g., in order to receive a large reward or avoid a severe punishment) Internal Justification: the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (e.g., one’s attitude or behavior). When there isn’t a sufficient external justification (reason) available, you make an internal justification. 11) What is insufficient justification? When there is no sufficient external justification for our behaviors, we are likely to change our attitudes to fit our behaviors. 12) What is effort justification? The tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain 13) What is post-decision dissonance? Under what conditions are people more likely to experience post-decision dissonance? State of discomfort that can occur after making a difficult choice between multiple option. Post-decisional dissonance reduction is greatest when the decision is: - Important - Irrevocable (no take-backs) - Permanent (lasting consequence) 14) What is the key difference between self-perception theory and cognitive dissonance theory? Self-Perception theory: accounts for responses when people’s attitudes are vague or uncertain. (People are not sure what their attitude is, so they guess based on their behavior) Cognitive Dissonance theory: accounts for responses when people have well-defined attitudes (People feel aversive arousal due to their dissonant attitude and behavior, so they change 1) the attitude, 2) the behavior, 3) or add a cognition) 15) Know the role of aversive arousal in cognitive dissonance and how the misattribution of arousal paradigm help test the role of aversive arousal in cognitive dissonance. People are more likely to experience cognitive dissonance when they are pleasantly aroused. Misattribution of arousal: the process whereby people make a mistake in assuming what is causing them to feel aroused 16) What does hypocrisy mean in the context of cognitive dissonance? A discrepancy between verbal behavior that promotes our attitude and a second behavior that contradicts our attitude. 17) When people feel dissonance due to hypocrisy, how do they usually reduce that dissonance? People are more likely to change their behavior to reduce dissonance due to hypocrisy rather than their attitudes 18) When hypocrisy is made public, how do people usually reduce the dissonance they feel? Rationalizing their actions, minimizing the inconsistency, blaming others, denying responsibility, or changing their stated beliefs to align with their behavior Guilt causes more action Shame cause less action