October Attitudes
Monday 25, 2010 - Outline V.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The Self
Historic Perspective on the Self The Self-Concept How do we know ourselves? Self-esteem The motive for self-justification
V.
Attitudes
Attitude
Defined as "a predisposition to respond in a consistent manner toward a particular object" Three elements to that definition: "__________________" action tendencies inherent in attitudes "___________________" we can predict someone's behavior consistently by knowing their attitudes "___________________" attitudes are specific (person, thing, idea, issue)
Tripartite view of Attitude
Attitudes consist of 3 components: ______________ component our feelings about the attitude object _____________ component our beliefs or thoughts about the attitude object _______________ component our behavior toward the attitude object Key assumption: All three components should be consistent to infer an attitude
Contemporary view of attitudes
Research found that these three attitude components _________ always correspond Particularly disturbing was that affective and cognitive components were _____________ with behavior This led to a re-evaluation of the attitude construct Current definition of attitude define it in terms of a single component ____________ component
If affectively based attitudes do not come from examining the facts, where do they come from? They can result from: 1. People's __________, such as religious and moral beliefs, 2. __________ reaction, such as liking the taste of chocolate , 3. __________ reaction, such as admiring a painting or the lines and color of a car, 4. ___________.
The real significance of these findings is that our food preferences are easily affected by __________________ with previously learned responses.
Classical Conditioning
The phenomenon whereby a stimulus that elicits an emotional response is repeatedly __________ with a neutral stimulus that does not until the neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus.
Classical conditioning works this way:
A stimulus that elicits an emotional response is accompanied by a neutral stimulus that does not until eventually the neutral stimulus elicits the emotional response by itself. Suppose that when you were a child, you experienced feelings of warmth and love when you visited your grandmother. Suppose also that her house always smelled faintly of mothballs. Eventually, the smell of mothballs alone will trigger the emotions you experienced during your visits, through the process of classical conditioning.
Operant Conditioning
The phenomenon whereby behaviors that people freely choose to perform increase or decrease in frequency, depending on whether they are followed by positive ____________ or _____________.
Although affectively based attitudes come from many sources, we can group them into one family because they: (1)Do not result from a ___________ examination of the issues, (2)Are not governed by _______ (e.g., persuasive arguments about the issues seldom change an affectively based attitude), and (3)Are often linked to people's ________, so that trying to change them challenges those values.
Functions that attitudes serve
The literature on attitudes has emphasized four different functions that attitudes serve for us
____________ function Instrumental/utilitarian function ________________ function Self-esteem maintenance function
Knowledge Function
All attitudes serve to ___________ and ___________ our knowledge about a particular attitude object Attitudes help a person ___________ their environment and provide consistency and stability to one's world Example: "This is a good book."
Instrumental/Utilitarian Function
Some attitudes serve to maximize our _______ and minimize punishments from obtained our environment Particularly true for attitudes that have _____________ outcomes (foods, comfort items, activities) Example: "I like flannel sheets because they keep me really warm on cold nights."
Social Identity Function
Some attitudes serve a ___________ function for the individual Two types: (1) _______________ attitudes that express one's own central values (2) _______________ attitudes that express central values of desired or admired groups (that is, they define your public or social identity)
Self-Esteem Maintenance Function
Some attitudes serve to maintain and potentially enhance one's self-esteem Attitudes about ______ (and attributes we possess) are positive Attitudes about other groups are negative (prejudice feelings toward outgroups)
Measuring attitudes
How do we best measure attitudes? A variety of measures have been developed and used over the years Many of these have become popular and are used in surveys throughout the world
Thurstone Scale
Check the statements with which you agree: 1. I feel that church services give me inspiration and help me to live up to my best during the following week. 2. I feel the need for religion but do not find what I want in any one church. 3. I think the organized church is an enemy of science and truth. 4. I enjoy the church because there is a spirit of friendliness there. 5. I respect any church members' beliefs, but I think it is all "bunk." 6. I believe what the church teaches but with many reservations.
Likert Scale
Indicate your agreement with the following statement. I believe that the church is the greatest institution in America today. ____ Strongly agree ____ Moderately agree ____ Neutral ____ Moderately disagree ____ Strongly disagree
Semantic Differential
Rate how you feel about the church on each of the scales below.
Good Unfavorable Pleasant Negative ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Bad Favorable Unpleasant Positive
One item rating scale
How much do you like the church? 1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
6
7
Very much
Validity Concerns
These attitude scales are commonly used Rely on _____________ ("extrinsic measures") Are people willing to accurately report their attitudes toward sensitive topics?
Social ____________ concerns
Can people accurately report their attitudes toward some topics?
______________ awareness (Tim Wilson's work)
Implicit Measures of Attitude
Fazio's attitude accessibility measure Attitude accessibility the extent to which an evaluation automatically comes to mind (is associated with) an attitude object Indexed by the ____________ in making a response
Fazio's attitude accessibility task
Methodology: Attitude object is presented Immediately followed by an evaluative word (disgusting, pleasant) Task is simply to report the meaning of the evaluative word (good/bad) How does this serve to measure attitudes toward the attitude object?
Attitude accessibility
Look at facilitation/inhibition due to the earlier presentation of the attitude object _______________ quicker to respond if your evaluation of the attitude object matches that of the word
Cockroach disgusting Puppies -- pleasant
Attitude accessibility
___________ slower to respond if your evaluation of the attitude object conflicts with or mismatches that of the word
Cockroach pleasant Puppies -- disgusting
Question: What about items that one is ambivalent about?
Implicit Associations Test (IAT)
Another technique to assess implicit attitudes Procedurally, people try to respond as quickly as possible without making errors (speed/accuracy tradeoff) Participants are presented with members of categories (words, names, faces) and must link them with other (often evaluative) categories