Attitudes & Attributions
Scott Johns and Jenna Callen
Attitudes-When do they predict
behavior?
Attitude- Belief and feeling that predisposes someone to
respond in a particular way to objects, people, and
events.
Studies Krau (1991) and Wallace (1996) show us that
our attitudes can predict behavior if the situation is right:
o The outside influences on what we do are minimal
o We are keenly aware of our attitudes
o the attitudes are relevant to behavior
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Elaboration Likelihood Model
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Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo (1981)
They described how persuasive message worked to
change attitude of behavior.
This is a dual process theory of how attitudes are
formed and changed. It has two routes of persuasive
influence:
o Central route
o Peripheral route
Central Route
When we are motivated and able to pay
attention we take a logical, conscious
thinking, central route, to make our
decisions.
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This can lead to permanent change in our attitude
Example: Adapting and elaborating on speakers
arguments
Peripheral Route
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If a message does not process through the central route it takes the
peripheral route.
This occurs when the receiver is not motivated to think about the
message, if he is unable to process it, or if the argument is weak.
With this route the person does not pay attention to persuasive argumen
but are persuaded by other characteristics
o Example: weather or not we like the speaker
This route causes the reader to focus on issues or themes that are not
directly related to the subject matter of the message.
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
Is when someone agrees to do a small task,
the request is changed to a larger one.
Example: If you want someone to help you
move out of your house, start by asking only
to help move a couch out.
Role-Playing
An instance or situation where one acts out or assumes a
particular character or role.
Example: An experiment done by Philip Zimbardo when
some students were prisoners and some were guards.
The students who were guards became too intense and
started beating the "prisoners" so the study was called
off.
Cognitive dissonance
Leon Festinger (1957)
Theory that we act to reduce the
discomfort we feel when two of our
thoughts are inconsistent
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Attribution
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Attribution theory:
Theory that we tend to explain the
behavior of others as an aspect of either an
internal disposition or the situation.
Fundamental attribution error:
the tendency to attribute the behaviors of
others to inner dispositions rather than to
situations
Attribution Continued
Dispositional Attribution: Provide us with
information from which we can make
predictions about a person’s future
behavior.
Situational Attribution: looks at the outside
influences causing us to act certain ways
Example :You are standing in a line to buy tickets for a movie, when someone pushes you and goes ahead
Dispositional Attribution: He is thoughtless, rude and uncivilized.
Works Cited
McLeod, S. A. (2010). Attribution Theory - Simply Psychology. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/attribution-theory.html
"Theory Clusters." Universiteit Twente. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013.
<http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverz
AZAR, BETH. " The power of pretending."American Psychological
Association (APA). N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2013.
<http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/pretend.aspx>.