UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
In society, we make judgements during every
interaction we have. It doesn’t matter if our
interactions are with inadament objects or those
which are alive.
The interactions are said to be our responses to a
stimuli. How we deal with situations is a major factor
in what defines WHO WE ARE.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
These reactions to stimuli are developed through
our cognitive, biological and sociocultural
development.
Simply put, our interactions determine our future
interactions.
This unit examines the way we as a community
interact, why we interact, and how we interact
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDES AND INFLUENCES
Simply put, our attitudes are the result of an
influential effect and our influences affect our
attitude.
Affect is the verb, meaning it has caused something
to happen.
Effect is the noun, meaning something has
happened.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDES AND INFLUENCES
Does this mean that influences come first? Or do
attitudes?
Thats like asking the chicken or the egg!
One group of Psychologists believe one, while
another believe something entirely different!
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDES AND INFLUENCES
Behaviorists believe that influences act first, while
Biological Psychologists can argue that our attitudes
form our behaviour.
In any case, lets look at ATTITUDES first.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
An attitude is a “learned idea about ourselves or
others, or objects and experiences.
This attitude will determine how a person will react in
a situation.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
Within attitude, we look at the tri-component model.
This model states that attitude is formed from the
influences in three components.
Thoughts/Beliefs (cognitive)
Feelings/Emotions (affective)
Actions/Conative (behavioural)
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Thoughts/Beliefs (cognitive)
Component:
"The knowledge and perceptions that are acquired
by a combination of direct experience with the
attitude object and related information from various
sources".
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Thoughts/Beliefs (cognitive)
Component:
The first part of the tri-component attitude model
consists of a person's cognitions, that is, the
knowledge and perceptions that are acquired by a
combination of direct experience with the attitude
object and related information from various sources.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Thoughts/Beliefs (cognitive)
Component:
This knowledge and resulting perceptions commonly
take the form of beliefs.
A person believes that the attitude object possesses
various attributes and that specific behavior will lead
to specific outcomes.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Feelings/Emotions (affective)
Component:
"A person's emotions or feelings about a particular
object".
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Feelings/Emotions (affective)
Component:
A person’s emotions or feelings about a particular
object constitute the “affective” component of an
attitude. These emotions and feelings are frequently
treated by researchers as evaluative in nature.
This means that they capture an individual's direct or
overall assessment of the attitude object (the extent to
which the individual rates the attitude (object as
"favorable" or "unfavorable," "good" or "bad").
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Feelings/Emotions (affective)
Component:
Affect-laden experiences are also shown as
emotionally charged states (e.g." happiness,
sadness, shame, disgust, anger, distress, guilt, or
surprise). Research indicates that such emotional
states may enhance or amplify positive or negative
experiences and that later recollections of such
experiences may impact what comes to mind and
how the individual acts.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Feelings/Emotions (affective)
Component:
In addition to using direct or global (overall)
evaluative measures of an attitude object,
researchers can also use a battery of affective
response scales (e.g., that measure feelings and
emotions) to construct a picture of a persons' overall
feelings about an object.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Actions/Conative (behavioural)
Component:
"The likelihood or tendency that an individual will
undertake a specific action or behave in a particular
way with regard to the attitude object".
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Actions/Conative (behavioural)
Component:
Conation, is concerned with the likelihood or
tendency that an individual will undertake a specific
action or behave in a particular way with regard to
the attitude object. The conative component may
include the actual behavior itself.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
The Actions/Conative (behavioural)
Component:
In research, the conative component is frequently
treated as an expression of a person's intention to
do something.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
An easy way to look at this is as a consumer.
Lets pick a controversial product....
Now lets examine it through the tri-component
model.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
Cognition (Beliefs/Thoughts):
– Thoughts a consumer has about an attitude object.
Your preconcieved opinions, values, ideas etc.
Whether you think big is best, brightest is more
influential, the more expensive, the better quality
etc.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
Affect (Emotions/Feelings):
– The way a consumer feels about an attitude
object.
Whether you think the product is good or not
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
Behaviour (Action/Conative):
– Consumer’s intent to do something in relation to
an attitude object.
Whether you will buy it or not
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
This means that attitudes can be seen as covert
thoughts that can be expressed overtly....of course,
this is only one way of looking at it.
Firstly you must have an idea on an issue, then that
influences what you feel about that issue which will
influence how you act in response to that issue.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
Its all well and good to know what make up the
components of an attitude, but we really want to
know HOW OUR ATTITUDES ARE FORMED!
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Attitudes are formed through various mediums.
They can be formed through;
Direct Contact/Interaction
The way you are raised
Being involved in a group
Media
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Direct Contact/Interaction
You can form an attitude through personal
experience. Through discussion with another person
and in actually experiencing something.
This is a major factor during adolescence as teens
attempt to distance themselves from their parents.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
The way you are raised
This area of attitude formation is extremely
important in the child life span. Effectively you form
an attitude based on your parents values, beliefs
and practices.
Some confuse this area of attitude formation with
biological traits-however, this is an incorrect view.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Being involved in a group
In life we will surround ourselves with those who
have a “similar view of the world”. But how do we
know they have that view, and how do we GET to
that view?
Geography, gender and age factors, among others,
all play a part in who we gravitate towards to spend
time with.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Media
The media provides information on the world around
us. Through the news, TV programs, Internet blogs,
magazines and many more forms of media, we form
an attitude on many parts of life through our
exposure to the media.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Another way we can form an attitude is through what
we call “chance conditioning”. This means that we
learn through simple coincidence.
Chance conditioning doesn’t discount all of the
above factors, but it uses them to demonstrate that
our exposure to “affective” stimuli is by simple
chance.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE FORMATION
If you talk to someone about a holiday to Cairns,
they may hold a different view of that destination
based on the “chance” encounters, weather,
occurrences they had while on holiday.
For instance, I dislike the Whitsunday Islands and
Hamilton Island because I payed a fortune for a
Windy freezing holiday where I couldn’t swim
because of sharks! Others love it!
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Attitudes change over time. To help us understand
this change, we use something called a reference
group. These groups are simply any group with
whom a person identifies and uses a certain
“standard”.
Examples of reference groups are Skater’s, Emo’s,
Collingwood supporters, Gen Y’s, Kids, Adults etc.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
If you belong to a certain reference group, your
attitudes are generally in line with that group
(snowboarders hate skiers).
This can change over time, and we can sympathize
with more than one reference group.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
In psychology, we study the external effects that
change our view of things, we also study HOW to
change someones view. Through persuasion we can
adjust someones attitude on certain
subjects/topics/objects/ideas/beliefs. Successful
politicians, public speakers and salesmen do this
well...but not one does it better than advertisers!
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Billions of dollars are flashed at Psychologists in
advertising to sell products. This is an area known
Consumer Psychology. Effectively, a Consumer
Psychologist seeks to understand why a person (or
people) “spends money on what they spend money
on”
Consumer Psychology examines both individual and
group behaviour through market research to aid
advertisers in “selling what they want to sell”.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Consumer Psychology also deals heavily with
creating what we call a “brand image”.
This means that through merely seeing a logo,
hearing a jingle or using a product, we automatically
form an attitude towards that product.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Brand image also works with forming attitudes of
those who use those products.
For instance, what do we think about BMW drivers?
V8 Holden drivers?
Mitsubishi Mirage drivers?
Toyota Landcruiser drivers?
Ute drivers....
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
This means that Consumer Psychologists are in the
market of helping to manipulate a persons attitude,
so that they make the decision to consume certain
products.
On a side note, marketing is the USA is one of the
most significant occupations for females in the top
job.
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Don’t believe me about the power of Consumer
Psychology?
1). Your an idiot
and
2). Your naive
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Why does fashion change?
Why do we build different kinds of houses?
Why do we buy certain brands?
Why do we buy BOTTLED WATER?
Why is there such a battle between users of MAC
and PC?
Why do you want certain types of hair cuts today,
but a different one in three years?
SELF AND OTHERS
UNIT II PSYCHOLOGY
Its important to note, that while our attitudes are
formed through many external influences, it’s
important to note that we can still have a say in our
attitude formation.
By simply lowering our exposure to negative
images, influences and experiences, we lower our
exposure to negative elements and thus, our own
attitude has a better chance of being more
positive....think about this.
SELF AND OTHERS