Social Psychology
Attitudes – Chapter 6
October 22, 2004
Class #8
What is an Attitude?

A positive, negative, or mixed evaluation
of a person, object, or idea expressed at
some level of intensity
How Attitudes Are Measured:
Self-Report Measures

Attitude Scale


A multiple-item questionnaire designed to
measure a person’s attitude toward some
object
 Ex: Likert Scale
Bogus Pipeline



An experimental paradigm
A phony lie-detector device that is sometimes
used to get respondents to give truthful
answers to sensitive questions
Helps control for social desirability
How Attitudes Are Measured:
Covert Measures

Observable behavior
 Facial
Electromyograph
(EMG)
 An electronic
instrument that
records facial
muscle activity
associated with
emotions and
attitudes
How Attitudes Are Measured:
The Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Based on notion that we have implicit
attitudes


Attitudes that one is not aware of having
Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Measures the speed with which one responds
to pairings of concepts
The Link Between Attitudes and Behavior

Is the assumption that attitudes influence
behavior a valid one?



LaPiere’s (1934) provocative but flawed study
Wicker’s (1969) conclusion that attitudes and
behavior are only weakly correlated
Kraus (1995): “Attitudes significantly and
substantially predict future behavior”
Strength of the Attitude

Why do some attitudes have more
influence on behavior?


Depends on attitude’s importance or strength
Why are some attitudes stronger than
others?

Because of our genetic make-up?
Psychological Factors Influencing
Attitude Strength
Does it directly affect one’s own outcomes
and self-interests?
 Is it related to deeply held philosophical,
political, and religious values?
 Is it of concern to one’s close friends,
family, and social in-groups?

Factors That Indicate the Strength
of an Attitude
How well informed is the person?
 How was the information on which the
attitude is based acquired?
 Has the attitude been attacked?
 How accessible is the attitude to
awareness?

Persuasion

The process of changing people’s attitude
Two Routes to Persuasion

Central Route



Person thinks carefully about a message
Influenced by the strength and quality of the
message
Peripheral Route


Person does not think critically about the
contents of a message
Influenced by superficial cues
The Central Route

Hovland et al. (1949)


McGuire (1968)


Persuaded when we attend to, comprehend,
and retain in memory an argument.
Distinguished between the reception of a
message and its later acceptance.
Greenwald (1968)

Elaboration is an important, intermediate step


Thoughts that are generated in response to the
message
Favorable thoughts lead to attitude change
The Central Route

Assumption that the recipients are
attentive, active, critical, and thoughtful



Assumption is correct only some of the time
When it is correct, the persuasiveness of the
message depends on the strength of the
message’s content
The central route is a thoughtful process

But not necessarily an objective one
The Peripheral Route

People are persuaded on the basis of
superficial, peripheral cues


Message is evaluated through the use of
simple-minded heuristics
People are also influenced by attitudeirrelevant factors
What Makes an Effective Source?
Believable sources must be credible
sources
 To be seen as credible, the source must
have two distinct characteristics:
 Competence or expertise
 Trustworthiness
 People are convincing when they
appear to be arguing against their
own self-interest

Who Do You Trust?
What Makes an Effective Source?
How likable is the communicator?
 Two factors influence a source’s likability:



The similarity between the source and the
audience
The physical attractiveness of the source
Likability
 Mackie

et al. (1990)
Participants:
 UCSB students

DV: Persuasion

IV1: Type of Argument

IV2: College
This supermodel can get you to
become a vegetarian…

Chaiken (1979)
 DV: Persuasion
(signing petition)
 IV:
Attractiveness of
student assistant

Results:
 See next slide
Chaiken (1979)
50
40
Percentage
Who Signed
Petition
30
20
10
0
Unattractive
Attractive
Attractiveness of Student Assistant
The Sleeper Effect
 Source
Amnesia
As time passes, people tend to forget
the source of a message
 Consequently, effects of the speaker
tend to disappear over time
 Unless people are reminded of the
source

The Sleeper Effect
Is The Source More Important Than
The Message?

It depends…
 How personally relevant is the
message for the recipient?
The Effects of Personal Relevance
 Petty
& Cacioppo (1984)
Asked college students to read
arguments in favor of mandatory
comprehensive exams
 Students would be required to pass
these exams before being allowed to
graduate

Petty & Cacioppo (1984)

Issue was either highly relevant to them


They would personally have to take the exams
to graduate
Or of low relevance to them

Policy would not take effect for 10 years – long
after they’d graduated
Petty & Cacioppo (1984)

Arguments were either high quality


“Average starting salaries are higher for
graduates of schools with exams”
Or low quality

“Exams would allow students to compare
performance with other schools”
Some students heard only 3 arguments
 Others heard 9 arguments

Attitude Toward Exams
High
Low
Personal Relevance
Personal Relevance
Argument
Quality
High
Low
12
10
8
For students with a
personal stake, more
strong arguments
were more
convincing
6
4
2
0
3
9
3
Number of Arguments
9
Attitude Toward Exams
High
Low
Personal Relevance
Personal Relevance
Argument
Quality
High
Low
12
10
8
But more weak
arguments left them
less convinced
6
4
2
0
3
9
3
Number of Arguments
9
Attitude Toward Exams
High
Low
Personal Relevance
Personal Relevance
Argument
Quality
High
Low
12
10
8
6
Students who
wouldn’t be affected
didn’t process quality
4
2
0
3
9
3
Number of Arguments
9
Discrepancy

How different is the message from the
initial position?

Use the cautious approach
Fear appeals

Works when coupled with a solution to the
problem
Mood

Are appeals to positive emotions
effective?
 People are “soft touches” when they are
in a good mood.
 Janis et al. (1965)
 Peanuts and Pepsi experiment
Why Might Positive Feelings
Activate the Peripheral Route?
A positive emotional state is cognitively
distracting, impairing ability to think
critically
 When in a good mood, assume all is well
and become lazy processors of information
 When happy, become motivated not to
spoil the mood by thinking critically about
new information

What happens when the “expert”
meets your friend???
Experts are more influential when the
information is about facts
 Similar others are more influential when
the information is about opinions

Some conclusions regarding persuasion…

If strong arguments are available….






provide many
repeat a few times
ensure appropriate prior knowledge
emphasise personal relevance
ensure distraction-free presentation
If not…..


distract receivers
source credibility
Subliminal Persuasion

Can subliminal messages influence
behavior?

Ex:



Coke and Popcorn (1957)
Rats (2000)
We do perceive subliminal cues…

But the cues will not persuade us to take
action unless we are already motivated to do
so


At least that’s what psychologists say
Advertisers differ
Do they use this at Walmart???

Time magazine (1984)



50 department stores in the U.S. and Canada
installed a device in attempts to reduce
shoplifting and employee theft
One undisclosed East Coast chain is said to have
cut the number of thefts by 37%, for a savings
of $600,000, during a nine-month trial
Behind the background music played in stores,
there's a subliminal anti-theft message, "I am
honest, I will not steal," being played 9,000
times an hour
Strahan et al. (2002)
Subliminal Persuasion
It appears that regular messages are
more effective at persuading us than
subliminal messages
 Interestingly, however, people are more
afraid of subliminal messages than regular
messages

Audience Factors
Very few people are consistently easy or
difficult to persuade
 People differ in extent to which become
involved and take the central route


Need for Cognition: How much does one enjoy
effortful cognitive activities?
Audience Factors
 Synder

and DeBono (1985)
Felt that high self-monitors could be
easily influenced by ads bringing
attention to them
 DV: Persuasion
 IV1: self-monitoring type
 IV2: imagery used
Cultural factors

Play a subtle but important role.

Individualistic vs. collectivistic messages
Audience Factors
 Has
the audience been
forewarned?
Advanced knowledge allows time to
develop counterarguments
 Inoculation hypothesis
 Being forewarned elicits a motivational
reaction
 Psychological reactance
 Effects of forewarning depends on
personal importance of message

Strategies for Resisting
Persuasion (Jacks et al., 2003)
Persuasion by our own actions…

Role Playing: All the World’s a Stage



What happens when we engage in attitudediscrepant behavior?
Why does role-playing lead to enduring
attitude change?
Why can changes in behavior lead to changes
in attitude?
Case Study: Patty Hearst

Did she role
play Tania?
Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Inconsistent cognitions arouse
psychological tension that people become
motivated to reduce



The unpleasant state of psychological arousal
resulting from an inconsistency within one's
important attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors
We are motivated by a desire for cognitive
consistency.
Can lead to irrational and sometimes
maladaptive behavior.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
 Festinger
and Carlsmith (1959)
Perform an excruciatingly boring task –
turning pegs in holes
 Lie to a waiting “participant” (really a
confederate), telling them the study is
fun & exciting
 Offered $1 or $20 to lie
 $20 justifies lying; no dissonance
 $1 insufficient justification for lying;
great dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance Theory



When later asked
their attitudes
toward the boring
task:
Those receiving $1
payment had come
to see it as more
enjoyable,
Those receiving $20
hadn't changed
their attitudes at all
Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Why? Dissonance theory explains:



$20 provided adequate justification for
misleading another student
$1 was insufficient justification, thus arousing
dissonance
Changing beliefs about the task reduced the
cognitive discomfort
Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behavior
Subjects experienced cognitive dissonance
because had insufficient justification for
lying
 Contributions of Festinger & Carlsmith’s
classic study:



Showed the phenomenon of self-persuasion
Contradicted the accepted belief that big
rewards produce greater change
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Postdecisional Dissonance
 The conflict one feels between the
knowledge that he or she has made a
decision and the possibility that the
decision may be wrong
 Knox & Inkster (1968)
 Just seconds after placing a bet,
gamblers are more confident their horse
will win

Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behavior

Mild punishment is insufficient deterrence
for attitude-discrepant nonbehavior

The less severe the threatened punishment,
the greater the attitude change produced
Justifying Effort: Coming to Like
What We Suffer For
We alter our attitudes to justify our
suffering
 The more we pay for something, the more
we will come to like it
 Aronson & Mills’ (1959) “embarrassment
test” study

Aronson & Mills’ (1959)
Participants had to pass an
“embarrassment test” concerning
discussions on sex
 Procedures: Listened to boring discussion
on sexual behavior of animals
 Those that had to undergo toughest tests
rated this the most favorably

Justifying Difficult Decisions: When
Good Choices Get Even Better
Whenever we make difficult decisions, we
feel dissonance.
 We rationalize the correctness of our
decision by exaggerating:



The positive features of the chosen alternative
The negative features of the unchosen
alternative.
Alternative Routes to Self-Persuasion

Self-Perception Theory


Impression Management Theory


Self-persuasion through observation of own
behavior
What matters is not a motive to be consistent
but rather a motive to appear consistent
Self-Affirmation Theory

Dissonance situations create a threat to the
self
When Self-Affirmation Fails
Galinsky et al., 2000.