Attitudes and Attitude Change

Social PsychologyLecture 3

Dr Amanda Rivis

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lecture, and with independent study, you should be able to:

Discuss the origins, structure and functions of attitudes

Evaluate methods for measuring attitudes Discuss the link between attitudes and

behaviour Discuss theories of attitude change

The different origins of Attitudes: Classical Conditioning

Stimulus 2(Visits to Grandmother)

PleasurableFeelings

Stimulus 1(Moth Balls)

(A)

Stimulus 1(Moth Balls)

PleasurableFeelings

(B)

The Different Origins of Attitudes: Instrumental Conditioning

Positive or NegativeAttitude TowardAttitude Object

Positive or NegativeReinforcement

(+ive = parents approval-Ive = parents’Disapproval)

Behaviour towardAttitude Object

(e.g., playing withchild of another

Race)

The Different Origins of Attitudes: Imitation

Social Learning Theory (Bandura 1977):

Attitudes are learned through imitation and modelling. Parents and society influence attitude

Attitude Structure

Three-component model views attitudes as having three components: Affective = feelings about the attitude object Behavioural = predisposition to act towards

the attitude object in a certain way Cognitive = beliefs about the attitude object

Any given attitude may be based in lesser or greater amounts on any of these components

Functions of Attitudes

Value-Expressive function enable us to express who we are and

what we believe inEgo-defensive function

enable us to project internally-held conflicts onto others (e.g., homophobia)

Knowledge function enable us to know the world

Utilitarian Function Enable us to gain rewards and avoid

punishment

How are attitudes measured?Overt Attitude MeasuresSelf-report (single-item) attitude measures Advantages:

Easy and quick to administer Relatively cheap

Disadvantages: Responses may not be reliable, e.g.,

Question wording Mood Social desirability (but see bogus pipeline

technique)

Assume people have an attitude! (cf. “spontaneous” attitudes)

How are attitudes measured?Overt Attitude Measures

Attitude scales Multiple items are used to measure the

same construct Eliminate some of the problems of single-

item measures (e.g., reliability) Some of the more popular scales include:

Likert scale Osgood’s Semantic Differential Scale Expectancy-Value Scale (Fishbein, 1971)

How are attitudes measured?Example of Expectancy-Value ApproachMy using birth control pills…

Belief Strength

Outcome

Evaluations

Product

Is convenient +3 +1 +3

Causes me to gain weight

+3 -2 -6

Gives me guilt feelings

+2 -1 -2

Enables me to regulate the size of my family

+2 +2 +4

Total -1

How are attitudes measured? Covert Measures

Covert Attitude Measures (CAM). These measures use physiological arousal to infer attitudes:

Electro-myograph (EMG). (Petty & Cacioppo 1981) which may include heart rate & pupil dilation

Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) : measures physiological arousal detected through skin resistance (Porier & Lott 1967)

How are attitudes measured? Evaluation of Covert Measures

More objective than self-report measures

Physiological measures (e.g. GSR) can be caused by fear or anger

Physiological measures cannot assess the direction of affective responses

How Well Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Early research evidence suggested a weak to

moderate link between attitudes and behaviour (e.g., LaPiere, 1934; Wicker, 1969)

More recent research has examined moderators of the attitude-behaviour relationship, e.g., Attitude strength Direct experience with the attitude object Attitudinal ambivalence Correspondence of attitudinal and behavioural

measures

How Well Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour? Correspondence of Attitudinal and Behavioural Measures

Attitude Measure Attitude-Behaviour Correlation

Attitude toward birth control

Attitude toward birth control pills

Attitude toward using birth control pills

Attitude toward using birth control pills

during the next two years

.08

.32

.53

.57

Source: Davidson & Jaccard (1979)

How Well Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour: Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

This model posits an important mediator of the attitude-behaviour link, namely behavioural ‘intention’

The TPB holds that attitudes combine with other important factors in predicting intentions and, in turn, behaviour:- Perceived social pressure Factors that may facilitate or inhibit

performance of the behaviour

Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991)

PerceivedSocial

Pressure

Perceived Behavioural

Control

Attitudes BehaviourIntention

Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)

According to this approach, attitude change/persuasion influenced by 3 factors:-

Source – originator of communication Message – features of communication

itself Audience – characteristics of who is

receiving the message

Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)

Characteristics of Source

CredibilityExpertiseTrustworthiness

AttractivenessSimilarityAppearance

Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)

Message Factors One-sided vs. Two-sided messages

Order of messagesPrimacy Effects –v-Recency Effects

Repetition

Theories of Attitude Change: The Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, et al. 1953)

Characteristics of Audience Distraction Intelligence Self-Esteem (?) Age (18-25 year olds most susceptible)

Problem: what conditions determine the relative importance of these factors?

Petty & Cacioppo’s (1986) Elaboration Likelihood (dual-process) Model of Persuasion (ELM)ELM holds that there are two ‘routes’

to attitude change: Central route to persuasion occurs when

we think critically about message content and are swayed by the strength and quality of its arguments.

Peripheral route to persuasion occurs when we do not do much thinking but are swayed by employing heuristics on the basis of non-content cues (e.g., “experts know best”)

The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986)

Whether persuasion results from the central or the peripheral processing route depends upon:

Ability e.g., attention, ‘receptive’

Motivation Personal Involvement

The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of Persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986)

PersuasiveCommunication

Ability & Motivationto pay attention?

No

YesCentral Route to

Persuasion

Peripheral RouteTo persuasion

Attitude Change

Theories of Attitude Change: Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger, 1957)This theory of self-persuasion holds

that:

Cognitive inconsistency creates a state of psychological tension (i.e., “dissonance”)

Such tension is aversive and motivating (where it poses a threat to the self)

Easiest form of dissonance reduction will be adopted

Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Attitude Change: Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behaviour

0

5

10

15

20

25

Rat

ing

of

task

en

joym

ent

No lie $20 lie $1 lie

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)

Theories of Attitude Change: Bem’s (1965) Self Perception Theory

According to Bem, attitude change does not need to result from dissonance

People infer their attitudes from their behaviour

Cognitive dissonance when attitude-behaviour discrepancy large self-perception when not so large (Fazio, et al. 1977)

Reading

Hogg, M. & Vaughan, G. (2005) Social Psychology (4th Edition) Prentice Hall: London - chapter 5

Brehm, S, Kassin, S. & Fein, S. (2002) Social Psychology. Houghton Mifflin: London - Chapter 6

Aronson, E., Wilson, T., & Akert, R. (2005) Social psychology (5th Edition) - chapter 7

Morgan, C, King, R. & Robinson, N. (1979) Introduction to Psychology. McGrw-Hill: London- Chapter 14