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The ABC Model of Attitudes: Affect, Behavior &Cognition

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Erin Long-Crowell

The snake is an attitude object eliciting fear in someindividuals

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Attitudes are an important topic of study for socialpsychologists. In this lesson, we define attitudes and discusstheir three components as illustrated by the ABC Model:affective, behavioral and cognitive.

Attitudes And The ABC ModelDo you believe that God exists? What's your opinion on politics? What are your favorite pizza toppings?These questions may be seemingly unrelated, but it's likely you have strong opinions about all three ofthese topics. Developing opinions and forming likes and dislikes about everything around us is part of ourdaily lives. These attitudes affect the way we live and the choices we make.

Attitudes can be defined as evaluations of ideas,events, objects, or people. Attitudes are generallypositive or negative, but they can also beuncertain at times. For example, sometimes wehave mixed feelings about a particular issue orperson. Regardless, attitudes are an importanttopic of study for social psychologists becausethey help determine what we do - what we eat,how we vote, what we do with our free time, andso on.

Every attitude has three components that are represented in what is called the ABC model of attitudes:A for affective, B for behavioral, and C for cognitive. Although every attitude has these three components,any particular attitude can be based on one component more than another.

In other words, each component can also be the answer to the question: where does an attitude comefrom? There are affectively-based attitudes, behaviorally-based attitudes, and cognitively-based attitudes.Let's take a closer look at some examples.

Affective ComponentFirst, the affective component refers to the emotional reaction one has toward an attitude object. Think ofsomeone - we'll name her Alice - who has ophidiophobia (a phobia of snakes). A snake is an attitudeobject. Whenever Alice is exposed to a snake - whether she sees one or thinks about one - she feelsextreme anxiety and fear. This is only one component of this specific attitude, though; we will discuss theother two components a little later in this lesson.

Now, an attitude that is stemmed from or originally created by an emotion is called an affectively-basedattitude. Attitudes about hot-button issues - such as politics, sex, and religion - tend to be affectively-

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Political attitudes are typically affectively-based

Attitudes based on facts, such as computer speed,are cognitively-based

based, as they usually come from a person's values. This type of attitude is used to express and validateour moral belief or value systems.

Behavioral Component

The next component of an attitude is thebehavioral component, and it refers to the wayone behaves when exposed to an attitude object.Think about Alice and her snake phobia again. Wealready identified the affective component of herattitude towards snakes - fear and anxiety. How doyou think she behaves when it comes to snakes?Most likely, she avoids them whenever possible. Ifshe does see one, she probably screams or cries.This behavior is the second component of thatparticular attitude.

As for attitudes that are rooted in behavior, think again about the question: where does an attitude comefrom? Sometimes, we are unsure of our feelings about a particular topic. Imagine a friend asks if you likehummus. Since you don't regularly eat hummus and can't immediately recall what it tastes like, you thinkback about the times that you have eaten it. You remember that you normally eat all of the hummus youare given, so conclude that you must like it (or at least, that you don't dislike it). Because your attitude isdetermined by observing your own behavior, this is an example of a behaviorally-based attitude.

Cognitive ComponentThe third and final component of an attitude is the cognitive component, and it refers to the thoughts andbeliefs one has about an attitude object. We've already determined that Alice avoids snakes and isscared when she is exposed to them. But, what does she think about snakes? It's likely she believes thatall snakes are dangerous and gross. Beyond the physical and emotional reactions of her phobia, there isalso this cognitive component of her attitude.

An attitude that is constructed primarily throughfacts instead of emotions or observations of ourbehavior is a cognitively-based attitude. Forexample, what is your attitude towards yourcomputer? It's likely based on facts and figures,such as how fast it is and what programs youhave installed. Although this may result in anemotion (such as frustration), your attitude isn'tbased on emotion - it's based on your thoughts ofthe properties of the object.

Lesson SummaryIn summary, attitudes can be defined as evaluations of ideas, events, objects, or people. They are animportant topic of study for social psychologists because they affect the way we live and the choices wemake. Every attitude has three components that are represented in what is called the ABC model ofattitudes: A for affective, B for behavioral, and C for cognitive.

The affective component refers to the emotional reaction one has toward an attitude object. Forexample, 'I feel scared when I think about or see a snake.' The behavioral component refers to the wayone behaves when exposed to an attitude object. For example, 'I avoid snakes and scream if I see one.'The cognitive component refers to the thoughts and beliefs one has about an attitude object. Forexample, 'I think snakes are gross and dangerous.'

Although every attitude has these three components, any particular attitude can be based more on onecomponent than another. In other words, each can also be the answer to the question: where does anattitude come from? An affectively-based attitude stems from one's emotions and values. Abehaviorally-based attitude stems from one's observations of one's own behavior. A cognitively-basedattitude stems from one's thoughts about the properties of an object.

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CHAPTERS IN PSYCHOLOGY 104: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. Introduction to Social Psychology (7lessons)

2. Research Methods and Ethics (8lessons)

3. Social Cognition & Perception (8lessons)

4. The Self in a Social Context (11 lessons)

5. Attitudes and Persuasion (8 lessons)

6. Group Decisions (10 lessons)

7. Attraction & Close Relationships (10lessons)

8. Stereotypes, Prejudice, &Discrimination (12 lessons)

9. Applied Social Psychology (15 lessons)

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