Week 3 - Attitudes and Behaviour

Question 1

Attitude and Approach-avoidance

bar and head shaking study

Answer 1

Attitude
A cognitive representation that summarises an individual’s evaluation of a particular person, group, thing, action or idea

Approach- Avoidance (motivation)
Simple movements indicate agreement
Pushing or pulling bar study –> participants like nonwords when pulling the bar towards than they did when pushing the bar away

Study by Wells and Petty, 1980, head shaking (testing the quality of headphones during jogging)
half participants shook their head left to right (no)
half participants nodded their heads up and down (yes)
2 groups in each condition listened to a speech about increasing or decreasing tuition fees
There was more liking of the persuasive message when nodding yes

Question 2

Actions Influence Attitude

Self-perception and Foot in the door

Answer 2

Self Perception
feelings are consequences of behaviour

Foot in the door compliance technique
based on commitment and consistency
eg wearing a pin to support a cause –> feel involved in charity, want to stay consistent to cause (commitment) so you donate
More influence if the initial request is meaningful for the individual

Question 3

Actions influence Attitude
Moderators (4 aspects)
grasshoppers study

Answer 3

Individual differences
ie Foot in the door works better if you value consistency

Attitude strength
less influence of actions if the the attitude is strong (comes to mind quickly, accessibility)

Attitude importance
How much you value that attitude

Actively choosing the action increases the influence eg newsletter subscription, you dislike it more if you’re put on it automatically

Grasshopper study with Army Reservists
Cold and Aloof sergeant: participants liked eating grasshoppers
Friendly and Warm Sergeant: participants liked eating the grasshoppers much less
A warm and friendly sergeant was sufficient justification for complying - no need to change your attitude
If you’re forced to do it there is no incosostency

Question 4

Cognitive dissonance (4 steps)

Answer 4

Definition : an unpleasant state caused by awareness of inconsistency among important beliefs, attitudes or actions eg Drink Driving (convenience vs welfare of self and others)

1) Awareness of negative consequences/inconsistency
2) Attribution of personal responsibility
3) Experience of negative arousal
4) Attribution of arousal to inconsistency

Question 5

Cognitive Dissonance prevention

Answer 5

By disrupting any of the steps, you stop dissonance

Eg go to a restaurant for a quick lunch and order a fatty burger

1) Denial of negative consequences/inconsistencies
‘its not a big deal’

2) Denial of personal responsibility
‘there’s nothing I can do about it’, ‘not enough time to choose something healthy’

3) reduction of psychological arousal
‘‘I’ll have a drink to relax’

4) Attribution of arousal to something else
‘something else is bothering me’

Question 6

Dissonance reduction (if prevention fails) 
3 aspects

Answer 6

Change attitude
‘I didn’t really believe it anyway’
Rationalisation ‘it had lettuce on it so its healthy’

Behaviour Change
Can’t change actual behaviour but can promise to change future behaviours

Self- affirmation
Moral licencing–> ‘I’m a good person@
let’s you off the hook for doing bad things every once in a while

Question 7

Attitudes influence actions

Theory of planned behaviour

Answer 7

Theory of planned behaviour
Attitude + Subjective norms (what other people think) + Precised control of the situation —-> Intentions —-> behaviour

Question 8

Attitudes influence actions
Superficial Influence (bias perception)
study of rehearsed faces
spontaneous behaviour

Answer 8

Superficial influence: Biased perception
Media bias example ‘I am liberal and the media has a conservative bias’

Study: rehearsed or (or not) attitudes toward faces
Quicker to react and identify faces they’ve rehearsed (bias perception from rehearsal)

Some behaviour is spontaneous
If people have sufficient motivation and opportunity they may base decisions on deliberation (theory of reasoned action)
When either motivation or opportunity is low, only attitudes that are highly accessible will predict spontaneous behaviour

Question 9

Habits

Answer 9

Habits
highly accessible attitude-behaviour
attitude-congruent behaviour can become automatised (ie habitual) through practice or repetition

Question 10

When do attitudes influence actions ?

Answer 10

When attitudes are accessible

When attitudes are compatible with behaviour
Specificity - asking attitudes about the environment doesn’t predict recycling behaviour ( too broad)

spontaneous reactions are harder to control so is influenced by attitudes more