PSYC 104 Final Flashcards
(122 cards)
Affect
Emotion
Behaviors
What a person does, attitudes and behaviors tend to be related
Cognition
thoughts, realizations
Self-report
people report their attitudes directly, often use Likert scales
Attitude centrality
report attitudes about several topics within a domain, the more a topic is linked to other topics the more central the topic is to a person
Implicit attitudes
Attitudes we are not conscious of; Measuring implicit bias is preferred when the topic is very affected by social desirability
Social desirability
the desire to want to respond to a question in a way the person perceives to be socially
acceptable
Attitudes and behavior
Attitudes can predict behavior when the attitude is specific to the behavior; Stronger attitudes predict behavior better than weaker attitudes
Implicit attitudes test
Measures differences in response times between classifying certain groups. Faster response time indicates stronger association
Physiological reactions
Measure changes in physiological measures in response to an attitude object; eg: heartrate, sweat etc
Attitudes and predicting behavior
Attitudes only weakly predict behavior, there are other factors that affect behavior: norms, context, personality
Attitudes and predicting behavior (2)
Attitudes can predict behavior when the attitude is specific to the behavior, engagement with the target of the attitude aligns attitudes and behavior
Cognitive dissonance
A person is uncomfortable with conflicting thoughts, affects, and behaviors
Reducing cognitive dissonance
Change your cognition or affect, change your behavior, effort justification, spreading of alternatives, self-affirmation
Effort justification
reducing dissonance from a disappointing or unpleasant outcome by justifying decision with time, effort, or money devoted to it
Spreading of Alternatives
rationalizing a choice you have made to reflect greater confidence in the choice you made versus the choice you rejected
Unethical amnesia
may just not remember times in the past we acted unethically, so we don’t feel
dissonance
Induced (forced) compliance
inducing dissonance in someone by having the person behave in a way counter to their beliefs/attitudes, this dissonance leads the person to change their attitude (because they can’t
change their past behavior)
Cognitive dissonance in western cultures
Seen when choices are made for oneself; don’t experience much dissonance when making choices for others
Cognitive dissonance in Asian cultures
More cognitive dissonance when making choices for others; none when making personal choices
Bem’s self-perception theory
Attitudes are formed by our behavior; one is the observer of oneself
Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance vs. Bem’s Self-perception Theory
Evidence that people experience arousal when they hold competing cognitions or behaviors; Weak attitudes may be inferred from behavior
System Justification theory
People are motivated to see existing sociopolitical systems as desirable, fair, and legitimate; Easier to maintain the status quo than effect change; use of stereotypes and victim blaming when system is threatened
Terror management theory
We are motivated by the fear of death, people don’t want to die and want to leave legacy behind when they do die; Fear of death motivates individual behaviors and ‘cultural
worldview’