Week 4 Lecture

Question 1

What are common ways to measure attitudes?

Answer 1

Explicit self-reports (e.g., Likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)
Implicit measures (e.g., Implicit Association Test - IAT)
Physiological measures (e.g., skin conductance, facial myography)

Question 2

What are some definitions of attitudes?

Answer 2

“Beliefs and feelings related to a person or event”
“Feelings often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond favorably or unfavorably to objects, people, and events”
“An evaluation of an object along a positive-negative dimension, including affect, cognition, and behavior”

Question 3

What is moral hypocrisy?

Answer 3

When people appear moral but avoid the costs of being moral.

Question 4

How does social desirability influence attitude-behavior consistency?

Answer 4

People may give socially desirable responses, especially on highly evaluative topics like prejudice or moral virtues.

Question 5

What is implicit bias, and how is it measured?

Answer 5

Implicit bias refers to unconscious associations between attitude objects and evaluative words or stimuli. It’s typically measured by reaction time in tasks like the Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Question 6

What factors complicate the relationship between attitudes and behavior?

Answer 6

Social influences (e.g., social desirability)
Specificity of attitudes
Situational factors (e.g., accessibility to public transport for environmental attitudes)

Question 7

What does the Theory of Planned Behavior state?

Answer 7

Specific attitudes, such as attitudes towards recycling or condom use, predict intentions, which then predict behaviors.

Question 8

What types of behaviors induce cognitive dissonance

Answer 8

Exerting more effort than expected (e.g., the Ikea effect)
Enduring pain (e.g., hazing rituals)
Choosing between similarly valued options (e.g., post decisional re-evaluation)