Lecture 12

• Attitudes Definition:

  • Attitudes are positive, negative, or mixed evaluations of an attitude object expressed at some level of intensity
  • Attitudes are not binary, and we can evaluate both positive and negative dimensions
• Attitude Object:

  • Anything for which we can form an attitude (place, idea, people, things)
  • Attitude toward ourselves = self-esteem
  • Attitude toward others = prejudice
• Cognitive Heuristic (i.e. mental shortcut): enables us to judge quickly whether something is good/bad, should be approached/avoided
• How to Measure Attitudes:

  • Self-report (just ask)
  • Multi-question Likert Scale for more complex attitudes
  • Bogus Pipeline: A mechanical device that supposedly records true feelings like a lie detector test
  • Indirect Measures infer attitudes through observable behavior (e.g., reaction time, heart rate, sweat, brain waves)
• Attitudes don't Always Predict Behavior:

  • LaPiere (1934) road trip study with a Chinese-American couple showed that attitudes don't always predict behavior
• When do Attitudes Predict Behavior:

  • Generally, the stronger the attitude, the stronger the behavioural link
  • Factors affecting the strength of an attitude include (3 A's of Attitudes):

  1. the amount of information
  2. how the information was acquired
  3. how accessible the information is mentally
• The Correspondence Principle:

  • Specific attitudes predict specific behaviors
  • Specific attitudes predict behavior better than general attitudes
• Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB): said there are 3 components that shape people 's intentions, which then shows in behaviour

  • Seeks to explain human behaviour through the role of intention as the primary determinant of behaviour
  • Intention to engage in a behaviour is influenced by attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control
• We all have attitudes, but attitudes don't always predict one's behavior
• According to TPB, intention to engage in a behaviour is influenced by what three factors?

  1. Attitude toward the behavior: The individual's positive or negative evaluation of performing the behavior
  2. Subjective norm: The perceived social pressure to perform or not perform the behavior, including the influence of judgments from important others, such as friends and family
  3. Perceived behavioral control: The perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior, influenced by past experiences and anticipated obstacles
• Multi-Question Likert Scale: are lists of statements about attitude object & participant

  • says how much they agree/disagree - then take the average
• Self Report: are done by asking yourself
• Bogus Pipeline: a mechanical device attached to participant that doesn't actually do anything but because people think it does, they will speak the truth when asked
• attitudes (opinions) don't always come up in our behaviour

  • the stronger the attitudes, the more it's shown in our behaviour
• Correspondence Principle: how well the measured attitude corresponds to behaviour