attitudes

• Attitude


  A relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols
• Types of attitudes


  • Positive
  • Negative
  • Neutral
• Explicit attitude


  Conscious attitude
• Implicit attitude


  Unconscious, hidden attitude
• Attitude antecedents


  • Affect
  • Behavior
  • Cognition
• 1. B-C model of attitudes

  • Affective (feelings)
  • Behavioral (actions)
  • Cognitive (beliefs)
• Affective component


  • Positive or negative feelings associated with the attitude object
• Behavioral component


  • How the attitude influences behavior and actions
• Cognitive component


  • Beliefs and thoughts about the attitude object
• Affectively-based attitude


  Attitude based more on feelings and values than beliefs
• Behaviorally-based attitude


  Attitude based on observations of behavior toward the attitude object
• Cognitively-based attitude


  Attitude based primarily on beliefs about the properties of the attitude object
• Classical conditioning


  Neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus to evoke conditioned attitude response
• Operant conditioning


  Attitudes become more or less automatic due to rewards and punishments
• Observational learning


  Adopting attitudes by observing and mimicking the expressed attitudes and behaviors of others
• Mere exposure effect


  People tend to develop more positive feelings toward something they encounter repeatedly
• Attitude formation is the process of forming attitudes from experiences, influence of others, and emotional reactions
• Attitudes have an adaptive value in helping us adjust to new situations and make choices
• Attitudes have a functional value in increasing the speed and quality of decision making
• Repeated exposure


  Simply experiencing something can have an effect on how we evaluate it
• The effects of continued exposure gradually diminishes over time
• Being around someone or being repeatedly exposed to them


  Increases the likelihood that we will be attracted to them
• This is especially true for online dating
• The giddy feeling you get when you first meet someone online


  Translates to face-to-face meetings but the effects of the exposure, in this case the giddy feeling, may diminish over time
• Currently-serving politicians usually have an advantage over other candidates in an election simply because their names are more familiar
• This also rings true for candidates who have been elected before as well as candidates who belong to well-known political dynasties
• Attitude polarization


  As people think more about an issue and reflect on their attitudes toward it, their attitudes become more extreme
• As a result, their attitudes became more polarized—the proponents became more in favor of the death penalty, whereas the opponents became more opposed to it
• Attitude polarization occurs partly because people are reluctant to admit they are wrong
• As they think more about an issue, they tend to convince themselves that they were right all along
• People are more accepting of evidence presented by in-group members than by out-group members; and are more skeptical of evidence presented by members outside their group
• People of a certain political leaning believe news brought by others who share their beliefs and opinions (and biases) as opposed to information provided by others who don't share their opinions
• Attitudes and actual behavior are not perfectly aligned
• There are plenty of people who favor a certain candidate or political party and yet fail or still refuse to go out and vote
• People who claim to think highly of Christian values in a public servant sometimes vote for politicians who do not have any principles and morals to speak of
• Attitudes can predict behavior, but sometimes people's attitudes are inconsistent with their behaviors
• Religiosity does not necessarily equate to church attendance
• Self-described racial attitudes provided little clue to behaviors in actual situations
• Morally upstanding individuals are quick to defend an unborn fetus but are apathetic towards starving children living on the streets
• Others are quick to defend their basic civil liberties but prevent others from being given the SAME civil liberties e.g. same-sex marriage, trans rights, social justice, etc.