What are attitudes? - Chapter 5

What is this chapter about?

This chapter provides an overview of attitudes and their role in social psychology, with a particular focus on measurement, attitude-behavior consistency, and the social and cultural context of attitudes. Attitudes and their functions are explained, including the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of attitudes. The chapter als gives a discussion of the historical development of attitudes research, including the early work of Allport and the emergence of the cognitive perspective.

Then it covers the relationship between attitudes and behavior, including the classic attitude-behavior debate and the factors that can influence this relationship, such as the strength of the attitude and the situational context.

The chapter also explains attitude measurement and discusses various methods for assessing attitudes, such as self-report measures, implicit measures, and physiological measures.

This chapter also explores the social and cultural contexts that shape attitudes, such as social norms, group identity, and intergroup relations. The chapter also discusses the role of attitudes in prejudice, discrimination, and social inequality.

What are attitudes?

How did attitude research develop?

Early attitudes research was largely focused on understanding the structure and measurement of attitudes. In the 1930s and 1940s, Gordon Allport and his colleagues developed the idea of functional autonomy, which suggested that attitudes could develop independent of the original motivations that led to their formation. Allport also proposed the concept of attitude strength, which refers to the degree to which an attitude is firmly held and influences behavior.

In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a shift towards understanding the cognitive processes involved in attitude formation and change. This period saw the emergence of the cognitive perspective, which posited that attitudes were not simply a result of direct experience or socialization, but were also influenced by cognitive processes such as evaluation and belief formation. Researchers began to explore the role of cognitions such as beliefs, values, and emotions in shaping attitudes, and the processes by which these cognitions were acquired and changed.

One influential theory that emerged from this period was the cognitive dissonance theory, which proposed that people experience psychological discomfort when their attitudes and behavior are inconsistent, leading to efforts to reduce the dissonance through attitude change or rationalization. The self-perception theory, which posits that people infer their attitudes from their behavior and the context in which it occurs, also emerged during this period.

The 1970s and 1980s saw the development of the elaboration likelihood model, which proposed that attitude change could occur through either a central route, in which people carefully consider the arguments and evidence presented, or a peripheral route, in which people are swayed by superficial cues such as the attractiveness of the communicator. This model emphasized the importance of both cognitive and social factors in shaping attitudes.

Later on in this chapter, you’ll learn more about these theories and models, as they are still significant in social psychology today.

What are attitudes composed of?

Attitudes are evaluative responses that individuals hold toward people, objects, or events. They involve a range of feelings, beliefs, and behaviors that are related to the object of the attitude. The three components of attitudes are:

• The affective component. This component reflects the emotional reactions of an individual toward the object of the attitude. It is the feeling component and is related to emotions such as liking, disliking, pleasure, and displeasure. For example, an individual may feel happy when they think about their favorite restaurant, or angry when they think about a political figure they strongly dislike.

• The cognitive component. This component reflects the beliefs and thoughts that an individual has about the object of the attitude. It is the thinking component and is related to what a person believes to be true or false about the object. For example, an individual may believe that a particular brand of car is reliable, or that a certain type of food is unhealthy.

• The behavioral component. This component reflects the predispositions of an individual to act in a certain way toward the object of the attitude. It is the action component and is related to the behaviors that an individual is likely to exhibit in relation to the object of the attitude. For example, an individual may be more likely to visit a restaurant if they have a positive attitude toward it, or less likely to vote for a political figure if they have a negative attitude toward them.

Attitudes can be positive or negative and can influence behavior, thoughts, and emotions in various ways. Understanding the components of attitudes is important in understanding how attitudes are formed, how they change, and how they affect behavior.

Can you say that attitudes predict behaviour?

Attitudes are not always reliable predictors of behavior because the relationship between attitudes and behavior is complex and influenced by several factors. While attitudes can influence behavior, people do not always act in accordance with their attitudes.

The relationship between attitudes and behavior is complex. Although attitudes can be a significant predictor of behavior, the relationship between attitudes and behavior is not always straightforward. Other factors, such as social norms, personal values, and situational factors, can also influence behavior. Attitudes do not always predict behavior. People may hold attitudes that are not related to their behavior, or their behavior may not reflect their true attitudes due to social pressures or other factors. For example, a person may hold a positive attitude toward environmental conservation but may not recycle regularly due to lack of access to recycling facilities or inconvenience.

Factors that influence the attitude-behavior relationship are the strength of the attitude, the specificity of the attitude, and the situational context are important factors that can influence the attitude-behavior relationship.

Strong attitudes are more likely to influence behavior because they are more resistant to change and are more likely to guide behavior even in the face of competing influences.

When attitudes are specific to a particular behavior, they are more likely to predict behavior than attitudes that are more general. For example, an individual who holds a specific attitude about recycling is more likely to engage in recycling behavior than someone who holds a general attitude about environmentalism.

The situational context refers to the specific circumstances and environment in which behavior occurs. It can be an important factor that influences the attitude-behavior relationship because people's attitudes are not always the only or even the primary factor that determines their behavior. Situational factors can also play a significant role. For example, it is easier to recycle when there are recycling bins available.

Thus, strong attitudes that are closely related to specific behaviors are more likely to predict behavior, especially when the situational context is favorable.

How are attitudes formed?

Attitudes can be formed through a variety of different processes. One of the most common ways that attitudes are formed is through direct experience. For example, if someone has a positive experience with a product or service, they are likely to develop a positive attitude towards it. Similarly, if someone has a negative experience, they are likely to develop a negative attitude. Direct experience can also include exposure to people or events, such as meeting someone who is kind or experiencing a natural disaster.

Socialization is another way that attitudes are formed. This can occur through family, peers, or larger social institutions like schools or religions. For example, children may adopt the attitudes of their parents or learn attitudes through interactions with their friends. Socialization can also occur through exposure to larger cultural attitudes or values.

Media and advertising can also play a role in attitude formation. Through exposure to various media sources, people can develop attitudes about different topics, such as politics or social issues. Advertising can also influence attitudes by creating positive associations between a product and certain values or beliefs.

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are also processes that can shape attitudes. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus is paired with a positive or negative stimulus, resulting in the neutral stimulus acquiring the positive or negative association. For example, if a brand of shoes is consistently associated with attractive and successful people in advertisements, people may develop a positive attitude towards the brand through classical conditioning.

In operant conditioning, attitudes can be shaped through reinforcement or punishment. For example, if someone is rewarded for expressing a particular attitude or belief, they are more likely to continue to hold that attitude or belief.

Overall, attitudes can be formed through a variety of processes, and understanding how they are formed can help us to better understand and predict human behavior.

What theories are there about attitudes?

In social psychology, there are some important theories that attempt to explain how attitudes are formed and changed. All these theories recognize that attitudes are not fixed or immutable, but rather can be shaped and changed by various factors. All of these theories also suggest that attitude change is not straightforward, but can be influenced by a variety of factors. But there are also some important differences between the theories.

What is the cognitive dissonance theory?

The cognitive dissonance theory suggests that people experience psychological discomfort when their attitudes and behavior are inconsistent. This discomfort, or dissonance, arises because holding two conflicting beliefs or attitudes creates a sense of internal conflict. To reduce this dissonance, people may change their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to make them more consistent with one another. Alternatively, they may rationalize their behavior in order to reduce the sense of dissonance.

For example, if a person has always believed that it is wrong to cheat on exams, they can still find themselves copying answers from a friend during an important test. This behavior is inconsistent with their attitude towards cheating, and they may experience dissonance as a result. To reduce this dissonance, they may change their attitude towards cheating or they may rationalize their behavior by arguing that it was necessary to pass the exam and that everyone else does it.

What is the self-perception theory?

The self-perception theory suggests that people infer their attitudes from their behavior and the context in which it occurs. According to this theory, people don't always have pre-existing attitudes towards everything in their environment, but rather they make judgments about how they feel based on their behavior.

For example, if someone is asked to participate in a blood drive but has no strong pre-existing attitude towards donating blood, they may decide to donate blood because they believe it is a good thing to do. Over time, they may come to infer that they have a positive attitude towards blood donation because they engaged in the behavior voluntarily.

What is the elaboration likelihood model?

The elaboration likelihood model proposes that attitude change can occur through either a central or a peripheral route. According to this model, when people are presented with persuasive messages, they can either carefully consider the arguments and evidence presented (the central route) or be swayed by superficial cues such as the attractiveness of the communicator or the number of arguments presented (the peripheral route). The central route is more likely to lead to enduring attitude change, while the peripheral route is more likely to lead to temporary changes or no change at all.

For example, someone is presented with an advertisement for a new brand of running shoes. If they are highly interested in running and have a lot of knowledge about running shoes, they may carefully consider the arguments and evidence presented in the advertisement (the central route). On the other hand, if they are not particularly interested in running and have little knowledge about running shoes, they may be more swayed by superficial cues such as the attractiveness of the celebrity endorsing the shoes or the color scheme of the ad (the peripheral route).

How can attitudes be measured?

There is a great variety of methods to measure attitudes:

• Self-report measures are the most common method for measuring attitudes and involve asking people to report their own attitudes through questionnaires or surveys. These measures are relatively easy to administer and are often used in both research and applied settings. However, they can be subject to biases and social desirability effects, in which people may not be entirely honest in their responses or may respond in a way that they believe is socially acceptable. An example of a self-report measure is a study on attitudes towards animal rights, where participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards animal welfare.

• Behavioral measures involve observing people's actions and inferring their attitudes based on these actions. For example, if a person always chooses to sit next to someone who shares their political views, this might be taken as an indication of their political attitudes. Behavioral measures can be useful when people may not be aware of their own attitudes or may not be willing to report them accurately. An example of a behavioral measure is a study on attitudes towards recycling, where researchers observed participants' recycling behavior by monitoring the amount of paper and plastic they threw away in designated bins.

• Implicit measures are designed to tap into unconscious attitudes and associations. One commonly used implicit measure is the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which involves measuring the speed with which people categorize stimuli (words or images) into different categories. The IAT is based on the assumption that people will be faster at categorizing stimuli that are more closely associated in their minds. Implicit measures can be useful when people may not be aware of their own attitudes or may not be willing to report them accurately, but they are not without controversy and have been criticized for their reliability and validity. An example of an implicit measure is a study on attitudes towards race, where participants were asked to complete an IAT that measured their automatic associations between different races and positive or negative words.

• Physiological measures, such as skin conductance and brain imaging, can also be used to measure attitudes. These measures are based on the idea that attitudes can be associated with changes in physiological responses, such as changes in skin conductance (a measure of arousal) or brain activity in regions associated with emotional processing. While physiological measures can provide objective and reliable data on attitudes, they are also expensive and often require specialized equipment and expertise to administer. An example of a physiological measure is a study on attitudes towards smoking, where researchers measured participants' skin conductance response while they were exposed to smoking-related images and words. Participants who reported more negative attitudes towards smoking showed a higher skin conductance response, indicating greater physiological arousal.

How do attitudes, social and cultural contexts and prejudice and discrimination influence each other?

Attitudes can be influenced by social and cultural contexts. Social and cultural norms can shape attitudes by providing guidelines for what is considered acceptable or unacceptable behavior. For example, a person who grows up in a culture that values individualism may hold attitudes that emphasize personal achievement and self-expression, while a person from a collectivist culture may hold attitudes that emphasize group harmony and conformity. Attitudes can also be shaped by the groups to which people belong, as individuals tend to adopt the attitudes of their social groups.

Attitudes can also influence prejudice and discrimination. Negative attitudes towards certain groups can lead to prejudice and discrimination. For example, a person who holds negative attitudes towards people of a certain race may be more likely to discriminate against them in hiring or housing decisions. Similarly, a person who holds negative attitudes towards a certain gender may be more likely to engage in sexist behaviors or attitudes.

Prejudice and discrimination can reinforce negative attitudes. When people experience discrimination or prejudice from members of a certain group, it can reinforce their negative attitudes towards that group. For example, a person who is discriminated against in the workplace because of their sexual orientation may become more entrenched in their negative attitudes towards people who are not heterosexual.

Social and cultural contexts can also influence prejudice and discrimination. Social and cultural factors, such as media portrayals of certain groups or the policies of a government or organization, can shape attitudes towards those groups and contribute to prejudice and discrimination. For example, a government policy that targets a particular racial or ethnic group can reinforce negative attitudes towards that group.

Overall, attitudes, social and cultural contexts, and prejudice and discrimination are all interconnected, and it is important to consider all of these factors when trying to understand and address social inequalities.