Attitudes 1

evaluation (Like and Dislike) of an object based on cognitive, affective and bahavioral aspects

§  Affect; feelings, emotions in response to object

·       Refr.-> evaluative conditioning  

§  Behavior; past, present, future interactions

·       Refr. -> Self perception Theory

§  Cognition; knowledge and beliefs

·       Expectancy(Probability of occurance) x Value (of asset) approach (Fishbein Ajzen) = Overall attitude

o   Which component is the most influential for attitude formation varies, dependent on the object and interpersonal differences

o   When summarizing ; preference for consistency, negative info weighed higher, accessability&salience (leads to attitude shifts)

o   One-dimensional (positive- negative on one scale)

§  Does not show difference between ambivalence and no attitude

o   Two- dimensional (positive and negative as wo separate scales)

§  A lot of positive AND negative elements= abivalence

• extremity

• ambivalence/certanty

• accessability

• personal relevance

Strong attitudes are more stable, resistant, influence info processing, influence behavior

-       (Knowledge) Object-appraisal function (Strive for Master):

o   ; energy saving, creating expectations (no need for constant evaluation) focus attention

§  More prevalent among ppl with high need for closure (Kuglanski)

-        Utilitarian function

o  o   Instrumental; allows to organize approach/avoidance behavior-> Maximise rewards and minimize punishment

-        Value-expression function

o   Attitudes as a way to express values

o   Self definition (Part of self concept)

o   Self-esteem- function (be good at smt and like it = high self esteem)

o   Ego-Defense function (was shitty anyway)

o   Social Identity (identify fellow people -> feeling connected) (social adjustment function)

o   Impresssion management-function ( say you like smth (desirable attitude) to make ppl. (eg. employers) form a certain impression)

o   Not requires conscious (but doesn’t have to be unconscious)

o   Fast

o   Unintentional and uncontrolled activation of attitufes (can still be faked or molded by norms or framing)  

o   Efficient

o   Independent from attitude endorsement

o   ->measured by indirect measures (Sometimes reliability constraints)  

o   Requires conscious attention and evaluation

o   Slower

o   Intended and controlled activation of attitudes

o   Reflects attitude endorsement (?)

o   -> measured by self report

iExplicit measure of attiudes

§  can include several aspects

§  Can asses uni- and two- dimensional

§  Allows calculation of  averages and comparison

o   Observing (measuring with corresponding inferences) ;

§  Use of attitude object

§  Willingness to risk for object

§  Approach/avoidance

§  EMG (Activation of face Muscles)

§  Response-time

·       Evaluative Priming

·       Implicit associations Test (IAT)

·       Affect Missatribution Paradigm

t

Way to measure attitude

o   Responsetime to positive/negative adjective faster when primed with congruent attitude

Measure of Attitudes

o   Forces matching reactions (press the same key) to positive/negative adjectives and attitude objects -> faster + more accurate, when the matches are congruent

Way to measure Attitudes

o   Rating a neutral object shortly after a attitude object has been shown -> Affect is misattributed to neutral object

·       Explicit; high,

Implicit; Reasonable

·       Explicit; Yes,

Implicit; does overlap with other tests(convergent) and predict behavior (predictive)

o   Unknown Ideographs were presented -> repetition increases liking

§  Only works on unknown objects

o   Reasons; Familiarity -> wasn’t a threat, easy to process -> we like the ease and misattribute it

o   Can expand to objects similar to exposed objects  

• Repeated positive evaluation -> positive attitude -> Stored -> even independently of original evaluative semantics (criteria)  (Associative learning)

• Works when object is paired with positive/negative triggers (evaluative conditioning)  

• §  Works when only told about experience (via communication)

-        Tendency to evaluate self associated objects more positive

-        Two Routs(central,peripheral) , always kinda both, prevalence is decided by

• High Motivation and Capacity = Central Processing(ala.Cognitive response Model) -> argument strength decides change in attitude

o   Repetition does not always increase Capacity -> can lead to boredom

• Low Motivation or Capacity= Peripheral Processing -> heuristics decide change in attitude

§  Needs; Attention to message

§  Comprehension

§  Yielding/evaluation (quality and strength)

§  If accepted; Retention (store attitude)

§  Behavior   

·       Critique;

o   Does not answer question when we yield and when not

o   Comprehension/Yielding= Attitude change -> wrong

§  favourable/unfavourability of Thoughts triggered by message (Thought-listing for research)

·       high message quality= favourable thoughts

·       low message quality= unfavourable thoughts

§  -> internal Debate decides wether ppl yield to new information -> attitude change

·       Distractions = internal debate disrupted -> argument strength becomes less relevant (Petty)

·       Hard won Attitudes like this = more stable and influential

Matter most in Superficial processing

·       Evaluative Conditioning ( positive Stimulus is paired with neutral object)

·       Moods ( how does it make me feel even independent feelings are misattributed(Dutton&Aron Bridge experiment) )

·       Expertise Heuristic (accept validity if expertise is somehow triggered

·       Familiarity (mere exposure) -> sources appear more convincing

·       Attractiveness Heuristics; agreeing with what we find attractive/ likable

·       Message-Lengh-Heuristic -> when superficially processed seem more convinving even if empty claims

·       Popularity heuristic; if other people have it  it must be good

o   Subliminal priming only changes attitudes if it fits current desires/ states of need (Karremans, Lipton tea)

o   Verbal subliminal Primes have to be two words max.

o   Helps with accessability of attitude object( no effect for already accessable brands like coca cola)  not evaluation (possibly in combination with evaluative conditioning)

• Need for cognition( generally high cognitive motivation NOT intelligence)

o   Higher relevance of argument strength

o   Formed attitudes are more persistant

o   Low need for cognition is leveled out if high personal relevance

•      Need for cognitive closure

o   Want to reach attitude fast (urgency) and keep it (permanency)

§  -> open to persuasion -> crystallizing belief -> resistant to persuasion

o   More affected by heuristics, less argument strength

Can also be situational (time-pressure) instead of interpersonal