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Attitudes and Persuasion Influencing Thoughts and Feelings The nature & origin of attitudes “The ability to kill or capture a man is a relatively simple task compared with changing his mind.” - Richard Cohen, Washington Post , What is an Attitude ? An enduring evaluation (positive negative) of people, objects, or ideas Classes of evaluative responses (ABC) Affective an attitude based on feelings and values Behavioral an attitude based on observations of how one behaves (or intends to behave) Cognitive an attitude based on beliefs Circle the number on the scale that best describes your feelings toward snakes Hateful -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Love Sad -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Delighted Angry -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Relaxed Circle the number that best describes the traits or characteristics of snakes Useless -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Useful Harmful -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Beneficial Foolish -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Wise Where do attitudes come from?
Genetics Cognitively based attitudes Behaviorally based attitudes Affectively based attitudes Learning (for affectively based attitudes) Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Classical Conditioning Stimulus 1 (“thomer ”) Neutral Feelings Negative feelings Stimulus 2 (shock) Before Conditioning Classical Conditioning Stimulus 1 (“thomer ”) Stimulus 2 (shock) Negative feelings During Conditioning Stimulus 1 (“thomer ”) Stimulus 2 (shock) Negative feelings Classical Conditioning Stimulus 1 (“thomer ”) Negative feelings After Conditioning Operant Conditioning Rewards & punishments shape our behaviors Insko (1965) University of Hawaii Students were phoned about a “Springtime Aloha Week” (SAW) Ps asked to agree/disagree with 14 statements ½ Ps were rewarded with “good” every time they agreed with a statement in support of SAW ½ Ps were rewarded with “good” every time they agreed with a statement not supporting SAW Operant Conditioning One week later, same students who had been called the week before were asked to complete a questionnaire including items about the festival Results The rewarded attitude was even stronger on the second questionnaire Even a week later, in a different setting Explicit vs. Implicit Attitudes Explicit attitudes – consciously endorse and easily report Implicit attitudes – involuntary, uncontrollable, and often unconscious http://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit Demo of IAT Attitude Strength and Accessibility Direct Experience Public Expression Personal Importance Rehearsal -3 very negative - 2 negative - 1 slightly negative 0 neither positive nor negative +1 slightly positive +2 positive +3 very positive Attitude Change Changing attitudes by changing behavior Persuasive Communication Yale Attitude Change Approach Elaboration Likelihood Model Changing Attitudes by Changing Behavior Attitudes may change due to cognitive dissonance We want our behaviors to be consistent with our beliefs, and we are uncomfortable when they’re not. To resolve: we change either our cognitions or our behaviors Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) Paid Ps either $20 to lie or $1 to lie w hen behavior appears to have insufficient external justification… …changing the attitude to correspond with the behavior provides an internal justification Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) -0.6 -0.4 -0.20 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 Control $1$20 Ratings of enjoyment of task Dissonance reduction Post-decision dissonance Cognitive dissonance that results from having to reject one appealing choice in favor of another Post-decision dissonance reduction: We begin disliking the rejected choice to reduce dissonance Effort justification Sometimes effort is enough to make something seem worthwhile Reduce dissonance by justifying the time, effort, or money devoted to something that turned out unpleasant/disappointing Using dissonance to change attitudes Insufficient incentives to get someone to DO a behavior to actually change attitudes, use the smallest amount of incentive necessary to get someone to engage in the behavior change you desire Insufficient punishment to get someone to STOP a behavior when an individual can’t come up with an external reason as to why they resisted doing something they wanted to, she derogates the activity Persuasive Communication & Attitude Change Persuasive Communication - advocating a particular side of an issue The Yale Attitude Change Approach The Three Elements of Persuasion Who says The Communicator What The Message To Whom The Audience Who: The Communicator Credibility – Believability Expertise: communicator has knowledge relevant to the persuasive message influences our judgments of objective reality Attractiveness – Physical or Personality influences our subjective preferences We like those who are familiar, those who we are similar to, and those who are physically attractive. What: The Nature of the Communication The message is against the communicator’s self -interest Ex: Warren Buffet advocating for raising taxes on the rich The message does not seem to be designed to influence Walster and Festinger (1962) Ps were more persuaded if they overheard the message What: The Nature of the Communication One-sided versus two -sided messages If the audience already agrees or is less sophisticated, use one sided message If the audience is initially opposed or more sophisticated, use two-sided message To go first or last?
Go FIRST when: speech 1, speech 2, time gap, decision (primacy effect) Go LAST when: speech 1, time gap, speech 2, decision ( recency effect) To Whom: The Nature of the Audience People are easier to persuade when… They are distracted. They don’t have a high IQ. They have moderate amounts of self - esteem. They are 18- 25 years old. Richard Petty and John Cacioppo Elaboation Likelihood Model (ELM) Petty and Cacioppo's ELM High likelihood of elaboration: When the audience is motivated and capable of paying attention to the arguments, they engage in a... …central route to persuasion: A process whereby the audience listens carefully to and thinks about the communication, and is influenced by the strength of the arguments presented. Petty and Cacioppo's ELM Low likelihood of elaboration: When the audience is not capable or lacks the motivation to pay close attention, they engage in a… …peripheral route to persuasion: A process whereby the audience is mindlessly influenced by peripheral cues. Petty & Cacioppo’s ELM Attitude change lasts longer if it occurs through the central processing route. A person’s motivation and capability affects the likelihood of elaboration and the route to persuasion What affects motivation and capability?
Individual differences need for cognition Factors in the environment distractions Our moods and emotions Emotions and Attitude Change Fear-arousing communication Do they work? Fear-Arousing Messages Leventhal, Watts, and Pagano (1967) Selected a group of heavy smokers (averaging 70 cigarettes a day before the study). Ps placed into one of three persuasion conditions: 1. Some Ps receive educational pamphlet 2. Some Ps shown a scary film 3. Some Ps see the scary film and then receive the pamphlet Fear-Arousing Messages Leventhal, Watts, and Pagano (1967) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Before 1 week2 weeks 1 month3 months Cigarettes / Day No film, instructions Film, no instructions Film and instructions Emotions and Attitude Change Fear-arousing messages—Do they work?
Least effective: Low fear More effective: Moderate to high fear Most effective: Moderate to high fear + instructions Other persuasion techniques Foot in the door Start small and move big Door in the face Ask big(ger than you want); then move smaller (and more realistic) Scarcity principle Limit availability Norm of reciprocity Give them something; they’ll feel socially obliged to return the favor Resisting Persuasion Attitude Inoculation Theory (McGuire) People are more able to resist a persuasive message if they are exposed to small doses of arguments against their position beforehand. Why? The weak arguments force people to devise counterarguments which are then available when the “real” message is presented. Reactance Theory Strong prohibitions (rules) threaten freedom, and the boomerang is an attempt to restore that feeling of freedom. Pennebaker & Sanders (1976) found that graffiti was reduced more by a sign with a mild prohibition than by a sign with a strong one When do our attitudes predict behavior? LaPiere (1934) stopped with a Chinese couple at 251 restaurants and hotels. Of the 251, only one hotel refused them 6 mos. later, he sent a letter to each place asking if they would accept Chinese guests. Of the 128 that replied... 118 (92%) said “No!” Only one said “Yes.” Wicker (1969) reported that the correlation between attitudes and behaviors was .33!
General attitudes predict behaviors generally, but only under certain conditions Spontaneous Behavior People’s attitudes will predict/be consistent with their spontaneous behaviors when the attitudes are highly accessible . If the attitudes are not highly accessible, then arbitrary aspects of the situation tend to determine behavior. Deliberative Behavior Ajzen & Fishbein’s Theory of Planned Behavior Attitude toward specific behavior Subjective norms Perceived behavioral control Behavioral intention S pecific Behavior