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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