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Understanding Attitude Formation and Change in Social Psychology

Explore attitude formation, change methods like schema, primacy, cognitive dissonance, persuasion routes, with a focus on cognitive dissonance theory in shaping beliefs. Learn about audience characteristics and resolution strategies for cognitive dissonance. Discover obedience and conformity studies like Milgram's and Asch's experiments, and their implications on behavior.

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Understanding Attitude Formation and Change in Social Psychology

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  1. CHS AP Psychology Unit 14: Social Psychology Essential Task 12-2: Discuss attitude formation and how attitudes change with specific attention to schema, primacy effect, cognitive dissonance and the central and peripheral routes to persuasion. 

  2. Cognitive Dissonance Theory • (Leon Festinger 1957) • Occurs whenever a person has two contradictory cognitions or beliefs at the same time. They are dissonant, each one implies the opposite of the other. • The less coerced and more responsible we feel for an action the more dissonance. The more dissonance the more likely we are to change our attitude • It creates an unpleasant cognitive tension and the person tries to resolve in the following ways: (see next slide)

  3. Audience Characteristics • Most difficult to change if • Strong commitment to present attitude • Attitude is shared by others • The attitude has been held since early childhood • Up to a point the larger the difference between message and audience the more likely attitudinal change will occur • Low self-esteem more likely to change

  4. Resolution of Cognitive Dissonance 1. Sometimes changing your attitude is the easiest way to solve this. • Example: I am a loyal friend, but yesterday I gossiped about my friend Chris . . . Well I can’t change my action . . . but I don’t want to change my view of myself, so my attitude about Chris must be wrong. He is more of an acquaintance than a friend. 2. Increase the number of consonant elements – the number of thoughts that back one side. • It was awesome gossip • Reduce the importance of one or both of the sides • The person I gossiped with won’t really tell that many people.

  5. Obedience and Conformity • Sometimes we experience Cognitive Dissonance when we feel we have to obey something in which we do not necessarily believe. • Milgram’s Obedience Study • What would it look like if done today? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnYUl6wlBF4 • Take notes on the video in whichever format you choose

  6. After the Video Clip… Respond on the back of your notes: • What conditions influenced participants to obey? • What elements are present in your own life that encourage obedience? • What are the implications of Milgram’s findings? As a student? A citizen? Other roles?

  7. Asch’s Experiment • People, 35% of the time, will conform to incorrect answers if other people in the group do as well. • WHY? • Informational Social Influence: The influence other people have on us because we want to be right. • Normative Social Influence: The influence others have on us because we want them to like us.

  8. Outside the Class Experiment • Another one of Milgram’s studies was to have a small group of people look up at the sky. • He wanted to see how many other people would be willing to look. • Try this outside the class sometime before class tomorrow. • Report back and tell me how it went!

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