Cognitive Dissonance Review

1. Cognitive Dissonance Review 1) Which group rated the task as more interesting after lying, those paid $1 or $20? Why? Those who were paid $1 because, since they were only paid one dollar, they had to justify why they lied 2) Which group of children viewed the desirable toy as less desirable after they did not play with it, those who were given a mild or severe threat to not play? Those who were given the mild threat perceived the toy as less desirable because they had to justify why they failed to play with it (e.g., “the toy wasn’t so great after all”) 3) What is the “Ben Franklin” effect and why does it occur? Doing a favor for someone who you dislike will lead to greater liking of the previously disliked person - Behavior (doing a favor) is dissonant with one’s attitude so we change attitude about person to resolve dissonance • You chose one of 2 photos. Which choice will be most liked, if you have the chance to change your mind or your decision is final? Why? When decision is final – greater need to justify one’s choice (“it’s a great photo”)

2. Definition of Attitude • Originally meant as indicating physical properties such as a position of the body, figure, or statue. Later, in aeronautics, it refers to orientation of an aircraft relative to the horizon. • Leaning • Stance • Position • Direction

3. A psychological tendencythat is expressed by evaluatinga particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor Process Observable Inferred Observable Cognition Evaluation Stimuli Attitude Affect Behavior

4. Components of Attitudes • Affective (Emotional) • Behavioral • C) Cognitive (Thinking)

5. The “ABCs” of Attitudes – An Example • What is your affective reaction when you see a certain car? -- Feelings of excitement? • Anger and resentment (e.g., if you are a US car manufacturing employee and the car is foreign made) 2. What is your cognitive reaction? • What beliefs do you hold about the car’s attributes? • Perhaps you admire its hybrid engine that makes it one of the most fuel efficient cars you can buy. 3. What is your behavioral reaction? • Do you go to a dealership and test-drive the car and actually buy one?

6. Affectively Based Attitude An attitude based more on people’s feelings and values than on beliefs about the nature of an object. Sometimes we simply like something, a car for example, regardless of how many miles to the gallon it gets (e.g., prestige, image). Occasionally we even feel great about something (or someone) despite the existence of negative beliefs (e.g., politicians)

7. Cognitively Based Attitude An attitude based primarily on people’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object. Sometimes our attitudes are based primarily on the relevant facts – the objective merits of a car (e.g., how many miles to the gallon does it get?; Does it have side-impact air bags?)

8. Campaign For and Against Adding Fluoride to Drinking Water Text (in favor of fluoride) Don’t Put Rat Poison in Your Drinking Water versus (Against fluoride) Factual approach Emotional approach Which approach would be the most effective?

9. Campaign to Make Homes More Energy Efficient Text (in favor of energy conservation in homes) Factual approach Emotional approach Which approach would be the most effective?

10. Emotion and Different Types of Attitudes Several studies have shown that it is best to fight fire with fire: • If an attitude is cognitively based, try to change it with rational arguments • If it is affectively based, try to change it with emotional appeals (Source: Fabrigar & Petty, 1999; Shavitt, 1989; Snyder & DeBono, 1989)

12. Different Approaches for Same Product (Role of Intended Audience) Processor: .5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz) Configurable to 4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz) 8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory; four SO-DIMM slots, user accessible Configurable to 16GB or 32GB Configurable to 3TB Fusion Drive or 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of flash storage (SSD) AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory Configurable to AMD Radeon R9 M295X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory.

13. Behaviorally Based Attitude An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object. According to Daryl Bem’s (1972) self-perception theory, under certain circumstances, people don’t know how they feel until they see how they behave We can form our attitudes based on our observations of our ownbehavior

14. Behaviorally Based Attitude An attitude based on observations of how we behave toward an object. • People infer their attitudes from their behavior only under certain conditions • Their initial attitude has to be weak or ambiguous • People infer their attitudes from their behavior only when there are no other plausible explanations for their behavior (e.g., no force)

15. Persuasive Communication Communication (e.g., a speech or television ad) advocating a particular side of an issue How should you construct a message so that it would really change people’s attitudes?

16. Basic factors that influence persuasion WHO What To Whom Communicator Variables Examples: Credibility Attractiveness Status Message Variables Examples: Single personal example (e.g., emotional) versus factual One-sided versus two-sided arguments Fear appeals Audience Variables Examples: Knowledge/ Interests Personality (e.g., self-esteem) Pre-existing attitudes Motivation

17. Fear Appeals Do they work? Create a moderate amount of fear in the message (within ethical limits) Influence of other factors Self-esteem Personal relevance Perception of control Give audience additional information on how to deal with their fear (e.g., instructions as to where to go, when, why)

18. Examples of Fear Mesages Drunk driving Drug Use Seat Belt Use Skin Cancer Condom Use Why May They Not Work? • Odds of negative outcome (low) • Time frame may be long between behavior and negative outcome • Abiliity fo control behavior (e.g., habit, addiction)

19. A group of smokers who watched a graphic film depicting lung cancer and then read pamphlets with specific instructions about how to quit smoking reduced their smoking significantly more than people who were shown only the film or only the pamphlet.

20. Do Changing Attitudes Lead to Changes in Behavior? • Norms regarding proper behavior in a given situation (& consequences) • Availability or absence of alternatives • Extraneous events

21. Factors Affecting The Consistency of Attitudes and Behaviors ATTITUDES Specific Role of Strength personal Accessibility BEVAVIOR Range of attitudes and behaviors assessed experience Are you in favor of the Affordable Health Care Act? VERSUS Are you in favor of removing lifetime and annual caps on medical insurance? Do you like the idea of requiring insurance companies to cover those with pre-existing conditions? Do you think insurance companies should spend most of the money they collect (e.g., 80%) on heath care rather than administrative and marketing costs? Are you in favor on having screening tests covered at no charge (e.g., cholesterol, blood pressure, colorectal cancer, Type 2 diabetes) Have you talked positively about the ACA to friends? Did you contact your representative to vote for the ACA? Have you purchased insurance under the ACA?

22. Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Central Processing Peripheral Processing In-Depth Thought; Detailed Analyses of Information “Lazy” Thinking; Superficial Analyses of Information • Ability (IQ, knowledge base, • distracters, message complexity) • Motivation (e.g., personal relevance)

23. The Motivation to Pay Attention to the Arguments (Perceived Relevance) One thing that determines whether people are motivated to pay attention to a communication is the personal relevance of the topic: • How important is the topic to a person’s well-being?

24. Issue: To institute a comprehensive university exit exam STUDY OF ELM MODEL Status of Presenter Low High Relevance Relevance Low High Low High Low argument quality High argument quality If high perceived relevance exists, argument quality is most important

25. Predicting the use of birth-control pills; An example Beliefs • My taking the pill regularly will reduce my chances of becoming • pregnant: • Extremely unlikely _____________________ Extremely Likely • Reducing my chances of becoming pregnant is: • Extremely bad _______________________ Extremely good Behavioral Beliefs (beliefs about the likely consequencesof a behavior and the evaluationof the possible outcomes Normative Beliefs (beliefs about the expectationsof other people and the motivationto comply with these expectations) • My close friends believe that • I should __________________________________ I should not • take birth control pills. • On average, I really care what my close friends thinks I should do. • Not at all _________________________________ Very much Control Beliefs (beliefs about the existence of factors that may help or hinder the performance of a behavior and the perceived power of these factors) • I forget to do some very important activities. • Very rarely _______________________________ Very often • My forgetfulness would make it very difficult for me to remember to take birth control pills • Definitely not true _______________________ Definitely true

26. Attitude toward the behavior (thespecific attitude toward a behavior, favorable or unfavorable) For me, taking birth control pills regularly is: Extremely valuable_______________________ Worthless Subjective norms (beliefs about how other people will view a behavior; social pressure) Most of my close friends are using birth control pills Definitely untrue _______________________ Definitely true Perceived behavioral control (ease with which people believe they can perform the behavior) For me to be able to take a birth control pill on a regular basis would be: Impossible ___________________ Possible B ~ BI = w1AB + w2 SN + w3 PC

27. I plan on taking birth control pills regularly • Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely true • I will make every effort to take birth control pills • regularly • Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely true Behavioral Intention Behavior Regularly taking birth control pills or not

28. ~ Some Shortcomings the Theory of Planned Behavior ~ • Role of past behavior and habits • Focus on the prediction of individual behavior; what • about the role of others (e.g., cooperation), obtaining • resources not possessed by an individual • Assumption that people engage in elaborate cognitions before • behaving • Role of self-identity and/or moral obligations

29. Attitude Inoculation Small (“weak”) doses of arguments against one’s position Larger, stronger arguments given later Less likely to change one’s attitudes (more able to fight off the stronger attack; received an inoculation earlier)

30. Advertising --- Product Placement Quite frequent (e.g., greater than 40 products displayed in the movie Iron Man) Other examples: • Why can this approach work? • Defenses are down (do not recognize our attitudes are being manipulated) • Failure to generate counterarguments

31. Reactance Theory Persuasion messages, if too strong, can lead to a boomerang effect Why? Belief than our freedom is being threatened (Psychological Reactance Theory) DO NOT write on these walls under any circumstances** Versus PLEASE DON’T write on these walls ** Significantly more graffiti writing on walls with the stern message