Chapter Seven

1. Chapter Seven Attitude Change

2. Dissonance Theory • Cognitive dissonance theory is based on a small set of principles • cognitions can be either consistent or inconsistent with one another • inconsistent cognitions produce dissonance • dissonance can be reduced by changing our attitudes, changing our behavior, or adding a third cognition to mediate between the other two

3. An Example of Cognitive Dissonance • Your professor holds the attitude “No make-up exams” • You persuade the professor to give you a make-up • The professor’s attitude and behavior are now dissonant with one another • the professor will be motivated to reduce her cognitive dissonance

4. Dissonance Reduction • Options available to our professor: • change the behavior: not likely, the make-up exam’s been given • change attitude: maybe • professor might decide that make-up exams aren’t so bad after all • find a mediating element: could be • professor might still hold attitude, still perform behavior, but decide it’s a one-time event

5. How Dissonance Reduction Works • To reduce dissonance and restore consonance, an individual might: • change her attitude to be consonant with her behavior • change her behavior to be consonant with her attitude • maintain both the attitude and the behavior, but introduce an additional cognition to restore consonance between them both

7. Early Research: Induced Compliance • Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) • people engage in a boring task • these same people convince others that the task is fun and enjoyable • some people get paid $1 for saying this, others get paid $20 for saying this • The $1 group showed greater positive attitude change • Brought their attitudes in line with behavior

9. Early Research: Effort Justification • Aronson and Mills (1959) • severity of initiation leads to greater liking for the group • Dissonance reduction is used to justify the expenditure of effort • “this is horrible…I must really like it”

11. Early Research: Free Choice • Festinger (1957) • having to choose between two desirable alternatives can produce dissonance • the bad elements of the chosen alternative are dissonant with the decision • the good elements of the unchosen alternative are dissonant with the decision • people engage in post-decision dissonance reduction to restore consonance

12. Post-Decision Dissonance Reduction • As a consequence of having to choose one of two desirable alternatives, people will: • improve their evaluation of the chosen alternative • lower their evaluation of the unchosen alternative • Doing so reduces dissonance and restores consonance

13. Self-Perception Theory • An alternative to dissonance theory • perhaps people simply observe their own behavior and infer their own attitudes from it • “I’m eating pistachio ice cream; I must like pistachio ice cream” • “I did the boring task; I must like the boring task” • Self-perception works best with weak attitudes

14. Impression Management Theory • An alternative to dissonance theory • people want to make a good impression • in dissonance studies, they may not want to appear inconsistent • self-presentation goals would predict their behavior

15. Self-Affirmation Theory • An alternative to dissonance theory • people want to view themselves as moral, capable individuals • counterattitudinal behavior threatens these feelings of self-worth • people change their attitudes to reduce these threats to self-worth

17. Recent Research: Hypocrisy • Early dissonance research focused on the negative consequences of behavior • Even people who promote a proattitudinal position can experience dissonance • hypocrisy produced by advocating a proattitudinal position but engaging in counterattitudinal behavior leads to dissonance • if you promote conservation, you’d better recycle!

19. Recent Research: Individual Differences • Preference for Consistency (PFC) measures individual differences in wanting predictability and consonance • Individual differences may mediate the effects found in traditional dissonance research

20. Recent Research: Explicit/Implicit Attitudes • Almost all research on dissonance theory has focused on explicit attitudes • Recent research has examined dissonance and implicitly-held attitudes • dissonance affects explicit attitudes • dissonance has little effect on changing implicit attitudes

21. Cognitive Response Theory • Information-based persuasive communication also changes attitudes • Cognitive response theory argues that the effectiveness of an attitude change message depends on the thoughts evoked by that message • positive thoughts lead to adoption of the advocated position • negative thoughts lead to rejection of the advocated position

23. Argument Strength • Strong arguments tend to produce strong attitudes • strong attitudes should predict greater attitude change • Weak arguments tend to produce weak attitudes • weak attitudes provide poor support for the advocated position

24. Processing the Message • Strong arguments should be presented in a clear way • capitalize on target’s uninterrupted processing of good arguments • Weak arguments may fare better with distraction present • you don’t want the target to pay a lot of attention to lousy arguments!

25. Heuristic Persuasion • Heuristic persuasion relies on factors other than the strength of the arguments presented • relevance of the message • credibility of the communicator • likeability of the communicator • attractiveness of the communicator • positive mood and emotion

26. Two Routes to Persuasion • Systematic processing occurs when people attend to and think about the message • Heuristic processing occurs when people rely on simple cues to make judgments, rather than the strength of the arguments • Central route processing is analogous to systematic processing • Peripheral route processing is analogous to heuristic processing

27. Concept Review

28. Motivation and Ability • Systematic/central route processing when: • the recipient of the message is motivated to expend the energy needed to process the information • the recipient of the message has the ability to process the information

29. Personal Relevance & Message Complexity • An attitude change message should be relevant to the target • if not, little attitude change • Undue message complexity should work against attitude change • if you can’t understand the message, it makes it difficult to process the message

30. Effects of Aging on Attitude Change • Null hypothesis: no age-related changes • Increasing persistence: people become more resistant to influence as they age • Impressionable years: lots of attitude change when young, less when older • Life stages: greater susceptibility to persuasion when young, again when old • this is an issue that has not been settled

32. Effects of Culture on Attitude Change • People from collectivist cultures may not feel the same urge to behave in ways that are consistent with their attitudes • this would reduce the effects of cognitive dissonance in shaping behavior • Collectivism may also predict differences in responses to persuasive messages

33. Persuasion and Health: Fear Appeals • The arousal of fear has been used in many health-related attitude change messages • Protection Motivation Theory describes this process • believe the problem is severe • assume personal susceptibility • believe the steps to ameliorate • capable of performing those steps

34. Propaganda • Persuasion that is motivated by a specific ideology and that is biased in its presentation • wars often inspire propaganda messages • cults often inspire propaganda messages

35. Aspects of Cult Indoctrination • Selective targeting of potential recruits • Isolation of recruits • Sleep deprivation • Love-bombing • Repetition • Foot-in-the-door • Denial of privacy • Reciprocity • Fear-mongering

36. Everyday Propaganda • Common sources of a biased message promoting a specific ideology: • advertising • movies and television • education • religious institutions

37. Resisting Persuasion • Inoculation • exposure to a weakened form of arguments makes us less susceptible to attitude change • Reactance • limits to personal freedom lead to motives to restore that freedom • Personal preparation against unscrupulous attitude change messages is a good idea