
HOME	who am I	resources	course notes	FAQ	contact

COURSE NOTES: Social



	Based on the course PSY/SOC 301, taught at The Sage Colleges by Prof. Susan Cloninger. This class uses the following textbook, which provides the chapter organization that you see on the menu on the left side of this page: Myers, D. (2005). Social Psychology (8th ed.) New York: McGraw Hill.

Chapter 4:

Behavior and Attitudes

ATTITUDE

a favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone, exhibited in one's beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior

political attitudes; attitudes about smoking, jogging, and other activities

the A B C's of attitudes

Affect

"Snakes make me anxious."

Behavior

"I scream whenever I see a snake."

Cognition

"I know that snakes control the rodent population."

These 3 components tend to be consistent.

"Smoking makes me nervous." (affect)
"I don't smoke." (behavior)
- (and I try to avoid passive smoke, too)
"Smoking causes cancer." (cognition)
(but as we know, behavior isn't always consistent with what we think and feel)

Psychological Functions of Attitudes

TYPE OF ATTITUDE: Utilitarian
TYPE OF ATTITUDE: Knowledge
TYPE OF ATTITUDE: Ego defense
TYPE OF ATTITUDE: Value expression

DO ATTITUDES DETERMINE BEHAVIOR?

Are We All Hypocrites?

Attitudes do not predict behaviors very well. Neither do other internal characteristics (personality traits).
For example, according to the Roper polling organization, 92% of Americans believe that pollution is a moderate or very serious threat, yet fewer than half do anything beyond recycling bottles or cans.

LaPiere's classic study of racial discrimination also shows attitude-behavior inconsistency. [Details given in lecture.]

Another example: By a margin of 3 to 1, Americans agree that "people should volunteer some of their time to help other people." When asked about their volunteer activity in the previous month, little more than 1/3 report any activity at all, and very few report spending more than an hour a week in volunteering.

The correlation between measured attitudes and behavior is often only about .40 to .50.

Some reasons for the low correlation between attitudes and behavior:

situational constraints on behavior
behaviors are multidetermined
error in measurement of attitude
change in attitude between assessment of attitude and behavior
difference in level of specificity of attitude and behavior measurement
attitudes formed based on other than behavior experience with the attitude are less valid predictors of future behavior

individual differences in attitude-behavior consistency

Behavior is better predicted from external, situational variables.

(which must bring great pleasure to social psychologists!)

When Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?

Minimizing Social Influences on Expressed Attitudes

bogus pipeline

Minimizing Other Influences on Behavior

averaging across situations

Examining Attitudes Specific to the Behavior

measuring specific (rather than general) attitudes

Making Attitudes Potent

Bring attitudes to mind.

Make people self-conscious (e.g., mirrors).
Personal experience leads to more potent attitudes.

When Does Behavior Determine Attitudes?

examples from hypnosis, brain stimulation, and split-brain research

We can pass laws about behavior.

Role Playing

role: actions expected of those who occupy a particular social position
Work roles (supervisor vs. shop steward) influence attitudes (Lieberman's study).

When Saying Becomes Believing

Statements are influenced by the expected audience.
Repeated statements influence beliefs.

The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

foot-in-the-door
low-ball technique
small commitments followed by bigger ones

Evil Acts and Attitudes

Actions influence the actor (e.g., attitude changes to blame the victim).
Good actions also influence the actor (e.g., resisting temptation produces moral attitudes).

Interracial Behavior and Racial Attitudes

Laws change behavior (desegregation), which changes attitudes.

Social Movements

Flag salutes, demonstrations, and other behaviors influence attitudes.

Brainwashing

Begin with demands for minor behaviors; larger impact follows.

WHY DOES OUR BEHAVIOR AFFECT OUR ATTITUDES?

self-presentation (impression management)

self-justification (cognitive dissonance)

self-perception

Self-Presentation: Impression Management

self-monitoring

high: change with situations
low: behavior consistent with attitude

Self-Justification: Cognitive Dissonance

cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger)

What are "cognitions" in cognitive dissonance theory?

cognitions = attitudes, beliefs, or thoughts about behaviors

Cognitions may be related to other cognitions by being

irrelevant
consonant
dissonant

Inconsistency produces dissonance.

for example, inconsistency between behavior and cognition
cognitive dissonance is experienced as tension, and it motivates change

Dissonance influences behavior.

behavior may (or may not) change

Insufficient Justification

Festinger & Carlsmith study [graph in Myers, 2005, p. 154]
implications for teaching good behaviors

Dissonance After Decisions

Attitudes change to support the decision that was made.

Self-Perception

self-perception theory

Seeing our own behavior leads to inferences about our attitudes (Bem).
Facial expressions influence ratings of our own emotions.
Emotional contagion.

Overjustification and Intrinsic Motivation

Too much reward undermines instrinsic motivation.
Unanticipated rewards don't undermine intrinsic motivation. They may increase it.

Comparing the Theories: Different theories explain the same phenomena.

Dissonance as Arousal

When arousal does not occur (e.g., because of drinking alcohol), there is little or no attitude change.

Self-Perceiving When Not Self-Contradicting
Some research results can be explained by self-perception theory but not dissonance theory (e.g., when attitudes are not well formed).