CHAPTER 7: ATTITUDES
Evaluations of people, objects, and ideas
Attitude Accessibility:
Attitudes will predict spontaneous behaviors only when highly accessible to
people
Theory of Planned Behavior:
When people have time to contemplate their decision for a behavior, the best
predictor is their intention
Intention based on three components – attitude toward behavior, subjective
norms, perceived behavioral control
Cognitively Based Attitude:
Based primarily on people’s belief about the properties of an object
We determine pros and cons of an object so we can determine if we want it
i.e. purchasing a vacuum – your decision based on objective merits like price,
quality, brand
NOT based on emotional consideration
Affectively Based Attitude:
Based on feelings and values of object
We may like something regardless of having negative beliefs about it
Politics, sex, religion
Can stem from a person’s moral values, sensory reactions, or aesthetic reactions
Behaviorally Based Attitude:
Based on observations of how a person behaves towards object
People don’t know how they feel about object until they see how they behave
Initial attitude towards object has to be weak/ambiguous (i.e. person didn’t realize
they like running)
There are no other plausible explanation available for the object
Explicit Attitude: attitudes we consciously endorse and can easily report
i.e. white student who believes that all races are equal
Implicit Attitude: attitudes that are involuntary, and have unconscious evaluations
i.e. Student enjoys working through a math problem even though they say they hate
math
*Attitudes do not always coincide with behavior
*Some attitudes DO predict behavior, but only under certain conditions
Spontaneous Behavior: Behavior is only predicable when attitudes are highly
accessible to people. Attitude accessibility is the relationship between an object and an
evaluation to it. This is measured by how quickly someone can determine a feeling
about it
Deliberate Behavior/Theory of Planned Behavior: best predictors for deliberate
behavior are a person’s specific attitudes, subjective norms (how other people feel
about it), and perceived behavioral control (how easy people believe they can perform
behavior)
Persuasive Communication: used for the masses to change attitudes
Yale Attitude Change Approach: the study of the conditions that people are most
likely to change their attitudes to
“who said what to whom?”
People are more likely to change their attitudes based on personal messages
Who = persuasive person, credible person, attractive person
What = people are more persuaded if the message does NOT seem to be
designed to influence them. One sided communication
Whom = distracted audience will be more persuaded. Low in intelligence.
Moderate in self-esteem. 18-25 years of age.
Central Route to Persuasion: people are motivated and able to listen to an elaborate
persuasion
