Introduction to Attitudes Madiha Anas Lecturer Department of

Introduction to Attitudes Madiha Anas Lecturer Department of Applied Psychology School of Social Sciences Beaconhouse National University

“Attitude”… What does it mean to you?

Attitudes in everyday life

Attitudes in everyday life

… Defining Attitudes An attitude is: “…a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings, and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols” l Hogg & Vaughan 2005 l l “…a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour” Eagly & Chaiken, 1998

How do we form attitudes? l Born or made? ¡ Are you born with attitudes?

Theories of Attitude Formation

l Social Learning ¡ Classical conditioning ¡ Instrumental conditioning

Social Learning l When we interact with others or merely observe their behavior.

1. Social Learning l Studies indicate that when initially neutral words are paired with stimuli that elicit strong negative reactions, they acquire the capacity to elicit favorable or unfavorable reactions ¡ Racial prejudice

Classical Conditioning in Attitude Formation (A) Stimulus 1 (Member of a Minority Group) Stimulus 2 (Signs of emotional upset on part of parent) (B) Child becomes upset Stimulus 1 (Member of a minority group) Child becomes upset

1 B. Instrumental Conditioning l How does a three-year old know Toyota is better than Suzuki? l Reinforcement! Behaviour toward Attitude Object (e. g. , playing with child of another Race) Positive or Negative Reinforcement (+ve = parents approval -ve = parents’ Disapproval) Positive or Negative Attitude Toward Attitude Object

Structure of Attitudes

Attitude Structure: Affect how we feel about people or social objects Behaviors behavior directed at people and social objects Cognitions generalized beliefs about people and social objects

Attitude Structure l Three-component model views attitudes as having three components: ¡ Affective l feelings about the attitude object ¡ Behavioural l act towards the attitude object in a certain way ¡ Cognitive l beliefs about the attitude object

Attitude Change

Why discuss persuasion? l Up to 3000 advertising messages a day! ¡ Include l Blatant ¡ We signs, flyers, scented ads, previews attempts include commercials like to think that we are smart and thus immune to their deceit ¡ Are we?

Attitude Change/Persuasion l Persuasion is the power to cause change in one’s actions or beliefs. l How to get people to do what you want.

Routes of Persuasion l Two routes can be used to persuade ¡ Central: relies on facts, figures, and thought. l Changes tend to be more permanent due to effortful processing. l ¡ Peripheral: attempts to persuade you without thought occurring. l Relies on emotion. l Leads to superficial and temporary change. l

Attitude Measurement

Levels of Measurement l Nominal – identity preserving l Ordinal – order preserving l Interval – difference preserving l Ratio – ratio preserving

Measurement Scales l Nominal ¡ Are you satisfied with X? ___YES ___ NO l Ordinal ¡ Rank order X, Y, and Z according to how satisfied you are with them. l Interval ¡ l How satisfied? __Not very … to …__Very satisfied Ratio ¡ How satisfied? Very dissatisfied…to…Very satisfied

Guess the scale? Which scale is this? Answer: Ordinal Indicate your preferred type of music with a 1, your second favorite with a 2, and so on for each type of music: ____ ____ Heavy Metal Alternative Urban Contemporary Classical Country

Which scale is this? Answer: Ratio (because Not sure = 0 value It is more fun to play a tough, competitive cricket match than to play an easy one. ___Strongly Agree ___Not Sure ___Disagree ___Strongly Disagree

More exercise with scales. l Favorite color Orange ¡ Blue ¡ Green ¡ White Choose the scale if the question is: ¡ 1. 2. Which one is your favorite color? NOMINAL SCALE Rate your favorite, second favorite, third favorite and fourth favorite color. ORDINAL SCALE

Example of ______ scale l This year’s psychology course was ¡ Very hard ¡ Difficult ¡ Can’t say ¡ Easy ¡ Very Easy Answer: Ratio scale (Because “Can’t say” = O

Example of _____ scale l This year’s psychology course was ¡ Very Hard ¡ Somewhat hard ¡ Not that hard This is an INTERVAL SCALE. Because each item increases with a consistent interval. No item = O