Chapter 7 – Attitudes, beliefs and consistency
Contents
What are attudes and why do people have them?..............................................................................2
Attudes versus 峐elfess......................................................................................................................2
Dual attudes....................................................................................................................................2
Why people have attudes................................................................................................................2
How attudes are sormed......................................................................................................................3
Formation os attudes.......................................................................................................................3
Polarfzation........................................................................................................................................4
Consfstency............................................................................................................................................5
Hefder’s P-O-X theory........................................................................................................................5
Cognftive dfssonance and attude change........................................................................................6
Do attudes really predfct 峐ehavfors?...................................................................................................7
Attackfng attudes.............................................................................................................................7
Desendfng attudes...........................................................................................................................7
General attudes and specffc 峐ehavfors.......................................................................................7
Behavfor aggregation.....................................................................................................................7
Broad attude fn context...............................................................................................................7
Attude accessf峐flfty......................................................................................................................7
Conclusfon.........................................................................................................................................7
Belfess and 峐elfevfng..............................................................................................................................8
Belfevfng versus dou峐ting..................................................................................................................8
Belfes perseverance...........................................................................................................................8
Belfes and copfng...............................................................................................................................8
Relfgfous 峐elfes...................................................................................................................................9
Irrational 峐elfes..................................................................................................................................9
, What are attitudes and why do people have them?
Attitudes versus beliefs
Beliefs – pieces of information about something; facts or opinions
- Information believed to be true, function of explaining
Attitudes – global evaluations toward some object or issue
- Opinions etc., function of choosing
Dual attitudes
Dual attitudes – different evaluations of the same attitude object, implicit versus explicit
- This means that while you think that you actually like something (conscious), you may
unconsciously dislike it, and vice versa.
- This means there’s an inner conflict; one does not experience this conflict as a
discrepancy, though, but does not actually realize the conflict.
- This often happens in the case of racism; while thinking they are not racist, implicit
association tests state differently considering unconscious views
Implicit attitudes – automatic and nonconscious evaluative responses
Explicit attitudes – controlled and conscious evaluative responses
This shows that we are not aware of all our attitudes, especially when implicit.
Stigma – an attribute that is perceived by others as broadly negative
- Stigmas can lead to negative implicit attitudes towards groups of people, even if one is
part of that group
Why people have attitudes
Attitudes are necessary and adaptive to humans to live in this complex world, facing thousands
of daily decisions and having to adapt to new, unknown situations. It helps people decide what
things are good or bad, what risks there are, and whether or how to avoid them.
After processing information of the world, attitudes place the information in one of two
categories: good or bad. This first evaluation is immediate and unconscious, and not
(necessarily) rational, as it happens to all new things, even if completely unfamiliar.
Attitudes help people to make decisions; attitudes provide faster, easier and better decision-
making. Although decisions can be partly made on rational basis, attitudes can ensure a decision
between equally rational choices.
Contents
What are attudes and why do people have them?..............................................................................2
Attudes versus 峐elfess......................................................................................................................2
Dual attudes....................................................................................................................................2
Why people have attudes................................................................................................................2
How attudes are sormed......................................................................................................................3
Formation os attudes.......................................................................................................................3
Polarfzation........................................................................................................................................4
Consfstency............................................................................................................................................5
Hefder’s P-O-X theory........................................................................................................................5
Cognftive dfssonance and attude change........................................................................................6
Do attudes really predfct 峐ehavfors?...................................................................................................7
Attackfng attudes.............................................................................................................................7
Desendfng attudes...........................................................................................................................7
General attudes and specffc 峐ehavfors.......................................................................................7
Behavfor aggregation.....................................................................................................................7
Broad attude fn context...............................................................................................................7
Attude accessf峐flfty......................................................................................................................7
Conclusfon.........................................................................................................................................7
Belfess and 峐elfevfng..............................................................................................................................8
Belfevfng versus dou峐ting..................................................................................................................8
Belfes perseverance...........................................................................................................................8
Belfes and copfng...............................................................................................................................8
Relfgfous 峐elfes...................................................................................................................................9
Irrational 峐elfes..................................................................................................................................9
, What are attitudes and why do people have them?
Attitudes versus beliefs
Beliefs – pieces of information about something; facts or opinions
- Information believed to be true, function of explaining
Attitudes – global evaluations toward some object or issue
- Opinions etc., function of choosing
Dual attitudes
Dual attitudes – different evaluations of the same attitude object, implicit versus explicit
- This means that while you think that you actually like something (conscious), you may
unconsciously dislike it, and vice versa.
- This means there’s an inner conflict; one does not experience this conflict as a
discrepancy, though, but does not actually realize the conflict.
- This often happens in the case of racism; while thinking they are not racist, implicit
association tests state differently considering unconscious views
Implicit attitudes – automatic and nonconscious evaluative responses
Explicit attitudes – controlled and conscious evaluative responses
This shows that we are not aware of all our attitudes, especially when implicit.
Stigma – an attribute that is perceived by others as broadly negative
- Stigmas can lead to negative implicit attitudes towards groups of people, even if one is
part of that group
Why people have attitudes
Attitudes are necessary and adaptive to humans to live in this complex world, facing thousands
of daily decisions and having to adapt to new, unknown situations. It helps people decide what
things are good or bad, what risks there are, and whether or how to avoid them.
After processing information of the world, attitudes place the information in one of two
categories: good or bad. This first evaluation is immediate and unconscious, and not
(necessarily) rational, as it happens to all new things, even if completely unfamiliar.
Attitudes help people to make decisions; attitudes provide faster, easier and better decision-
making. Although decisions can be partly made on rational basis, attitudes can ensure a decision
between equally rational choices.
