Chapter 19: Attitudes, Culture, and Human Relations

Attitude: mix of belief and emotions that predisposes a person to respond to other people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way -summarize your evaluation of objects -expressed through -beliefs: what you believe about object -emotions: how you feel about it -actions: action toward various people, objects

-gun control: -belief about its effect on crime -emotions: find guns desirable or sinister -action: seek out or avoid gun ownership

Attitude Formation -acquired in several ways -direct contact: personal experience -interaction with others: discussion with those holding a certain attitude -child rearing: parents are Democrats, so are 2/3 of children

-many attitudes affected by group membership -affected by mass media -frequent TV viewers mistrust others and overestimate odds of being harmed -chance conditioning: bad encounter with psychologists leads to bad opinion of psychologists

Attitude Measurement -open-ended interview -social distance scale: rating of degree to which person would be willing to have contact with member of another group -attitude scales: agree or disagree with statements expressing various possible views on an issue

Attitude Change -reference group: group person identifies with and uses as a standard for social comparison -persuasion: deliberate attempt to change attitudes or beliefs through information or arguments 2

-facilitate attitude change -communicator is likeable, expressive, trustworthy, expert, similar to audience in some respect -message appeals to emotions, esp. fear or anxiety -clear course of action that will decrease fear -message states clear-cut conclusion -message backed by facts and statistics -both sides presented (well-informed audience) -1 side presented (poorly informed audience) -persuader appears to have nothing to gain if accept message -message repeated as frequently as possible

Role-playing: smoker plays cancer victim

Cognitive dissonance theory -contradictory thoughts that cause discomfort -we have a need for consistency in our thoughts -discomfort leads to a change in thoughts or attitudes to agree with actions -reject new information that contradicts what we already believe

Brain-washing: forced attitude change, requires captive audience -target person isolated from those who might support his attitudes -target made completely dependent on captors for satisfying needs -indoctrinating person in position to reinforce target for changes in attitude or behavior -make person helpless: psychological abuse, lack of sleep, humiliation -attitude change is temporary

Cults -group in which leader’s personality is more important than beliefs he preaches -give allegiance to leader they believe infallible, follow orders without question -approach recruits during time of need -affection, understanding - isolation from non-cult -small commitment (stay for meeting) leads to bigger commitments -true spiritual leaders teach love and compassion, critical thinking -cults: accept without thinking, depend on leader for security 3

Prejudice -negative emotional attitude toward members of a specific social group: racism, sexism -discrimination: unequal treatment of people who should have the same rights as others -traffic citations increased when good drivers had bumper stickers for black militant group -form of scapegoating: blaming person or group for the actions of others or for conditions not of their making -after 9-11, “foreign”-looking people were targets for displaced anger -learned by direct experience -personal prejudice: members of other group perceived as threat to one’s own interest -group prejudice: person conforms to group norms because it is expected

-prejudiced personality: prejudiced against 1 group tend to be prejudiced against all out-groups -authoritarian personality: rigidity, prejudiced, oversimplification -ethnocentric: consider own ethnic group superior to others -concerned with power, authority, and obedience

Roots of prejudice -group membership limits contact with other groups

-social stereotypes: oversimplified images of those in particular group -most based on gender, age, race -can be either positive or negative

-teacher gives blue-eyed children more privileges than brown-eyed children’ lower test scores -decreased prejudice with equal-status contact

-superordinate goals: see self as part of larger group

-jigsaw classroom: each child give piece of information needed to complete project or prepare for test -help each other -decreased prejudice Aggression -action with intent of harming someone -biological: aggression associated with low blood sugar, allergies, brain injuries, increased testosterone, alcohol 4

-not cause aggression, but lower threshold -males 10 times more likely to murder Violence: not evolutionary or in our genes

Frustration -can lead to aggression

Social Learning -Bandura: learn aggression by observing others -children who watch a lot of violence on TV, more likely to be aggressive as adult -disinhibited -TV gives message: violence is acceptable -decreased sensitivity to violence

Prosocial Behavior

Kitty Genovese -more people present, less likely to help -diffusion of responsibility; think someone else will help

Bystander Intervention -notice something happening -define it as emergency -take responsibility -select course of action

-decreased helping with personal risk, great effort, embarrassment