• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

A-Baumeister (Encyc)-45348.qxd 7/24/2007 6:14 PM Page 61 Attitude Change———61 Among people with weak attitudes toward Greenpeace, Of course, people’s behavior is also influenced by how much they liked the organization did not predict whether they feel they can perform the behavior. For their later behavior. example, if an individual wanted to eat a healthier Fourth, the consistency between attitudes and diet, a positive attitude and positive subjective norms behavior is affected by differences across people. For are unlikely to produce the desired behavior change if example, research on the personality factor called the person is unable to restrain him- or herself from “self-monitoring” (which reflects differences across eating French fries and chocolates. As a result, the people in how they vary their behavior across social Theory of Planned Behavior includes the idea that situations) has found that the relation between attitudes behavior is affected by whether people believe that and behavior is stronger for low self-monitors than they can perform the relevant behavior. This is cap- high self-monitors. Further, the likelihood of a per- tured by the concept of perceived behavioral control. son’s attitudes influencing their behavior is affected by their age. A number of studies have found that univer- The MODE Model sity students show lower attitude–behavior relations compared to adults. This difference is thought to occur Not all behavior is planned and deliberative. Quite because university students tend to have less-clear atti- often we act spontaneously, without consciously think- tudes compared to older individuals. ing of what we intend to do. When our behavior is spontaneous, the theory of planned behavior may not reflect how we decide to act. To help understand how How Do Attitudes attitudes influence spontaneous behavior, Russell Fazio Influence Behavior? developed the MODE model of attitude–behavior rela- In addition to understanding when attitudes predict tions. MODE refers to Motivation and Opportunity as behavior, social psychologists have developed a num- DEterminants of behavior. The MODE model suggests ber of models to explain how attitudes predict behav- that if people are motivated and have the opportunity, ior. Two important models are the theory of planned they can base their behavior on a planned and delibera- behavior and the MODE model. tive consideration of available information. However, when either the motivation or the opportunity to make a reasoned decision is low, only strong attitudes will The Theory of Planned Behavior predict behavior. The theory of planned behavior was developed by Icek Azjen. As its name suggests, the theory of planned Geoffrey Haddock behavior was developed to predict deliberative and Gregory R. Maio thoughtful behavior. According to this model, the most immediate predictor (or determinant) of a person’s See also Attitudes; Attitude Strength behavior is his or her intention. Put simply, if you intend to recycle glass bottles, you are likely to engage Further Readings in this behavior. Within the theory of planned behavior, a person’s intentions are determined by three factors: Haddock, G., & Maio, G. R. (Eds.). (2004). Contemporary attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral perspectives on the psychology of attitudes. New York: control. The attitude component refers to the individ- Psychology Press. ual’s attitude toward the behavior—whether the person thinks that performing the behavior is good or bad. If you think that recycling glass is good, you should have a positive intention to carry out this behavior. ATTITUDE CHANGE Subjective norms refer to people’s beliefs about how other people who are important to them view the rele- Definition vant behavior. If your family and close friends believe that recycling glass is good, and you are motivated to Attitudes are general evaluations of objects, ideas, and comply with their expectations, you should have a pos- people one encounters throughout one’s life (e.g., itive intention to carry out this behavior. “capital punishment is bad”). Attitudes are important A-Baumeister (Encyc)-45348.qxd 7/24/2007 6:14 PM Page 62 62———Attitude Change because they can guide thought, behavior, and feelings. objects), significant attitude change has also been Attitude change occurs anytime an attitude is modified. found for positive and negative attitude objects as Thus, change occurs when a person goes from being well. One series of studies found that repeatedly pair- positive to negative, from slightly positive to very pos- ing words related to the self (e.g., I and me) with pos- itive, or from having no attitude to having one. Because itive stimuli caused significant increases in a later of the functional value of attitudes, the processes that measure of participants’ self-esteem. Thus, continu- change them have been a major focus throughout the ally associating an attitude object or message with history of social psychology. something you already like (e.g., an attractive source) can lead to positive attitudes. Dual Process Approach Affective Priming. Another process that involves the According to dual process models of attitude change, association of two stimuli is called affective priming. In research on this topic can be organized according to this process a positive or negative stimulus (e.g., words two general types of processes: (1) those that occur such as love or murder) is encountered just prior to a when one puts forth relatively little cognitive effort, novel attitude object (rather than following it, as occurs and (2) those that occur with relatively high cognitive in classical conditioning). When this happens, one’s effort. The amount of thought and effort used in any reaction to the positive or negative stimulus will come given situation is determined by many variables, all to color the evaluation of the new object, producing of which affect one’s motivation or ability to think. attitude change. Imagine, for instance, that you are at an Some examples include one’s personal preference for unfamiliar restaurant and are about to try a totally new engaging in complex thought, the personal relevance dish. If this meal is brought to you by a very attractive of the attitude object, and the amount of distraction waiter or waitress, your positive reaction toward this present while attempting to think. Furthermore, both server is likely to influence your initial attitude toward high- and low-effort processes can operate whether or the food. Although this attitude may change as you not a persuasive message is presented. interact with the attitude object (i.e., when you eat the food), the initial positive evaluation will make it more likely that your final attitude is also positive. Low-Effort Processes When factors keep one’s motivation and/or ability Mere Exposure. In both of the processes discussed so to think low (such as when the issue is not personally far, an attitude is altered by the attitude object’s asso- relevant or there are many distractions present), atti- ciation with a positive or negative stimulus. In contrast, tude change can be produced by a variety of low-effort research on the mere exposure effect has found that processes. These include some largely automatic asso- repeated exposure to an object in the absence of asso- ciative processes as well as simple inferential processes. ciation can also change attitudes. Quite simply, this process requires only that one is repeatedly exposed to an attitude object. When this occurs, the attitude Associative Processes toward the object becomes more positive; possibly due Classical Conditioning. One way to produce attitude to the fact that the object has actually become asso- change in the absence of effortful thought is to repeat- ciated with the absence of anything negative. The edly associate an initially neutral attitude object with strongest mere exposure effects occur when the another stimulus that already possesses a positive or repeated attitude object is low in meaning (e.g., novel) negative meaning. For example, imagine that every or is presented outside of conscious awareness. One time you saw your uncle as a child he took you to the intriguing implication of this phenomenon is that mere zoo. Assuming you enjoy going to the zoo, you will exposure might help to account for the preference a likely start to feel more positively toward your uncle. newborn infant shows for his or her mother’s voice. As If, instead, every time you saw him he took you to the the child develops in the womb, one stimulus that is doctor to get your immunization shots, the opposite repeated every day is the mother’s voice. Thus, mere result is more likely. Although research on this exposure to this stimulus should cause the child’s atti- process has demonstrated that it is most effective for tude toward the voice (and subsequently its source) to previously neutral stimuli (such as novel words or become positive, enhancing the mother–child bond. A-Baumeister (Encyc)-45348.qxd 7/24/2007 6:14 PM Page 63 Attitude Change———63 Inferential Processes heuristics, some examples are “experts are usually cor- rect” and “bigger is better.” When motivation and abil- Balance. One simple inferential process of attitude ity to think are low, people can use simple rules like change involves cognitive balance. Stated simply, bal- these to form evaluations. For instance, in deciding ance is achieved when people agree with those they what new music is good, someone might simply walk like and disagree with those they dislike. When this is over to the bestseller section at the local music store not the case, one experiences a state of unease, and and survey the current top selections. By basing their attitudes are likely to shift to bring the system into bal- opinions on the rule that “the majority is usually right,” ance.

Load more

  5

Copy Link