The Nature of Attitude

Chapter 10

Social Influences on Beliefs

Attributions

Attitudes

Attitudes

• Attitude: A relatively stable opinion containing beliefs and emotional feelings about a topic.

• Three Components to make sense, provide ego-defense, & express ideas (Yadov, 1978; Moghaddam, 1998).

– Cognitive component = knowledge about an object or event, including facts, thoughts, and beliefs retained in memory

– Emotional component = the affective component i.e., emotional evaluation of an object

– Behavioral component = predisposition to act a certain way re: an object

Influencing Attitudes

Effective ways to influence attitudes

Endorsement by an attractive or admired person

Repetition of an idea or assertion (validity effect)

Association of message with a

good feeling

Values

• Attitudes that reflect a principle, standard, quality considered by the individual as the most desirable or appropriate– Instrumental values are the stable, enduring

views that a specific behavior or goal (terminal value) is preferred to another behavior or goal

– Terminal values are social and personal concerns

Cultural Differences in Values

• Differences in Values– Individualism v. collectivism– Power distance– Masculinity/femininity– Uncertainty avoidance

• Smith & Schwartz (1997) individual values– Independence or dependence in groups– Views on prosperity & profit– Views or appropriateness to exploit, fit in, or submit to

the outside world

Spectrum of Human Values(Schwartz et al., 2001)

• Conservatism v. Autonomy– Status quo v. individual rights

• Hierarchy v. Egalitarianism– Legitimacy or not of unequal power, resources and social roles

• Mastery v. Harmony– Mastery encourages individuals to exercise control over society

& exploit its natural resourcesEast Asian high on conservatism & hierarchy esp. in large families/

W. Eurp was the opposite Mosquera et al., (2002) found that people in Spain & Netherlands

viewed honor differently as Spaniards were tied to family & social interdependence, but Netherlands were tied to self-achievement & autonomy

Western Values

• Economic Prosperity & Democratic Attitudes Assumption – The nature of human beings is selfish (Freud & Marx)

– Scarcity is a primary condition of nature (Darwin)

– Progress means growth, complexity, competition, & freedom (Weber)

(Don’t produce social satisfaction)

The Cognitive Balance Theory

• Heider (1959) holds that people seek consistency among their attitudes– E.g., if like Ricky Martin then will agree with

his criticism of U.S. president unless dislike the comments he made about the U.S. president as the attitude toward Ricky Martin will change

– U.S. is more concerned about consistency of their attitudes than those from Japan who view inconsistency as a sign of maturity

Need for Cognitive Consistency

• Cognitive Dissonance: A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a person’s belief is inconsistent with his or her behavior.

Psychological Dogmatism

• Dogmatism- tendency to be extremely selective, rigid, and inflexible in opinions and subsequent behavior– Negative correlation between democracy &

dogmatism (Schwartz, 2000)

Attributions• Attribution Theory/Social

Attribution: The theory that people are motivated to explain their own and other peoples’ behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or a disposition.

• Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency, in explaining other people’s behavior, to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation. May be impacted by ethnicity (Legman, 1968; Triandis, 1994)

The Limits of Control• Locus of Control: A general expectation about whether

the results of your actions are under your own control (internal locus) or beyond your control (external locus) e.g., gambling, drinking.– Cross-cultural differences where U.S. saw happiness as being

contingent on personal success & enjoyable life experiences v. El Salvador where religion is viewed as important (Chiasson et al., 1996)

• Primary Control: An effort to modify reality by changing other people, the situation, or events; a “fighting back” philosophy.

• Secondary Control: An effort to accept reality by changing your own attitudes, goals, or emotions; a “learn to live with it” philosophy.

Attribution of Success and Failure

• Three Common Explanations– Individual Ability– Effort– Task Difficulty

• Biases– Self-centered i.e., don’t take responsibility for failure,

but take credit for success– Unassuming i.e., explain personal success as a result

of external factors

Self-Perception

• Furnham et al., 1999 found that men tend to overestimate their IQ scores by 3 points

• Self-critical elements of self-perception are found more in Japan than in the U.S.

• India’s caste system seems to facilitate folks’ self-perceptions & perception of their relationships on the basis of this hierarchy (Sinha & Verma, 1983)

Cross-cultural Selves

• Private self– thoughts and feelings about oneself for oneself

• Public self– concept of self in relation to others and for others; found more in collectivist societies

• Most Japanese cultures accept a difference jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

Social Norms & Body Image

• Sobal & Stunkard (1989) found a negative correlation between SES & body weight in rich countries, but positive in poor countries e.g., Ghana (Cogan et al., 1996)

• India, China, Philipines, & some Latin American countries have positive correlation between affluence & weight (Rothblum, 1992)

• U.S. & Japanese elementary school girls showed a preference for fitness (Mukai & McCloskey, 1996)

Duty & Fairness

• Justice-based view emphasizes the autonomy of an individual & their personal rights; Autonomy & personal rights should be impartial & applicable to all (U.S. reflects this; Miller, 1994)

• Duty-based view emphasizes belief that obligation to others is the basis of morality (Arabs reflect this, Abu-Saad, 1998)

Fairness

• Bernman & Murphy-Bernman (1996) found twice as many Germans endorse statements like:– The government should guarantee all a minimum

standard of living– Govt. should place limit on amount of money all can

make– People should help needy even if it means getting

money from those who have it many Germans endorse statements like:

• Cockerham et al., (1988) found U.S. individuals are responsible for their material success

Work

• Adigun, 1997; Shraev, 1988; Yadov, 1978 found people surveyed would still work even if economic necessity were removed– Confounders

• Because the questions were about values, people may have been more apt to give expected answers

• With data that came from more economically advanced nations

– Respondents had better working conditions

– Greater chance of democratic environment

– Overall social protection could influence people’s positive views about work

Stereotypes

• Stereotype: A cognitive schema or a summary impression of a group, in which a person believes that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive, negative, or neutral).– These could be internalized and externalized– Judgments are made about self and others