150 Chapter 5 Atitudes
are form.
social learning
The process through which we
acquire new information, forms
of behavior, or attitudes from
ocher people.
unconditioned stimulus
A stimulus that evokes a positive
or negative response without
substantial learning.
conditioned stimulus
The stimulus that comes to stand
for or signal a prior
unconditioned stimulus.
classical conditioning
A basic form of learning in
which one stimulus, initially
neutral, acquires the capacity
to evoke reactions through
repeated pairing with another
stimulus. In a sense, one
stimulus becomes a signal for
the presentation or occurrence
of the othe.
which attitudess are
In this chapter, we'll first
consider the waysin
formed. Next,
When do attitudes influence beh
address a question we have already
raised:
oehavior? well
we'll turn to the important question
of how attitudes are changed-the proce
some reasons why
attitudes are often resistan.p
ht o
Thiersua-d,
sion. Fourth, we'll examine
actionschange.
on some occasions ourown
fact that wn
Finally, we'll consider the intriguing is known as cognitive disson
our attitudes rather
than vice versa: This process shape
attitude change, but for many asheand in
has fascinating implications not just for
aspects ot socid
behavior as well.
Attitude Formation: How Attitudes Develop
the Kashmir issue, people who cover their bod
How do you feel about India's role in Indian food, or people who talk on i
tattoos, condoms, telemarkerers, cats, south
attitudes about these aspects of ourculu
phones while driving? Most people hold
Are they acquired asa result offirsthand
where, precisely, do these views come from?
riences or exposure to the opinions of
others? Are such attitudes stable over tima."Pe
Are
find ourselves? Many of oir
likely inchange
theyacquiredto with circumstances in which we
are situations in which we interact with or observe the behavior of others
social learning. Such learning can be acquired through several processes, and our a
atti.
tudes are affected by different forms of influence.
Association
Classical Conditioning: Learning Based on
The first process uses a basic principle of psychology-the evoking of an attitude by the
association of an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral or conditioned stimulus. When
a stimulus that is capable of producing a positive response (the unconditioned stimulus)
regularly precedes a second stimulus (the conditioned stimulus), the first becomes a sig.
nal for the second. Advertisers and other persuasion agents have considerable expertise in
using this principle to create positive attitudes toward their products. Although tricky in
the details, it is actually a fairly straightforward method for creating new attitudes. To star
with, you need to know what your potential audience already responds positively toward
(what to use as the unconditioned stimulus). If you are marketing a new beer, and your
target audience is young adult males, you might safely asume that attractive young women
will produce a positive response. Next, your product (in the form of your ber logo, the
neutral or conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly paired with images of beautiful women.
Before long, positive atitudes will develop tOward your new beer. See how the manufac-
turer in Figure 5.2 has used this principle to beneficially affect sales of its product.
This process, known as classical conditioning, has important implications for atti-
tude formation. Consider how this process might affect not only consumer preferences
but also social attitudes. A young child sees her mother frown and show other signs of dis
pleasure each time a member ofa particular ethnic group is encountered. At first, the child
is neutral toward members of this group and their visible characteristics (e.g, skin color,
style of dres, accent). The child has not yet learned to categorize these variations in terms
of group membership. However once these cues are paired repeatedly with the mothers
negative emotional reactions, then classical conditioning occurs, and the child comes to
react negatively to members of a particular ethnic group (see Figure 5.3). This can occur
without the child having conscious access to the role that her mother's subtle facial changes
have had on the attitudes formed (De Houwer, Thomas, & Baeyens, 2001). The result is
that the child acquires a negative attitude that is generalized to members of that group 5
a whole (Walther, 2002), an atitude that may ultimately form the core ofprejudice,which
we'll examine in detail in Chapter 6.
 Attitudes Develop 151
Attitude Formation: How

Not only can classical Figure 5.2

conditioning contribute to Classical Condition1ng
our attitudes as we sa of Attitudes
haping may he
neutral
child s example, but Initially people
in the toward this prnduct and ins
not be aware of
often we
may :packaging. However after
that atfects the con-
the stimuli
this product
:repeatedly pairing
For instance, in one uncond1tioned
itioning. logo with an
experiment (Krosnick, Betz, attractive female
stimulus of an
Jussim,
& Lynn, 1992), stu- IGH for the targeted group ofyoung
the beer logo may
were shown photos of a :males, seeing
dents positive attitudes
in routine :come
to
elicit
stranger engaged o n its oWn.
daily activities, such as shop-
ping in a grocery store or walk-

ing into her apartment. While

viewing these photos, other

pictures
associated with either
positive or negative feelings
were exposed for briet periods
of time-so briet that partici-

pants
were not aware of their
presence. l'articipants who
were nonconsciously exposed
to photos that induced positive
feelings (e-g, a newlywed cou-

ple, people playing cards and

laughing) liked the stranger better than participants who had been exposed to photos that
nonconsciously induced negative feelings (eg,, open-heart surgery, a werewolf). Even though
participants were not consciously aware that they had been exposed to the second group of subliminal conditioning
photos while viewing the stranger, the photos did significantly influence the attitudes that Classical conditioning of
stimuli
were formed toward the stranger. Those exposed to the positive photos reported more favor- attitudes by exposure to

that are below individuals

able attitudes toward the person than those exposed to the negative photos. These findings
threshhold of conscious
suggest that aitudes can be influenced by subliminal conditioning-clasical condition- awareness.
ing that occurs in the absence of conscious awareness of the stimuli involved.
mere exposure
Indeed, mere exposure-having seen an object before, but not remembering having
By having seen before, but not
seen it-can result in attitude formation. In fact, the effects of mere exposure on attitudes
necessarily remembering having
are stronger when the stimuli are presented subliminally compared to when they are con- done so, attitudes toward an
sciously perceived (Bornstein & D'Agostino, 1992). Conscious memory for the stimuli is object can become more
definitely not required; patients with advanced Alzheimers disease, who therefore cannot positive.
remember the stimuli, show
evidence of having formed
new attitudes as a result of Figure 5.3
mere exposure (Winograd, Classical Conditioning
Goldstein, Monarch, Peluso, of Attitudes
Initially young children may
&Goldman, 1999).
Once formed, such atti-
have little or no emotional
reaction to the visible
tudes can influence behav- characteristies of members
ior-even when those of diferent social groups. If
attitudes are inconsistent with bowever, a person sees others
how we are
explicitly
expected showing signs ofnegative
to behave. Consider the child reactions when in their

whose attitudes toward an Presence, gradually negative

reactions toward them will
ethnic or religious group, such be acquired, as a result ofthe
as
north-eastern people or process of classical conditioning.
 52 QC
Chapter 5 Anitndes
Figure 5.4 a n t i d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

Feelings of Threat Can Only when

threat is absent
does an
behavior
Result in Prejudiced norm
decrease
prejudiced

Action toward
Foreigners, Even
When Norms are 4 1.9

Antidiscriminatory
In this
study an
antidiscrimination norm
against showing prejudice -1.1
0.2

:foward
:etfectiveforeigners
at reducing only
was

Javoritism toward members

of ones oun group when
:people were feeling litle Low threat
:threat. Regardless
of threat, ifa pro-of feelings -10
-9.8 High threat
:discrimination norm is
:present, people discriminate
Antidiscrimination
Prodiscrimination

by showing favoritism Norm

toward their own
group
:members. who later
later is in
in aa and who
:(Based on data from Falomir- classically
conditioned to be negative multicu r

uslims, have been

attitudes are nonnormative
(1.e., they are vi
:Pichastor, Munoz-Rojas, tural classroom in which such negative has revealed that when the no. ms in
Invernizzi, & Mugny, 2004). Recent research
or being
as unacceptable). when feelings of threar
negatively
antidiscriminatory, it only
is fro
such as a classroom are
the child feels threa.
a setting reduced. If, however,
low is prejudice expression
are when the norme.
that group to continue
to show prejudice sare
even

by that group, the child is likely what happens-only when thr

5.4, this is exactly threat
antidiscriminatory Asshown in Figure eftective.
IS absent are to change negative responses
attempts

the "Right" Views

Instrumental Conditioning: Rewards for
When we asked you to think about your attitudes toward cheating, many of you are likely
to have immediately thought, "Oh, thar's wrong'" This is because most children have been
such views concerning both the
repeatedly praised or rewarded by their parents stating
for
As result, individuals learn which
ofhonesty and the wrongness of dishonesty.
a
rightness
views are seen as the right attitudes to hold by virtue of being rewarded for voicing those
attitudes by the people they identily with and want to be accepted by. Attitudes that are
followed by positive outcomes tend to be strengthened and are likely to be repeated, while
attitudes that are followed by negative outcomes are weakened so their likelihood of being
expressed again is reduced. Thus another way in which attitudes are acquired is through
this process ofinstrumental conditioning, which is a process ofrewards and punishmens
tied to our attitudes and actions. Sometimes the conditioning process is rather subtle, with
the reward being psychological acceptance. Parents reward children with smiles, approva,
or hugs for stating the right views. As a result of this form of conditioning, most children
express political, religious, and social views that are highly similar to those of their parents
and other family membets, until the teen years when peer influences become especialy
strong (Oskamp & Schultz, 2005).
As adults, we may be aware that diferent groups we belong to will reward (or punsh)
for
instrumental conditioning
us
expressing support for particular attitude position. We may
a
expressing one view on a topic to one audience and another view to a different audien
even find ousebve
in
A basic form of learning Indeed, elections sometimes won or lost on a candidate's success at delivering the
are
which responses that
lead to
view to the right audience. But
t
positive
or which
outcomes politicians (and ordinary people) who are perceived as su
avoidance of negative ing their responses to accommodate the views of different audiences may hurt themsev
permit if caught, by looking as
outcomes are strengthened. though they
are not
taking a firm stand on anything. Fortunae
 Attitude Formation: Flow Atitudes Develop
153

for most of us, not only is it

implausible that our cvcry be replayed anoter
iencc with a dillerent view,
audicn
but our potentially word might
incompatible iaudicnces tcnd roto remain
Lsically separated (Goffman, 1959). What this mcans is that we are less likely than politi
physica

be caught cxpressing dillerent

to
cians
attitudes to different
nsider the attitudes that your parents would appreciate versusaudicnces.
In your own
consie "
You those that your pcers wou
rd.
reward. may assure your parents that you will eat healthy food and limit
sumption
of alcoh Yet at school. your cou
you might
binges and beer sucn that your parents would see joinyour praisingaslate
friends inattitudes
yourat-school night ible
incompat pizza
the views you hadonly recently expressed to them.
One way that social psychologists assess the extent des
to which
people's reported
coend on the expected audience is by varying who can be
ude position. For example, people seeking membership in expected learn ot tner
to

pledges) express ditferent attitudes about orher fraternities andfraternity sororiy5ou

a or
sororities depending
whether they believe their attitudes will
remain or will become known to the pow
private
erful members of their group who will be controlling their admittance (Noel, Wann,

Branscombe, 1995). when they believe that other members will learn of their responses
they express derogatory opinions of other fraternities or sororities; this
sion makers of their desired organization that communicates
Yet
to

when
dce
they
they belong with their
group or
believe their responses Will be private, they do not disparage other fraternities
Thus both the attitudes we torm and the ones we express can soror
depend on the
for holding them-rewards received in the responses gve
past and those we expect to receive in tne r
The destruction of Babri Masjid on
December 6, 1992 and the events following
have produced a lot ot writings and dialogues by Indian journalists and scholarsS. nc
pious evidence collected
copiou by them proves beyond reasonable doubt that the
ia over the Babri
mas nyo
mosque-Ramjanmabhoomi controversy is not a symptom ot
revivalism or any spontaneous resurgence of Hindu concern for the honour of their ancient rengou
faith (Raychaudhuri 2000). The Babri Masjid issue was actually a local dispute going back
to the nineteenth century, which had little interest for the but was
common adopman
as a national cause in 1985 by some organizations. This was actually a programmed error
that had sustained organizational backing of and
propaganda by was to highlight
political parties, and activist youth organizations. Though the effortreligious organizationss
latent
tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities, public expressions and symptoms or
attitude change were not by and large visible.
The effect on our attitudes of others as potential audiences can be both powertul and
subtle. Consider a study conducted by Baldwin and Holmes (1987), in which they first
asked women to think about either two of their friends on campus or two of their older
relatives. They then exposed the women to sexually explicit stimuli as a pretext of a sepa-
rate study. 1he attitudes the women formed about those stimuli related to the group of
people they had previously been thinking about. The women who had been thinking of
their friends had attirudes toward the sexual materials that were more positive than those
of the women who had been thinking about older members of their family. Although the
participants expressed their attitudes toward the sexual materials in private, the audience
they had in mind when forming their attitudes had a substantial effect.

Observational Learning: Learning by Exposure to Others

A third means by which attitudes are formed can operate even in the absence of direct
rewards for acquiring or expressing those attitudes. This process is observational learning,
and it occurs when individuals acquire attitudes or behaviors simply by observing others
observational learning
(Bandura, 1997). For example, many people have acquired attitudes toward (and learn
A basic form of learning in
how to judge) different types of dances from watching Nach Baliye and different musical which individuals acquire new
styles from exposure to Indian ldol. Just think about how much observational learning forms of behavior as a result of
most of us are doing as we watch television. observing others.
 154
Chapter 5 Artitudes

hear cxpress or imis.

others
olten adopt the attitudes that they
wy do
behaviors theypcople
obscrve in others? One answer involves the mechanism ofsocial cohe
ison-our tendency to compare ourselves with others to determine whether our Pa.
viewof
that our
is (Festinger, 1954). That is, to the extent viewe
SOclal reality correct or not
with thoseof other people, we tend to conclude that our ideas and attitudes are ace
after all, others hold the same views, these vicws must be right, Dut are we equally 1 Curate
relationship to those other
on our
toadopt all others' attitudes, does it depend
or
to those of
often their atitudes hold views closer others wM
they People
to
value and adjustwith-their
identify so as
reference oups. For example, Terry and Hogg (1996)
depended on
found that the adoption of favorable attitudes toward wearing Sunscreenthis
advocating change, T
extent to which the respondents identified with the group new can be
hus,
with others whom we
value, attitudes forme
social comparison as a result
of social comparison
form toward a
new social group with wh

The process Consider how this could affect the attitudes wethat heard someone you like and resn
through
which we
you have personally had no c o n t a c t . Imagine
you
attitudes? Wh
compare ourselves to others to Would this influence your it
negative views about this group.
determine whether our view of cng
not," research findings indicate otherwise. Heari aring
social reality is, or is not, might be tempting to say "Absolutely state negative
views about the group can le
correct. Oners whom we see assimilar to ourselves
members of that group (eg., Mai
without ever meeting any
reference groups us to adopt similar attitudes, & Duck, 1999).
In such cases,
attitudes are
being shaned
Groups of people with whom Esses, & Bell, 1994; Terry, Hogg, we like.
Now imagine that you heard somen.
eone
Dy our own desire to be similar to people this groun
we
identify and whose opinions expressing negative
views
toward
you dislike and see as dissimilar to yourself
this persons attitude position. Peon
we value.
this case, you might indeed be unlikely adopt
to
categorize as ditterent from
n

not troubled by disagreement

with people whom they
are attitudes from them. 15, however, uncom
lt
in to hold different
fact, they expect
themselves; we see as similar to
ourselves
fortable to differ on important attitudes
from people whom
and theretore with whom we expect to agree
(Turner, 1991).
attitude positions depending on how
Not only are we influenced by other peoples other peoples atti.
to be inHuenced by
much we identify with them, but we also expect
we identity
with those people. A message con.
tude positions depending on how much
(ADS) prevention was
immune deficiency syndrome
cerning sate sex and acquired
delivered by a student group. Ihe listeners who iden-
created for university students and
believed that they would be personally influ.
titied with their university's student group
while those who were low in
enced by the position advocated in the message,
identification with their university's student group did not expect to be personally influ-
Thus when we
enced by the message (Duck, Hogg, & Terry, 1999).
be influenced by those others and
Principles to Remember identify with a group, we expect to
in fact, are likely to take on the attitudes advocated by that group.
Attitudes are learned using the same To see this process in action, suppose you were asked to evaluate a new
mechanisms as any other form of not encountered betore. How might the identity relevance
product you've
knowledge acquisition. For this reason, of the message influence your attitude? To address this question, Fleming
those same techniques can be applied to
and Petty (2000) first selected students who were either high or low in iden-
changing attitudes. tification wich their gender group to participate in the study. Then they
introduced a new snack product ( Snickerdoodles") to men and women
as either women's favorite snack food or "mens favorite snack food." As Figure 5.5 illus-
trates, a more favorable atirude toward this product was formed when the message was framed
in terms of their own group liking that food among those who highly idenified with their
gender group. In contrast, among the men and women who were low in identification with
their gender group, no diferences in the attitudes they formed toward the new food was found
as a function of which group was said to favor that food.

The Indian Reality

According to Sinha and Tripathi (1990), in the Indian psyche there has been a juxtaposi-
tion of disparate cultural influences in the shaping of attitudes. Instead of assimilation and
 Men fom mere
aitudes her tey faioraile men fem mere fpvse
their gerder tirk
likes te produa nuter e tey +ik
er Trrre Wre Lre
gerde ikes te pn
aer

n formuí mus t
4

Probliiked by men Maies

grationof these drverse infuences,

the Indian realiy is of
rans and diverse coerisnce of contrai
cultura prescriptions that may be dissonant
The Wesen noon
ing the attitude of the dominant cultural
Ot 2Dplicable in the Indtan contet,
group, or
one dominant sea of v z a
primarily because of the abiliry inandderachment
Indians to live with contradictions and ambiguity. Therefore, beliefs comperencee
in andem with materialsm, collkctivism with
individualism, 2nd humanism with
orientation (lnpathi, I988). Chaudhuri (1966) referred o this phenomenon pcre
2s the n
iOn of double consciousness, each complete and coherent, but capable of shuring out
the other when one is dominant.

KeyPoints
Attitudes are evaluations of any aspect of the social
world; attitudes help us understand peoples
responses to new stimuli. Knowing that a person is
prevention focused or praomotion focused helps us
predict what kind of advertisement for a new prod-
uct they will find persuasive.
Attitudes can be explicit, that is, conscious and
easy to report, or implicit, which implies they are
uncontrollable and potentially not consciously
accessible.
Attitudes are acquired from other people through
social learning processes.
Such learning can involve classical conditioning
instrumental conditioning or observational learning
Attitudes can be classically conditioned even
without our awareness-via subliminal condition
ing and mere exposure.
Atitudes that are acquired through instrumental
Conditioning stem from differential rewards and
punishments for adopting particular views.
Because we compare ourselves with othersto
determine whether our view of social reality is
correct or not, we often adopt the attitudes that
others hold. As a result of the process of social
comparison, we tend to adopt the attitude position
of those we see as similar to ourselves but not of
those we see as dissimilar.
When we identify with a group, we expect to be
influenced by messages that are aimed at our group.
We do not expect to be influenced when we do not
identify with the group that message is aimed at.
Think About It
All of the processes described so far suggest that our atti-
tudes result from various types of social influence-that
is, other people. Does this mean that our attitudes,
which often feel subjectively so personal, might not
really be so unique after all?
164
Chapter 5 Attitudes discourteous
behavi avior and
your undet
dangerous
and
As a resul, you
As
reecei
e x p r e s s w a y s .

such on
in
behave of and your
toward people who engage expected to d e t i n i t i o n

a r e : What nervel
are your
standing of how people
influences

this behavio as
which
this person
t h i n k they
n o n n o r m a t i v e ,

be i n a big hurry
per
ior
"Who does
think, person this
inay
must

pulling naybe
thatevent. You might "Gee, betore

is more
situational, should signal lane
given, it willI shape
know that
you is
haps your response

who doesn't
of the
event

he or she is a foreigner interpretations

On how attitu
omeone."
Whichever ofthese for this
perspective
Can
in front of support situation,
Several studies
provide
given
to
the at least wo
our
behavior.

affecting
the
interpretation
behavior
through
mecha.
behavior by affect our conditione
inuence

In short,
attitudes
under
somewhat
contrasting

wee can wei

thought,
hen
and these operate
reasoned
nisms,
in carefu,
Under the hectic
Con
to engage
have time will a c t . afn
we how we
for this kind
Principles to Remember the
alternatives and
decide
often dont have
time
we tobe
Attitudes can guide behavior either of everyday life,
however,
and often
o u r responsesS
appear
much
for. In
through a reasoned conscious process or
erate weighing of
alternatives,
processes
can
account
such
because our attitudes spontaneously come than such
deliberate thought
sthape
our perceptions of Var-
faster spontaneousiy
seem to processingan
to mind and shape our immediate cases, o u r
attitudes
conscious
cOgnitive

behavioral reactions. ious

events-often
with little
behavioral
reactions (e.g,, Bargh && Ch ar-
immediate
the extent that a person
thereby shapes
our
Gaertner,
1996). To
& persons responses
Dovidio, Brigham Johnson,
formed-that

trand, 2000; habit is

behavior-and a (Wood
1s e n c o u n t e r e d
repeatedly performs
a specific same
situation

automatic
whenever that
may become relatively
Quinn,& Kashy, 2002).

Environment:
toward the
CChange in Attitudes Movement
The Unique Case of the
Chipko
Aranyani, the elusive spirit of the forest,
beautiful hymn is dedicated to
In the Rigveda, a
berween man and nature. Many religious
which explains the interdependent relationship The Buddha attained enlightenment
trees and plants.
beliefs are attached to particular trees were planted along
in the third century BCE,
under a t r e . During the reign of Ashoka love of o r n a t e gardens. But
also deep
had a
the roadsides and in groves. Mughal emperors its forest cover
suffered mass destruction of
the country had
by the mid-rwentieth century, industrial areas and to accommodate its grow-
in the process of the development of urban, started in a
the Chipko (literally, to stick)
was movement

ing population. In the 1970s, Uttarakhand when a group of peasants used women

village in the Chamoli district of trees to stop them from being felled
non-violent protest by hugging
and to reclaim theiroftraditional forest rights. By the 1980s, the movement had spread
Gandhian methods

throughout India. The given direction by Sunderlal Bahuguna, a Gand-

movement was

habit
Repeatedly performing a specific
behavior so responses become
relatively automatic whenever
that situation is encountered.
Gandhi resulted in
hian activist and philosopher, whose appeal to Prime Minister Indira
the green felling ban.
How did localized acts of tree-hugging in the Himalayas come to be seen as a social
movement? Many point out that each "chipko event succeeded in gaining the attention
of government administrators and the local media. The movement followed the slogan of
Bahugana that "ecology is permanent economy." The concern to save and protect forests
arose from alarming ecological destabilization in the hills. People living in and around these
areas, by changing their approach to understanding the value of trees-by perceiving
forests as bears of soil, water and pure air, instead of only fodder and heal-helped to
change the attitudes of generations of people towards the environment. The movement
stirred up civil sociery in India like never before, which started looking towards tribal
and marginalized people and their issues like never before. So much so that, quarter ot a
century later, India Today mentioned the people behind the "forest satyagraha" of the
 T
n e Fine
as
Art of Persuuasion: How Attitudes Are Changed 165
1ovement
amongst "100
people
C h i p k o

w i k i / C h i p k

movement). The
movement
who
shaped India" (htrp
vomen a -w
identity, as
women
formed its also a landmark inttp://en.wikipedia.org
was
hought and action, backbone. This is giving
giving tribal and rural
triba
chang in public life and bio-diversi selt-empowerment, and sustained bright cxample
a
xample of changes
o
efforts bringng" radical

KeyPoints
factors Several affect the
chip between attitudes strength
and
of the
relation-
relate to
the situation behavior: some
in which of
and influence behavior by shaping our percep-
activated
themselves.
and some to the attitudes
aspects of the
tions of the situation, which in turn dictates our

behavior.
attitudes
Attitudes seem to
influence
Aiferent mechanisms. Whenbehavior
we through two
to our can give careful
thoug attitudes, intentions Think About It
attitudes, norms, derived from
he behavior all predictand perceived control over
lf attitudes can affect behavior through a conscious rea-
of intentions to act in
hich we do not engage behavior. In situations in $oning process and the formation
a new way, why, despite this, is it often so difficult to
in
thought, attitudes may be such deliberate change habits even though our attitudes have
automatically activated changed?
our

The Fine Art of Persuasion:

How Attitudes
Are Changed
How many times in the last few
days has someone tried to
amething other? If you stop and think for
or change your attitudes about
a
answer, for it is clear that each day we are
moment, you may be surprised at tne
hoards, television commercials, magazine ads, literally bombarded with such attempts. Bill-
pop-up ads on your computer, and even
Our friends may all attempt to
change our attitudes. The list of potential "would-be per-
Suaders" seems almost endless. Tlo what extent are such
to change our attitudes
through the use of various kinds of
attempts at
persuasion-efforts
what factors determine if they succeed or fail? Social messages-successful? And
for decades, and as we'll soon see, their efforts have
psychologists have studied these issues
yielded important insights into the
cognitive processes that play a role in persuasion (eg. Petty et al., 2003; Wegener & Carl-
ston, 2005).

Persuasion: Communicators, Messages, and Audiences

Early research efforts aimed at understanding persuasion involved the study of the follow
ing elements: Some source directs some type of message to some person or group of peo-
ple (the audience). Following World War IL, persuasion research conducted by Hovland,
Janis, and Kelley (1953) focused on these key elements, asking: "Who says what to whom
with what effect?" This approach yielded a number of important findings, with the fol-
lowing being the most consistently obtained.
persuasion
Communicators who are credible-who seem to know what they are talking about
Eforts to change others
or who are expert with respect to the topics or issues they are presenting-are more
attitudes through the use of
persuasive than those who are seen as lacking expertise. For instance, in a famous study various kinds of messages.
 Chapter 5 Attitudes
176

when
wh confront
attitude
position
with a

KeyPoints initial
counterattiludinal message.

resist
to attempts
our
abilily Irom
to ind.ert
-1nega-
Sev idctors
contribute

is reactalee o r limit
depletion
other
can
task c
task an undermin. u
persuasion. One
such factor EB
Ego on
wer
another

resist persuae: Our

tivereactions to efforts
o t h e r s to
by
reduce

greater
willpower
selí-regulate
and
lale n we ion. When
produce
which
can ability
to depletion areequaily likely
our personal freedon, conient
sulfering
from ego
both strong and
eak mes
Overall opposition to
the message
persuaded
by
increased by to be
often
is
esistance to persuast knowledge
that
some-

sages.
torewarning, which is the atitudes,
andby
our
will be anges
one trying to tendency
which is the
Selective avoidance,
our
contradicts

that
avoid exposure to inform
Think Aboul l
views. resistance o
to persuasive can
undermine

persua-
exposed depletion of the
scrutiny of
ur scrutiny the quality of a mes.
In addition, when we are our existing Views,
Ego
decreasing
our

contrary to sion-by that

then tha we're exposed to r
nessages that are intormation case

against the be the

we actively
counterargue
by which
our It may
most persuasion-TV
sage. watch. tching-precisely when
contain. This is a
critical means
to resis, that is,
at the nd en
of
Ey increased.
are least
equipped
resistance to persuasion is of us to be suffering from
to when we are ikely ego
in ability day,
T h e r e are also individual differences the
consciously
coun- depletion themost.
resist persuasion. Those include Our
we receive
and bolstering
erarguing messages

What It Is and
How Do
Dissonance:
Cognitive
We Manage lt?
and to what extent, attitudes and
of whether,
introduced the question a sizeable gap between whar
When first
we situations, there 15
that in many
behavior linked, we noted
are
reactions to s o m e object
or issue) and what we
or negative
who recentdy purchased huge
we feel on
the inside (positive a SUV
instance, I have a neighbor
show on the outside. For
vehicles because they get
low gas mileage
attitudes toward such giant asked how I
I have strong negative But when my neighbor
and block my view while driving.
add to pollution, nice," with as much enthusi
vehicle, I hesitated and then said "Nice, very
liked her new
who looks after my cats
when Im away
could muster. She is a good neighbor
asm as I uncomfortable when I uttered these
offend her. But I certainly felt
and I did not want to
behavior was not consistent
situation I was aware that my
words. Why? Because in this uncomfortable state to
I was lying), and this is an
with my atttudes (eg., that essentially dissonance
term my negative reaction cognitive
find ourselves in. Social psychologists hold or our atti-
when notice that various attitudes we
unpleasant state that occurs
we
an
when we cannot jusuily
tudes and our behavior are
somehow inconsistent. As you will see,
behavior (but note that I could do so by saying how important
our attitude-inconsistent
attitudes.
it was to not neighbor) may end up changing our own
offend my we
become aware
Most people experience cognitive dissonance each day. Any time you
of saying what you don't really believe (eg, praise something you don't actually like, Jut
to be polite), make a difficult decision that requires you to reject an alternative you n
cognitive dissonance attractive, or discover that something you've invested effort or money in is not as go0u
that results you expected, you are likely to experience dissonance. In all these situations, there 15 a gr
An internal state

when individuals notice

between your attitudes and your actions, and such gaps tend to make us uncomfortau
between two or us
inconsistency
attitudes or between their Most important from the present perspective, cognitive dissonance can sometime
more avior
behavior. to change our own attitudes, to shift them so that they are consistent with our overt bela
attitudes and their
 gnitive Dissonance: What Ir Is and How Do We Manage
177
of an
of
t h e hsence any strong external
absence

dissoanceandits
its
intriguing implications forpressiure to do

attitude
so. We'll look closely
cogn at

crspective in Buildi
the Science: change, but first we'll describe
desc the ori-
o ft h i s

have described, dissonance theory Classics of Social P'yrholngy

ve
ha ychol page 178. on
began with reasonable idea: We often find
ctween actions and our
attitudes
a c

uncomfortable.
n s i s t c n c y

csonance get resolved?

resolved' First,
irst, we can cha
we can
omlortable. But how
how does
does any result- a

consistent change either our attitudes alter our

inghat they are more
with each other. beta
or
so thw acquiring new intormation
d i s s o n a n c eb y a c q u i ,
o r
Second, reduce cognitive
we can

chapter
pening (justifications) that supports our beh
volving students potentially ehavior. Recal
o u

induccd
r

da so and thereby violate their

attitudes
cheating on an cxam. If students were
«

he considerable need justify their to

toward themselves honest people, as

did it just this once my behavioractions. Many possible justific

t h e r em i g h

so
ifications could

ie
Ised:

doesn't really violate my

attitude toward
mysel,"" T f 1
f1 dont pass this course, some terrible
fault, ibecause her party outcome will befall me," "It
roommates
ate's fault, me kept up so
reauy
I couldn't
was
ny
is doingi theyll untair
so have an study," or "Everybody eise
advantage in the final grading" To the extent
nable to sufficiently justity their
theyare unat a
modified (and become more behavior,
own
might be modified students attitude
tude toward cheat-

eating behavior could be used

for the cheat
favorable). Or many different forms ot justin
cations
fronted with th
confronted the tact that our
to
cope with the disso
lissonance that is aroused
when behavior is inconsistent with our
moral principles
ption for managing dissonance is to decide that
The third opti
in other words, we can the inconsistency actuay
matter;
doesn't.
engage in trivialization, concluding ng that the atti-
viors in question are not
ades or behavio
important so any inconsisten tency between them is of
no importa (Simon, Greenberg, & Brehm,
All
All oof these strategies can be viewed as
1995).
direct methods of dissonance reduction: T
focus on
itude-behavior-discrepancy
the attituc
that is causing the dissonance. Researchhey by
Cele (1988) and others
(cg dteele & Lui, 1983) also indicates that dissonance can
uced via indirect means, which means that the basic discrepancy between the attitude be
Abhehavior are let intact, but the unpleasant or
and
nCe are still reduced. Adoption of indirect tacticsnegative feelings generated by disso
to reduce dissonance is most
when the attitude-behavior discrepancy involves important attitudes self-beliefs (solikely
rion isn't feasible). Under these conditions, when we triv or

nat focus so much on reducing the gap between our attitudes experience dissonance we may
and behavior, but instead
on other methods that will allow us to feel good about ourselves despite the gap (Steele,
Spencer, & Lynch, 1993).
Specifically, we engage in selt-attirmation-restoring positive self-evaluations that are
threatened by the dissonance (e.g,, Eliot & Devine, 1994; Tesser, Martin, & Cornell,
1996). This can be accomplished by focusing on
positive self-attributes-good
about ourselves. For instance, when I experienced dissonance as a result of sayingthings
nice
things about my neighbors giant new SUV, even though I am strongly against such vehi-
des, I could remind myself that I am a considerate person. By
aspects of myself, it can help to reduce the discomfort produced by my failure to act in a
contemplating positive
way that was consistent with my pro-environmental (and anti-SUV) attitudes. However
we choose to reduce dissonance, whether it be through indirect tactics or direct
that are aimed at reducing the attitude-behavior
strategies
us deal with the discomfort that
discrepancy, we all find
strategies to
help
comes from aware of being discrepancies berween our
atitudes and behavior.

Dissonance and Attitude Change: The Effects of

Induced Compliance
We ca
an engage in attitude-discrepant behavior for many reasons, and some of these are
Oe compelling than others. When will our attitudes change more: When there are good
Teasons or engaging in attitude-discrepant behavior or when there is litle justification for
 Chapter 5 Atitdes
BUILDING THE S C I E NOGY NCE
PSYCHOLOG

SOCIAL
CILASSICS More
Self-persua.

OF When
Less
Leads to

Famous Cog v e
Dissonance
Studies:

were
nty dol
pad twenty dollars rated
who
participants
The
interesting
than
than participants w
he ideas reflected theory as less re
r e w a r d e d more genetous wete
in cognitive dissonance the task were

came to Leon Festinger as he read

Il you
St about aa
read about dollar. you feel more
positively
one shouldn't
paid the task,
that tne
rOup in Chicago who were convinced for praising understand nd why not, lets look at
o f the world was near, and in fact, a date was set it? No!
To
in this situation: the
about play in
or its demise. Festinger speculated about
lorces at

a s liars, bu
Most
what psychological
think ot
themselves

Dartic,
nappen when the
group's prophecy tailed, a people
dont
been
induced
peet. to
And
lie to a

on the gni- indeed

not
tive
end specified date. According to ipants
had th nevertheless
lured into it, they ,
ndured
dissonance theory, the group was faced wi chough they
were

the conflict between two consis

Onant over

cognitions: "we predicted the end of the world on some

discomfort were paid twenty dollars you
a certain date" and "that date has undeniably passea, When you
ne
tent
cognitions.
justification for
for your lying but not
world has ended." After disconfirmation ot tne
not would have
had a
tell that s a m e ih
prophecy, if cognitive dissonance cheory was correct, the one
dollar to So, the
you
were paid insufticien ient justification for
8roup members would not conclude their belief in the that, ifgiven
problem is true in the
prophecy had been wrong, but instead they would seck that
situation
was more
one-dol.
beliels.
behavior, a
twenty-dollar condition) of.
add followers reaffirm the rightness of their
to condition (than the
the lar need to reduce your diss
restinger reasoned that adding followers to
experiment,
there is a greater
group would providea consonant cognition: Great num o n e - d o l l a r case, the
the money explanation for
In the
bers of faithful believers couldn't be wrong. As we s
nance.

convincing to yourself.
behavior is not

previously in the section on attitude certainty. adding

your
to reduce
their greater coeniti
What do people do
numbers of believers is likely to heighten consensus, the one-dollar condition? Easy. The
dissonance in
thereby increasing the perceived correctness of their att that causing the problem
1s

tudes toward the prophecy. When the date had passed, change the cognition cant change the lie you rol
Because in this example, you
been spared
the group reported that the Earth had behavior), you can decide it wasn't reall
because of their strong faith, and that they should begin (i.e., deny your
the boring task more interesting
lie at all by "making
urgent search to add people to the group of believers a
as being m o r e positive in the
an and reporting your attitude
(Festinger, Riecken, & Schachter, 1956). the twenty-dollar condition.
one-dollar condition than in
The first formal test of his theory of cognitive disso- such a classic
nance gave rise to a classic paper in social psychology Why is this rather simple experiment
believed that there is no such
(Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). Participants in this exper in social psychology? If you
would have to expect
as cognitive dissonance, you
iment were first asked to engage in an extremely boring thing
that a larger reward would produce a more positive
series of tasks-such as turning pegs in a board full of
the questionnaire than would the small
holes. After the task was over, the experimenter
made an response on
one of the reward. So, why was it so surprising that some unseen
unusual request: He told participants that
mental process might be operating here and produce the
research assistants had not shown up that day and asked Skinner's
if they would please "fill in'" by greeting the next partic- opposite result? Because, at that time, B. E.
behavior is con-
that that the task to be per- (1938) behaviorism perspective claimed
ipant and telling person
trolled solely by rewards and that punishments reigned.
formed was an interesting one. Festinger told half of these
directly observable
participants that they would be paid rwenty
dollars if Cognitive operations that were not

and were not considered valid causes of behavior. But Fes-

they would tell this fib to the waiting participant,
the other half w e r e told that they would
receive o n e dol tingers research showed just the opposite of what a sim-
favor of telling the per- ple operant conditioning model would have predicted,
lar for doing so. After doing the
son waiting the fib about the experiment, the participants and with this study, he ushered in an era in which men
their o w n attitudes toward the bor- tal operations involving peoples self-images could be
were asked to report
the tasks were).
pos
rate how interesting tulated and studied.
ing tasks (i.e.,
 Ogpitive Dissonance: Wlhat It Is and How Do We Manage Ir: 179
Strong reasons

for engaging in
attitude-discrepant

behavior
Dissonance
isweak TSs, Attitude change
:Figure 5.14

Why Smaller
is small Inducements Often Lead
to More Attitude Change
after Attitude-Discrepant
Weak r e a s o n s
Behavior
for engaging in
When we have strong reasons for
attitude-discrepant Dissonance
is strong engaging in attitude-discrepant
behavior Attitude change
is large behavior, we experience
relatively weak dissonance and
do not change our attitudes. In
contrast, when we have lile
apparent justification for
engaging in the attitude-
discrepant behavio, we will
doing so As
co? As we already noted,.
noted, cognitive
when we have dissonance theory argues that experience stronger dissonance
few engaging in attitude-discrepantdissonance
and greater pressure to change
when we have littlereasons will be
stronger for
b e c a uce
so
justification and therefore cannot behavior. Thiss our attitudes. The result is that
to
ourselves, ssonance will be quite intense. explain ay our actions
away less justification leads to more
As Figure 5.14 illustrates, cognitive dissonance and more attitude
our attitudes by dissonance theory predicts hat it will be change following attitude
ottering us just barely
erepant behavior. Ihis ensures that we feel enough to get to engage in the easier to
us discrepant behavior.
ior, while additional reasons or rewards
will there is little justification for ourattitude
subsequent attitudede change. Social
would help to reduce dissonance and result inbehav
psychologists sometimes refer to this littue
tion as the less-le
-leads-to-more effect, that is, less reasons surprising predic-
leads togreater attitude or rewards for an action often
change, and it has been confirmed in many studies (Harmon-
lones, 2000; Leippe &
Eisenstadt, 1994). Because such conditions do often exist,
tegy of offering us just barely the
strateg
enough to induce us to say or do
etrue attitudes can often be an effective things contrary to our
rhe more money or
technique for
other rewards that inducing attitude change. Indeed,
are offered to us to
behave in a particular way pro-
vides a justification for our actions and
can undermine
the likelihood that attitude change
will occur. Thus strong forms ot coercion will
undermine dissonance. In addition, small
rewards lead to greater attitude change only when we believe
that we were
responsible for both the chosen course of action and any personally
instance, when ordered by an authority to do a negative effects it produced. For

responsible for our actions or dissonance whenparticular

behavior we may not feel either
the action we
with our personal attitudes. performed is inconsistent

When Dissonance Is a Tool for Beneficial

Changes in Behavior

People who don't wear safety belts are much more likely to die in auto accidents than
those who do.
People who smoke are much more likely to suffer from lung cancer and heart disease
than those who dont.

People who engage in unprotected sex are much more

likely than those who engage
in sate sex to contract dangerous diseases, including AIDS.
Most of us know these statements are true, and our attitudes are
generally favorable toward less-leads-to-more effect
using seatbelts, quitting smoking, and engaging in safe sex (Carey, Morrison-Beedy, & The fact that offering
Johnson, 1997). Despite having positive attitudes, they are often not translated into overt individuals small rewards for
actions: Some engaging in counterattirudinal
people continue to drive without seatbelts, to smoke, and to have unpro-
tected sex. To address these major social problems, what's needed is not so much a change behavior often produces more
n attitudes as shifts in overt behavior. Can disso nance be used to promote beneficial behav- dissonance, and so more
Oral attitude change, than offering
changes? A growing body of evidence suggests that it can (Batson, Kobrynowicz, them larger rewards.
180 Chapter 5 Atitudes

Figure 5.15
:Using Hypocrisy to
: Change Behavior SPEED
:When ur are made to confront LIMIT
Our ouwn bypocrisy
to redue such drssOnance
most choose
35
through direct means (by YOUR SPEED
In
changing our bebavior).
0ontrast, when ue arr asked to
think about reasons uwhy people
n general do not act according PIC

to their oun belicfs, many

and
:choase to reduce disOnance
ourselves via an
feel better about do not
indirect route, and ue
change our behavion.

data provided
(Soune: Based on
&
Cooper,
by Stone, Wicgand,
Aronson, 1997.)

Benthin, 1997; Stone .

a.

&
Eggleston, advoCari.
&& Wilson,
1997;
Gibbons,
of
h y p o c r i s y - p u b l i c l y

cating
have acted in a
feelings wav.
that
D i n n e r s t e i n , Kampf, to generate
used that they
when it is the person fficiently
suffic intense that
1994), especially known to be
then making might
some
a t t i t u d e and attitudes.
Such feelings change, may be
behavioral
efer
with their
own
inducing behavior chanos
is
inconsistent
dissonance directuy,
by dissonance-induced

that reduce of
only
actions the possibility
concerning
These predictions to prepare a viden.
tive. studies.
asked p a r t i c i p a n t s
tested in several (1997)
have been AIDS. Next partici
and Aronson
Cooper, avoid contracting
Stone, Wiegand, condoms (safe sex)
to
hadnt used condoms in the
the u s e of themselves

tape advocating
think about
reasons why they sometimes tail to use condoms
asked to
in general
why people
were
pants predicted
researchers
behavior). The
reasons
reasons) or
past (personal their own

reasons
that didn't
center on
condition, where participants
reasons
(normative in the personal
would be
maximized
all the people in
the study were
that dissonance Then
with their own hypocrisy. condoms at a
face-to-face dissonance-purchasing
had to come
of reducing
direct means
donation to a pro-
choice between a
dissonance-makinga
given a of reducing
when participants had
means
indirect
reduced price-or an results indicated that
aid homeless people. The an over-
to sex in the past,
gram designed r e a s o n s why they
didnt engage in safe
the the future
been asked to focus that their behavior in
on

chose to purchase condoms, suggesting

whelming majority dissonance reduction. In
contrast,

will be different-the direct

route to

reasons why people

in general didnt engage
when asked to think about dissonance reduc-
Principles to Remember chose the indirect route to
in saBe sex, m o r e actually didnt change
aid-the-homeless project-and
attitudes and our tion-a donation to an
Inconsistency in our

behavior can induce self-persuasion, their behavior (see Figure 5.15).

make our ow
unless there is a perception
that our These findings suggest that using dissonance to
behavioral inconsistency was justified. hypocrisy indeed
known can be a powerful tool for changing our
behavior in desirable ways. For maximum
effectiveness, however, suc
must
procedures must involve several elements: The people question
in
publicly advocate the desired behaviors (e.g., using condoms, wearing safery belts), mu
hypocrisy
Publicly advocating some be induced to think about their own behavioral failures in the past, and they must
attitudes or behavior and then given access to direct means for reducing their dissonance (i.e., a method for chang
acting in a way that is their behavior). When these conditions are met, dissonance can bring about bener
inconsistent with these attitudes

or behavior. changes in behavior.

 Summary and Review 11
KeyPoints
nitive dissonancee Is
when we
notice an arousing
discrepancies state
occurs

that
and our
attitudes Dehaviors and then reminding them that their

Oance does indeed behavior. between own behavior has not always been consistent
attitude change. produce Experiencing
negative dis-
affect and with these attitudes-can be a powerful tool
for inducing beneficial changes in behavior.
eanance often occurs in
forced
compliance,
which we arein situations involving
duced by externalfactors minimally

onsistent with our totruesay or do

incons
things that
nance can lead to
nan attitude changeattitudes. Disso-
that are
barely sufficientwhen
to
we have
engage in
reas asons
(or larger itude-discrepant get us to
rewards) behavior. Stronger
Think About It
change: This
sometimes produce less attitude How can we use cognitive dissonance to persuade
referred to as
others to change their attitudes? As you saw in the
leads-to-more effect. the less- induced-compliance paradigm, the soft touch" is
most likely to prevent people from justifying their
.
Dissonance can be reduced
ng Qur attitudes) or via an directly (e.g., chang- behavior and thereby avoiding attitude change. This
as self-affirmation on some indirect method,
other dimension. such
implies that, whether as teacher, parent, or boss, we are
seeking to change the attitude of our student, child, or
.
Dissonance induced through cOworker, using the weakest inducement possible to get
ino individuals to advocate certainhypocrisy-induc
attitudes or
them to comply will be the most effective at bringing
about change.

w w

w w

wwww
e

w w

SUMMARYAND REVIEW
Attitudes are
evaluations of any aspect of the social including concerns about what others may think of us.
world.Often, attitudes are explicit-consciously People often show pluralistic ignorance, that is, erro-
sible and easy to report. Attitudes can be acces-
implicit neously believing that others have different attitudes
though, and therefore not consciously reportable or than we do, which can limit our
controllable. Attitudes are acquired from other people willingness to express
our attitudes in public. Several aspects of attitudes them-
through social learning. Such learning can involve clas selves also moderate the attitude-behavior link. These
sical conditioning, instrumental
conditioning, or obser-
vational learning. In fact attitudes can be formed via
include factors related to attitude strength: including the
extremity of our attitude position, the certainty with
subliminal conditioning, which occurs in the absence which our attitudes are held, and whether we have
of conscious awareness of the stimuli per-
involved, and sonal experience with the attitude
object. All of these
mere exposure. Attitudes are also formed
on the basis factors can make our attitudes more accessible and
of social comparisonour tendency to therefore likely to guide our behavior.
compare our-
selves with others to determine whether our view of
social reality is or is not correct. To be similar to others Attitudes can influence behavior through two different
we like, we mechanisms. According to the theory of reasoned action
accept the attitudes that they hold, to the and theory of planned behavior, when we can
extent that we identify with that
group. give care-
ful thought to our attitudes, intentions derived from our
Several factors affect the strength of the relationship attitudes strongly predict behavior. According to the
between attitudes and behavior. Situational constraints attitude-to-behavior process model, in situations where
may prevent us from expressing our attudes overtly, our behavior is more
spontaneous and we don't engage