社会心理学英文版Lecture4-BehaviorandAttitudes

1、Tieyuan GuoOutlinesHow well do attitudes predict behavior?When does behavior affect attitudes?Why does behavior affect attitudes?What is Attitude?Favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone.Often rooted in ones beliefs, and exhibited in ones feelings and intended behavio

2、r.How Well Do Our Attitudes Predict Our Behavior?The consistency between attitudes and behaviorAttitude-Behavior ConsistencyLaPierre (1934)- Attitudes do not predict behaviorHow Well Do Our Attitudes Predict Our Behavior?Peoples expressed attitudes hardly predicted their varying behaviors (Wicker, 1

3、969)Student attitudes toward cheating bore little relation to the likelihood of their cheatingAttitudes toward the church were only modestly linked with worship attendance on any given SundaySelf-described racial attitudes provided little clue to behaviors in actual situationsWhen Attitudes Predict

4、Behavior?When social influences on what we say are minimalWhen other influences on behavior are minimal When attitudes specific to the behavior are examinedWhen attitudes are potent When social influences on what we say are minimal Explicit attitudesUsually, we measure expressed attitudes, which are

5、 subject to outside influencesE.g., Sometimes, people say what they think others want to hear. Thus, the expressed attitudes may not predict behavior when social influences are potent.Implicit attitudesThe attitudes one doesnt aware of having. Unconscious, not directly expressedImplicit Association

6、TestFor demonstration, see /implicit/Implicit attitudesImplicit biases are pervasive80% of people had negative implicit attitudes toward the elderly compared with the young.People differ in implicit biasPeople are often unaware of their implicit biasesWhich attitude predic

7、ts behavior better?Explicit or Implicit?Implicit: For attitudes formed early in life, such as racial, gender attitudes, etc., implicit attitudes are often a better predictor of behavior.Racial attitudes predict inter-racial marriageExplicit: Other aptitudes, such as attitudes related to consumer beh

8、avior, explicit attitudes are better predictor of behavior. When Attitudes Predict Behavior?When other influences on behavior are minimal The situations we face can significantly influence our behavior.Averaging many occasions can enable us to detect of the influences of attitudes on behavior.Attitu

9、des toward religion can NOT predict whether people go to worship this coming Sunday because other factors, such as weather, the worship leader, sickness, etc. can influence the behavior. But it could predict the overall worship overtime.When Attitudes Predict Behavior?When attitudes specific to the

10、behavior are examinedGeneral attitudes can NOT predict specific behaviorGeneral attitudes toward “health fitness” could NOT predict specific behavior, such as “jogging”. Specific attitudes toward a behavior can predict the frequency of the behavior.13Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991)Attitudes

11、SubjectiveNormsIntentions BehaviorPerceived Behavioral ControlTheory of Planned BehaviorInducing new intentions lead to new behaviorAsking peoples intention for a behavior increase the its likelihood.Are you going to floss your teeth in the next two weeks?Are you going to watch the movie channel ton

12、ight?When Attitudes Predict Behavior?When attitudes are potent Self-awarenessBring attitudes to mind. When people are self-aware, their attitudes and behavior tend to become consistent.ExperimentsNearly all participants reported that cheating is morally wrong.In front of mirror or without a mirror,

13、they worked on an “IQ” test. They suppose to stop working on the test after a bell rings. They were left alone in the exam site.ResultsNo Mirror-71% cheated by working past the bell.With Mirror- 7% cheated.OutlinesHow well do attitudes predict behavior?When does behavior affect attitudes?Why does be

14、havior affect attitudes?When Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? Role PlayingPhilip Zimbardos Stanfords prison study Randomly assign participants as “guards” and “prisoners”.Observe “guards” and “prisoners” behavior for six daysResults: “Prisoner”: passive behavior, submissive, cry“Guards”: domi

15、nating, hostile, brutal.The social roles we have can significantly change our behavior and attitudes.When Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? When Saying Becomes BelievingWhen there is no compelling external explanation for ones words, saying becomes believing ExperimentParticipants read persona

16、lity description about Person A.They then need to summarize it and tell Person B about Person A, who were described as either like or dislike person A.ResultsParticipants gave more positive description about person A when they believed that Person B likes Person A, and they liked Person A more. When

17、 Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? Foot-in-the-Door PhenomenonTendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request Freedman & Fraser (1966): - Control condition: large billboard- Experimental condition: sign petition, then large billboardFoot-in-th

18、e-doorWhen Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? Foot-in-the-Door PhenomenonLow-ball techniqueTactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the anteUsed by some car dealers, airlines, and hotels, etc.Experimen

19、tCome for an experiment at 7 am: 24% agreed.Come for an experiment, then told participants the experiment is at 7am: 53% agreed. Evil and Moral ActsPeople not only tend to hurt those we dislike, but also dislike those we hurt.Wartime Actions and attitudes feed on each otherWhen evil behavior occurs

20、we tend to justify it as right PeacetimeMoral action, especially when chosen rather than coerced, affects moral thinkingEvil Acts feed evil attitudesKilling begets killing ExperimentParticipants “killed” either 1 bug or 5 bugs in a killing machine, as a practice. They can choose to “kill” more bugs

21、later.ResultsThose killed more bugs choose to kill more later. Moral Acts feed moral attitudesPositive behavior fosters liking.Mandatory seat belt use leads to more favorable seat belt attitudes (Legislating morality).Do a favor for someone, youll like that person more (Blanchard & Cook, 1976).Peopl

22、e who prayed for their romantic partner thereafter had greater commitment to the partner (Fincham et al., 2010).So, if you wish to love someone more, act as if you do so.OutlinesHow well do attitudes predict behavior?When does behavior affect attitudes?Why does behavior affect attitudes?Self-Present

23、ation: Impression ManagementAssumes that people, especially those who self-monitor their behavior hoping to create good impressions, will adapt their attitude reports to appear consistent with their actions, No one wants to look foolishly inconsistent Express attitudes that match behavior.Evidence:

24、The effect of behavior on attitudes became smaller when a fake lie detector was used. DemonstrationDo you feel any uncomfortableness when your attitudes contradict your own behavior? Self-Justification: Cognitive DissonanceTension arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognition

25、s To reduce this tension, we adjust our thinking An exampleBefore the Iraq war, the main reason for U.S. to start the war was that Iraq had “weapon of mass destruction”, and only 38% of Americans said the war was justified even if Iraq didnt have those weapons.After the Iraq war (no weapon of mass d

26、estruction was discovered), the main reason for the war became “liberating Iraq people”, and 58% of Americans said the war was justified although Iraq didnt have those weapons.Insufficient justificationReduction of dissonance by internally justifying ones behavior when external justification is “ins

27、ufficient” No Lie Condition$20 Condition$1 Condition1 Hour of Boring Task1 Hour of Boring Task 1 Hour of Boring TaskTell how they feel the task- without lying-Tell a lie to a fellow student- “The task is enjoyable”-Received $20 for lyingTell a lie to a fellow student- “The task is enjoyable”-Receive

28、d $1 for lyingRate the task enjoymentRate the task enjoymentRate the task enjoymentInsufficient justification31Aronson & Mills, 1959708090100controlmild initiationsevere initiationSeverity of InitiationRating for the discussion groupSeries1Dissonance after decisionsDeciding-becomes-believing effect

29、ExperimentsFemale participants rated 8 wedding giftsParticipants can select one out of two gifts they rated similarly and they can took it home.Rerated the 8 giftsResults: Participants increased their liking of the item they had chosen and decreased their liking of the item they rejected.Can breed o

30、verconfidenceRacetrack bettors are more optimistic once they placed the bet than those who were about to place the bet.Self-Perception TheoryWhen we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as would someone observing us, by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occursEx

31、amples-“I take psychology courses and they are not required, so I must like psychology.”“I laughed a lot when I watch the movie, it must be funny”Self-Perception TheoryExpressions and attitudeAfter induced to have certain facial expressions, people experience corresponding emotions.Self-Perception TheorySelf-Perception TheoryExpressions influences our attitudesExperimentCover story- testing the headphone setsParticipants need to moving their heads either vertically, i.e., nodding, or horizontal