Attitude Formation and Attitude Change - AP Psychology

Leon Festinger. His 1957 theory remains fundamental to understanding attitude-behavior consistency.

Mental discomfort from conflicting beliefs. Festinger's theory explains the discomfort motivating attitude or behavior change.

Beliefs and thoughts about an object. Mental representations including knowledge, opinions, and beliefs about the object.

Affective, behavioral, cognitive. These form the tripartite model of attitudes in social psychology.

Small request followed by a larger one. Compliance with small requests increases likelihood of agreeing to larger requests.

Conflicting evaluations towards an object. Having both positive and negative feelings simultaneously toward the same object.

Focus on superficial cues. Heuristic processing relies on simple cues rather than argument analysis.

Need for cognition. Individual differences in motivation to think carefully affect persuasion outcomes.

Muzafer Sherif. His theory focuses on latitude of acceptance and rejection in persuasion.

How people evaluate persuasive messages. The theory predicts attitude change based on message position relative to existing views.

A shift in evaluation towards an object. Modification occurs through persuasion, experience, or cognitive dissonance reduction.

How stable and resistant an attitude is to change. Strong attitudes are more accessible, stable, and predictive of behavior.

Inferring attitudes from behavior. Bem's theory suggests we observe our behavior to understand our attitudes.

Unconscious evaluation of an object. Measured through indirect methods like the Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Persuasive attempt causes opposite effect. Strong persuasive pressure can backfire and strengthen original attitudes instead.

Leads to more positive attitudes. Mere exposure effect demonstrates that familiarity increases positive attitude formation.

Exposure influences response to a later stimulus. Prior exposure to concepts makes related attitudes more accessible and influential.

Initial agreement followed by hidden costs. Commitment secured before revealing additional costs or requirements.

Focus on argument quality. Systematic processing involves careful evaluation of message content and logic.

Delayed impact of a persuasive message. Low-credibility sources can become more persuasive over time as source forgotten.

To change attitudes through messages. Strategic messaging designed to influence attitudes and subsequent behavior.

Conflicting evaluations towards an object. Having both positive and negative feelings simultaneously toward the same object.

Increased liking due to repeated exposure. Zajonc's phenomenon shows familiarity breeds preference, not contempt.

Muzafer Sherif. His theory focuses on latitude of acceptance and rejection in persuasion.

An evaluation of an object, person, or idea. The basic definition encompasses feelings, thoughts, and predispositions toward targets.

Central route and peripheral route. These represent systematic versus heuristic processing of persuasive information.

Theory on how attitudes are changed. Petty and Cacioppo's dual-process model explains persuasion mechanisms.

Actions or observable behavior towards an object. Refers to overt actions and behavioral intentions directed at the object.

Emotional response towards an object. Includes feelings, emotions, and mood reactions associated with the attitude object.