ATTITUDE-CHANGE THEORY

Rouenne Camille de Castro

Attitude

Our predispositions toward things Attitude is primarily a way of being set toward or against certain things (Murphy, Murphy, and Newcomb, 1937, p. 889). A mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's responses to all objects and situations with which it is related (Allport, 1954, p.45).

Attitude

An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects (English and English, 1958, p.50). An enduring system of positive or negative evaluations, emotional feelings, and pro or con action tendencies with respect to a social object (Krech, Crutchfield, and Ballachey, 1962, p.177). Persuasion - attitude change reesulting from exposure to information from others (Olson and Zanna, 1993, p.135).

History

Aristotle

One of the first to analyze and write about persuasion in his classic works on rhetoric Their investigation of the effects of William Jenninga Bryan's address on evolution at Dartmouth College, 1923; sometimes cited as the first attitude-change study

Rice and Willey

History

Carl Hovland

Worked for the Research Branch of the US Army's Information and Education Division The Yale Communication and Attitude-Change Program

He believed that attitudes were learned and that they were changed through the same processes that occurred when learning took place

The Three-Component Model Of Attitudes

Affective component liking or feeling about an object Cognitive component beliefs about an object Behavioral component actions toward an object

Specific Techniques of Attitude-Change

One-Sided and Two-Sided Messages Source Credibility Fear Appeals

Theories of Attitude-Change

Consistency theories Learning theories Judgment theories Functional theories

Consistency Theories

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger Information that is not consistent with a person's already-held values and beliefs will create a psychological discomfort that must be relieved People generally work to keep their knowledge of themselves and of the world somewhat consistent

Consistency Theories

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Selective Processes (psychological processes designed to reduce dissonance)

Selective exposure: people tend to expose themselves to messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs Selective retention: people tend to remember best and longest those messages that are most meaningful to them Selective perception: people will alter the meaning of messages so they become consistent with preexisting attitudes and beliefs

Consistency Theories

Rokeach: Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values

Milton Rokeach Believes that each person has a highly organized system of beliefs, attitudes and values, which guides behavior Self-concept: Who am I? Values: specific types of beliefs that are central in the system and act as life guides

Instrumental: guidelines for living on which we base our daily behavior Terminal: ultimate aims of life toward which we work

Learning Theories

Osgood on Meaning

Charles Osgood Deals with the ways in which meanings are learned and how they relate to thinking and behavior 3 factors of meaning:

Evaluation (good or bad) Activity (active or inactive) Potency (strong or weak)

Learning Theories

Attribution Theory

Fritz Heider Deals with the ways people infer the causes of behavior naive psychology - centers on the perceived causes of behavior by ordinary people in everyday life Causal attributions people commonly make:

Situational causes, personal effects, ability, effort, desire, sentiment, belonging, obligation, permission

Learning Theories

Classical Conditioning of Attitudes

Staats and Staats They point out that in our everyday experience certain words are systematically paired with certain emotional experiences

Judgment Theories

Social Judgment Theory

Muzafer Sherif Deals with the way people make judgments about messages An individual's initial attitude serves as an anchor (or reference point) for the judgment of related attitude communications Opinions are evaluated against this point of reference and are placed on attitudinal continuum

Judgment Theories

Social Judgment Theory

Makes the following predictions:

Messages falling within the latitude of acceptance facilitate attitude change Messages falling within the latitude of rejection results to reduced or nonexistent attitude change Within the latitude of acceptance and noncommitment, the more discrepant the message from your own stand, the greater the expected attitude change The greater your ego involvement in the issue, the larger the latitude of rejection, the smaller the latitude of noncommitment, and thus the less the expected attitude change

Judgment Theories

Elaboration Likelihood Theory

Richard Petty and John Cacioppo States that there are two routes to attitude change:

Central: elaboration, or critical thinking occurs Peripheral: nonelaboration, or lack of critical thinking

Two main factors that influence the degree of elaboration:

Motivation Ability

Expectancy Violations Theory Interpersonal Deception Theory

Functional Theories

Functions of Attitudes

Daniel Katz and his colleagues, Irving Sarnoff and Charles McClintock 4 major functions:

Utilitarian people are motivated to gain rewards and avoid punishments from their environment Ego-defensive people use defense mechanisms to protect their self-concepts against internal and external threats Value-expressive acknowledges the importance of self-expression and self-actualization Knowledge presumes a basic human need to gain a meaningful, stable, and organized view of the world

Functional Theories

Inoculation Theory

William McGuire and Demetrios Papageorgis Most people have many unchallenged beliefs and that these beliefs can often be easily swayed once they are attacked because the person is not used to defending them

Sources
Baran, Stanley J. & Dennis K. Davis. (1995). Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment and Future. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company DeFleur, Melvin L. & Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach. (1989). Theories of Mass Communication. New York & London: Longman. Littlejohn, Stephen W. (2002). Theories of Human Communication (7th ed.). United States: Wadsworth. Maushak, Nancy and Michael Simonson.(2001). Instructional Technology and Attitude Change. Retrieved from http://www.aect.org/edtech/ed1/pdf/34.pdf Severin, Werner J. & James W. Tankard, Jr. (1997). Communication Theories: Origins, Methods, and Uses in the Mass Media (4th ed.). New York: Longman