Attitudes and Attitude Change CHAPTER 7 Attitudes and Attitude ...

Essay Review
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Attitudes and Attitude Change
1. Your essay on attitudes should include:
• Attitudes are evaluations of people, objects, and ideas. (p. 178)
• Some attitudes are linked to our genes. Sometimes our attitudes are based primarily on
the relevant facts. To the extent that people's evaluation is based primarily on their beliefs
about the properties of an attitude object, we say it is a cognitively based attitude. An
attitude based more on emotions and values than on an object appraisal of pluses and
minuses is called an affectively based attitude. These can come from classical or operant
conditioning. A behaviorally based attitude stems from people's observations of how they
behave toward an object. (p. 179-181)
• An explicit attitude is one that we consciously endorse and can easily report. Implicit
attitudes are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times, unconscious.
(p. 182)
2. Your essay on behaviorally based attitudes should include:
• People infer their attitudes from their behavior when their initial attitude is weak or
ambiguous. (pp. 181-182)
• According to Bem’s self-perception theory, under certain circumstances, people don’t
know how they feel until they see how they behave. People infer their attitudes from their
behavior only when there are no other plausible explanations for their behavior. (pp. 181-
182)
3. Your essay on the Yale Attitude Change approach should include:
• The three main elements of the Yale Attitude Change approach are: who (the source of
the communication), what (the nature of the communication), and to whom (the nature of
the audience). (p. 184)
• The source is more persuasive if it is credible and if the speaker is attractive.
(Figure 7.2, p. 184)
• The message is more persuasive if people do not perceive it as an influence attempt. In
general, two-sided messages are more effective. If two speeches are being given, it is
best to go first if the speeches are given back to back and there will be a delay before
people have to make up their minds. If there is a delay between the speeches and people
will make up their minds right after hearing the second one, it is best to go last. (Figure
7.2, p. 184)
4. Your essay should include:
• People have to be motivated to take the central route and have the ability to pay attention
to the facts. (pp. 185-188)
• One thing that determines whether people are motivated to pay attention to a
communication is the personal relevance of the topic. The more personally relevant an
issue is, the more willing people are to pay attention to the arguments in a speech, and
therefore the more likely people are to take the central route to persuasion. (pp. 187-189)
5. Your essay on the heuristic-systematic model of persuasion should include:
• The heuristic-systematic model of persuasion is an explanation of the two ways in which
persuasive communication can cause attitude change: either systematically processing the
merits of the arguments or using mental shortcuts (heuristics), such as “Experts are
always right.” (p. 191)