What is an Attitude?
- How we think or feel about something or someone whether negative or positive
What is a Belief?
- A belief is an conviction that are held true in the mind- A conviction of something that we believe to be true whether with proof or not.
What is the difference between Attitudes and Beliefs?
An Attitude is how think or feel about something and Belief is the conviction or something that we believe to be true.
Why should we care about Attitudes?
Attitudes are pervasive - We are constantly evaluating thingsAttitudes are adaptive - Allow us to quickly separate helpful and harmful situationsAttitudes reduce effort - Reduce cognitive load - Allow us to survive situations by reading situations or personsAttitudes guide behavior - Increase the speed and quality of behavioral decisionsAttitudes structure our social universe
4 Types of Attitudes
IndifferenceAmbivalencePositiveNegative
What are definitions of the 4 types of attitudes?
Indifference- Not worthy of attention- Not caring about something- Lack of interestAmbivalence- Having mixed feelings- Contradictory feeling- Having both a positive and negative attitude on something(For example, you may feel ambivalent about going out on Friday night. Although on one hand it would be fun to hang out with your friends, on the other hand it would be nice to save money by staying in and resting. The ambivalence is the conflicting feelings about the two desirable situations.)Positive Attitude- Having a positive mental view- Always seeing the positiveNegative Attitude- Having a negative mental view- Being pesimisticIgnore the good and pay attention to the bad
What is a direct measure?
A direct measure requires a person to provide a report of their own attitude or behaviour
What is a indirect measure?
An indrect measure does not require a person to provide a report of their own attitude or behaviour
(Direct) What is a Likert Type Scale?
A Likert Type Scale is a psychometric response scale which responders specify their level of agreement to a statement
(Direct) What is a Semantic Differentials?
A measurement scale designed to measure a persons attitude using contrasting adjectives
(Indirect) What is the Implicit Association Test (IAT)?
Measures the strength of associations of concepts or stereotypes to reveal biases- Pairs concepts together to see how they pair in a person's mind- Measures the speed with which one responds to pairings of concepts- Based on notion that we have implicit attitudes: Attitudes that one is not aware of having
(Indirect) Physiological Measures
Facial Electromyograph (EMG)- Records facial muscle activity associated with emotions and attitudesArousal - Positve vs Negative
Assumptions of Self-Report Measures
- People know what their attitudes are- They will report those attitudes honestly
Why do we reverse?
- So we know that people are paying attention- Right side bias- People tend to lean more on agree rather than the disagree
(Indirect/Observable) Lost Letter Technique
The lost letter technique is used to measure people's attitudes by dropping stamped letters addressed to various organizations in public areas and then recording how many of the letters are returned via the mail. It is assumed that people will be more likely to return a letter if it is addressed to an organization that they support than if it is addressed to an organization they do not support.
Hazlewood and Olson, 1986
Participants expecting to interact with rude person- Sat further away- Smiled less- Less expressive body language