a psychological tendency that is exressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour
determine our reaction to and interpretation of information
Influence behaviour
are learnt
Structure of Personality
Affective
Behavioural
Cognitive
define affective
is what part of attitude?
our pos/neg feelings/emotions towards something
eg I don't like school
structure
define behavioural
is what part of attitude?
actions/behaviour that result from attitude
eg I don't pay attention in class
structure
define cognitive
is what part of attitude?
long term beliefs about why we have certain attitudes
eg I believe school is a waste of time
structure
Functions of attitudes
Adaptive
Self-expresive
Ego-defensive
Knowledge
Define adaptive
is what part of attitude?
helps people maximise rewards and minimise punishments from the world
eg like school if i always get good grades
function
define self-expressive
is what part of attitude?
gives meaning to our lives, allowing us to tell others about ourselves
eg wearing teams gurnsey
function
define ego-defensive
is what part of attitude?
helps people avoid harsh realities of the world
protect self image
function
define knowledge (2)
is what part of attitude?
makes our world more predictable by organising perceptions and beliefs
we know how to act in a situation because we understand what is expected
function
Functions of attitudes facts (2)
people may have the same attitude to something but serves different function for people
one attitude may serve all 4 or just 1
define cognitive dissonance (2)
when related cognitions contradict each othereg people who wait 1 hour for restaurant praise average foodinconsistency between behaviour and attitudes gives us an uncomfortable state of heightened arousal
Factors affecting attitude formation (3)
Mere exposure
Direct exposure
Learning
Define Mere exposure (3)
is what part of attitude?
Being exposed to an object is enough to form an attitude
ads most common factor
too many exposures = effect not as great
factor affecting attitude formation
Define Direct exposure (4)
is what part of attitude?
having direct personal experience with object = form an attitude
in particular attitudes formed from negative experiences
more resistant to change
generally more strongly held
factor affecting attitude formation
3 parts of learning examples
is what part of attitude?
association
reward and punishment
imitation
factor affecting attitude formation
learning examples - association
is what part of attitude?
association to ice-cream - neutral attitude - eat ice cream - form positive attitude towards ice-cream
factor affecting attitude formation
learning examples - reward and punishment
is what part of attitude?
good grade in psych - reward - form pos attitude towards psych
factor affecting attitude formation
learning examples - imitation
is what part of attitude?
watching loved one boo for crows - form neg attitude towards crows