Psychology 315 Ch. 7 Attitudes, Beliefs and Consistency Part 2

No, we won’t change our attitude unless we have to. We follow the path of least resistance. Could modify cognitions, could add cognitions, could change the perceived importance of one cognition, could deny a link between the two cognitions – if none of these can occur you will change the attitude

Some behavior that is discrepant with attitude might cause some unwanted negative consequence – do you take personal responsibility for that discomfort (people in $20 group don’t take personal responsibility for lying) if you take personal responsibility will cause physiological arousal which causes people to try to attribute arousal – if attributed to behavior, then ought to see attitude change Personal responsibility link especially important – if we freely choose to do something then should get big cognitive dissonance which leads to attitude changeBehavior does not equal attitude leads to unwanted negative consequence which if taken as a personal responsibility will lead to physiological arousal --> attribution of arousal to behavior --> attitude change

Dissonance is an arousing, aversive and necessary condition for attitude changeAre these claims true?

Specific type of research methodMeasures attitudes – attitudes we want to change Participants take part in a study investigating the effects of drugs on memory While “drugs take effect” participants are asked to write a counter-attitudinal essay – counter to the attitude asked for before for another study (ban anti-flammatory speakers, raise tuition, pardon Nixon) Attitudes measure again to see if there was a change in attitudes from beginning to end

Zanna, Cooper study – manipulate choice, side effect information to test if dissonance is arousing Some participants given a choice about writing essay, others told they had to do it After given drug (EVERYONE given a placebo – milk powder, no physiological effect), some participants told it would make them feel aroused, others told it would make them feel relaxed, others told there would be no side effects – why tell them information about side effects of the drug – side effect information in case of arousal side effect gives them a reason for feeling arousal due to cognitive dissonance, some might be feeling arousal by writing choice essay Results High Choice – necessary for cognitive dissonance Why will the side effects condition matter? Justification for high choice condition No side effects, high choice – see more attitude change Relaxed, high choice – even more attitude change than no side effects, high choice (due to augmentation - drug is supposed to make me feel relaxed but it isn’t, I must really be anxious if the drug is not masking my feelings Arousal condition – can discount arousal, not due to essay due to drug People in high choice condition changed attitude more than low choice with no side effects of drug Arousal condition – both low, high choice groups are not different because people in high choice group attribute their bad feelings to arousal caused by drug Relaxed – higher attitude change in high choice than low choice Very powerful evidence that dissonance is arousing

Zanna, Taves, Higgins studyAll participants given high choice in writing essay Some participants give no information about side effects, some were told to expect no side effects Others were told the drug would make them feel tense – aversive feeling Others were told the drug would make them feel pleasant excitement Key is that tense, pleasant excitement are both arousal, only one can explain dissonance – if dissonance is aversive than only tense will have effect Results No side effects – high attitude change because cannot attribute tense feelings to anything Tense – gets rid of attitude change almost all together Pleasant excitement – is not what they are experiencing, feeling tense even though the drug is supposed to make them feel pleasant excitement, therefore I must be really tense if I am feeling this way – augmentation No information group – Almost as low as tense group – odd resultExplanation - folks assumed that even though they were told nothing, there must be side effects to the drug and therefore they attribute feelings of tenseness to drug Dissonance is aversive

Cooper, Zanna, Taves study Investigated if arousal was a necessary part of the dissonance process All participants were told that they were in the placebo group In fact, some were given placebos but others were given a tranquilizer or amphetamines Some participants wrote the essay under high choice conditions and some wrote the essay under low choice conditions All told they were in the placebo group – why? Can I reduce, amplify dissonance – any arousal that someone feels should be readily attributed to person rather than drug because they think it is a placebo Placebo condition – classic dissonance effect – people in high choice change attitude more than in low choice Tranquilizer – suggests that arousal due to dissonance can be reduced by tranquilizer, high choice/low choice the same, artificially eliminated dissonance and attitude change goes away Amphetamine – think they are in placebo group, write an essay that will make them tense but then also feeling the effects of the drug they don’t know they have so they change attitude the most (high choice higher than low choice), but why is low choice significantly changing attitude in amphetamine group – these folks experiencing arousal, they are trying to figure out why they are being aroused, can’t contribute to drug because they think they took a placebo, change attitude – what might they have assumed to be true – maybe what they do psychologically, might now reconsider how much choice they had (maybe I willingly wrote that essay), after the fact make the attribution that they made the choice to write the essay Freedom to write the essay – high choice group – always said that they had the most freedom to write the essay In tranquilizer, placebo group – no choice to write essay In amphetamine group – people in low choice group actually think they have a lot of choice after the fact *For dissonance-based attitude change to occur, arousal is necessary

Dickerson et al. study - cognitive dissonance as a means of reducing water use through hypocrisy manipulationFour groups involved: mindful participants - highlighted poor water use, commitment participants - signed petition saying that they could conserve water, hypocrisy participants - completed survey of poor water use and signed petition (creates cognitive dissonance), control participants - neither signed the petition nor completed the survey Control shower longest, then mindful, then commitment, then hypocrisy – take shortest showers of all – getting people to experience inconsistency of what they say they will do and what they know they have done will produce cognitive dissonance

Therapy effectiveness - putting people through "cognitive dissonance" based therapy just as effective as regular therapy for various ailmentsWeight loss interventionDissonance based intervention for eating disordersChoice matters in most therapies Therapy more effective with heightened levels of choice – those that have more choice experience more success with therapy – I am willingly working hard but not getting better, cognitive dissonance causes people to get better

Cognitive dissonance provides a good explanation for attitude change when behaviors deviate considerably from a prior attitude. Those would be expected to cause arousal. But, what about behaviors that deviate just a little? Those also produce attitude change but do no cause arousal. Bem’s self-perception theory provides a better explanation. How do you explain attitude change without arousal? Self-perception theory – when we try to understand attitudes, look at behavior as an outsider and assess attitudes that way, arousal has no effect Two theories apply in different domains – big discrepancies – cognitive dissonance, small discrepancices – self-perception theory

Preferences Values – when we state an attitude, it often has to do with a powerful value we hold, at the core of what guides person’s intentional behavior Self-identity expression- powerful reason why we hold things Social adjustment (impression management) – getting along with others, express attitude as way to impress others, fit into a group, things that make getting along with people easier, may not be attitudes we hold close, may be strategic attitudes used to get along Want people to change attitudes to change behaviors Not surprisingly, attitudes are a frequent target of intervention