...Attitude Theories Your attitude is your positive or negative evaluation about an object. There is more than one theory about how a person’s attitude is formed through cognitive, behavioral, and affective processes. This paper will outline two theories of how a person’s attitude is formed. Self Perception Theory Fazio stated that self perception theory argued that attitudes stem from the observation of one’s behavior. (Fazio, 1987, p. 129) A person’s attitude toward something is formed after that person observes their behavior toward an object. An example is you listen to rock music, therefore you must like it, and you would form a positive attitude towards rock music based on your behavior of listening to it. An individual decides their attitude, and emotional feeling toward an object based on the observation of their own behavior and the circumstances that caused the behavior. Self-perception theory also suggests that when the internal cues are weak or uninterpretable, the individual is in the same position as the outside observer who must rely on external cues to infer the individual’s inner state. (Bem, 1972) What I believe to be a negative aspect of this attitude theory is I don’t believe an attitude toward an object is based solely on one’s behavior. An example would be as a child my mother told me to eat spinach and even though I ate the spinach, didn’t mean I liked it because I ate it. I ate it so I wouldn’t get in trouble but my attitude towards spinach was that I...
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...Chapter 7 – Attitudes The Power of Attitudes Attitude: A lasting, general evaluation of people, (including oneself), objects, or issues. • Is lasting because it tends to endure over time • It is general because it applies to more than a momentary event • Can be very product-specific behaviours (Crest toothpaste rather than Colgate) • Can be toward more general consumption-related behaviours (how often they should brush their teeth) Attitude Object (A0): Anything toward which a person has an attitude, whether it is tangible or intangible. The Functions of Attitudes Functional Theory of Attitudes: Attitudes exist because they serve some function for the person; that is, they are determined by a person’s motives. • Developed by psychologist Danial Katz Attitude Functions 1. Utilitarian Function a. Related to the basic principles of reward and punishment b. Develop attitudes based on whether these products provide pleasure or pain c. Ads that stress straightforward product benefits appeal to the utilitarian function 2. Value-expressive Function a. Express the consumer’s central values or self-concept b. Product attitude not because of its objective benefits c. Of what the product says about him/her as a person d. Highly relevant to lifestyle analyses, where consumers cultivate a cluster of activities, interest and opinions to express a particular social identity 3. Ego-defensive Function a. Formed to protect the person, either from external threats...
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...ATTITUDE Introduction Attitude refers to a learned tendency to evaluate things in a special ways which may include evaluation of people, issues, object, or event. The evaluation can be positive or negative and can be uncertain at times. Researcher who took a more behavioural stance define attitude as predisposition to respond consistently in a positive or negative way to some person, object, or situation. Psychologist are in a better position to meet the goals of psychology (describe, explain, predict and influence) when they know the attitude of people. COMPONENT OF ATTITUDE Attitude have been seen as having three dimensions which include A. Cognitive: this represents belief, thought and expectation held about the object of ones attitude. B. Affective or emotional: this reflects feelings or emotional reactions. And can also said to be part of an attitude encompassing how one feels about the object of one attitude. C. Behavioural: this is the predisposition towards actions based on a particular attitude or to act in a way that is relevant to ones attitude. Let see how these three components works together. For example an attitude towards eating caterpillars is said to be unhealthy or likely to do you harm or at any rate the sort of things of things which will make you appear abnormal to others. The effective component will be feelings of disgust or nausea at the thought of eating the things and the behavioural component would be how likely you would be actually...
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...A STUDY OF ATTITUDES ATTITUDES An attitude is an overall evaluation about some aspect or phenomenon in the world. On a whole our attitude is our belief, feeling and behavior towards any particular object of our attention. In Social Psychology attitudes are defined as positive or negative evaluations of objects of thought and they generally consist of three elements:- • The cognitive component that entails the thoughts and beliefs people hold about the subject matter. • The affective component that entails all emotional feelings responses derived from association with the subject matter. • The behavioral component which is the tendency to respond in a particular manner when exposed to the subject or stimulus These attitudes are normally towards individual people, groups of people, institutions, products, social trends, consumer products, etc. all can be attitudinal objects. Such attitudes may be social conclusions and summary judgments that may either be for or against something. Our attitudes dictate both our over and covert behavior and in as much the same tone manage and influence our decision making. Attitudes contribute a large part to our social and individual mannerisms and relations since they are the primary driving force behind behavior. HOW DO ATTITUDES INFLUENCE BEHAVIORS? The manner in which one chooses to behave is dependent on their attitude towards any situation that they may find themselves in. If the general attitude towards the situation is negative...
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...Attitude Theories Patricia Saylor Strayer University Online Prof. Robin Oatis-Ballew May 6, 2012 Cognitive dissonance was fist examined by Leon Festinger, this arose from the observations he made of a cult whom believed that the earth would soon be destroyed by a flood. Members that had been faithful to the cult had to give up their homes and jobs to come and work for the cult. This came about after the fact the earth was not destroyed by the flood. The faithful members of the cult were ashamed and felt like they had made fools of themselves for believing that something like this was about to happen. According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behavior. This is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time. Dissonance increases with the importance of the subject to us, how strongly the dissonant thoughts conflict, our inability to rationalize and explain away the conflict. Two factors affect the strength of the dissonance: the number of dissonant beliefs, and the importance attached to each belief. There are three ways to...
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...Attitude Theories Patricia Saylor Strayer University Online Prof. Robin Oatis-Ballew May 6, 2012 Cognitive dissonance was fist examined by Leon Festinger, this arose from the observations he made of a cult whom believed that the earth would soon be destroyed by a flood. Members that had been faithful to the cult had to give up their homes and jobs to come and work for the cult. This came about after the fact the earth was not destroyed by the flood. The faithful members of the cult were ashamed and felt like they had made fools of themselves for believing that something like this was about to happen. According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behavior. This is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time. Dissonance increases with the importance of the subject to us, how strongly the dissonant thoughts conflict, our inability to rationalize and explain away the conflict. Two factors affect the strength of the dissonance: the number of dissonant beliefs, and the importance attached to each belief. There are three ways to eliminate dissonance: reduce...
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...Assessing the description of attitudes is a very complicated subject because in one hand you can have an attitude about work and be very displeased with your current job, and at the same time have an attitude about your family with a projective satisfaction to home life. The reason surrounding their attitude may be more complicated then interpreted, but also be closely related. In the (Judge, 2013,2011,2009,2007,2005)case of Walter Henderson he may be a good worker but that’s not to say that he is a good employee. In this case I will attempt to explore Walter Henderson’s main attitude towards work and what may arise once his dissatisfaction is realized beyond his breaking point, and what his supervisor can do about Walters attitude in order to bring stability. It was not necessary for Walter to take his work home and finish just so he can take it easy at work at the same time enabling another employee by doing their work for them and instead training and guiding a co-worker to work as efficiently and as effective as himself. In this case the supervisor expressed to Walter that he has already been reprimanded before for a similar offense. So by this stage of the case Walter starts to express a cognitive component of his attitude where he states “I did my work and more; what do you expect me to do?” basically a description of a belief in a way things are.”(Robbins & Judge .70). Walter believes that what he does with his time only concerns him and that it shouldn’t bother...
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...Attitude a marketing strategy for marketers Oluwajimi Taiwo Minnesota State University Moorhead Fall semester Term paper Attitude is everything. A good example of attitude is an iceberg in the artic. In real life you see 10% of the iceberg which is visible above sea level and the remainder of the iceberg 90% is below sea level. From the example 10% is how we behave as a result of attitude we have below the sea level. The 90% which comprises of attitude mostly also include beliefs, values, motives and culture. Attitude is more important than facts. Attitude how does it affect people? It affects people by changing their mood. According to Charles Swindell, people are now convinced that life is ten percent of what happens to people and ninety percent of how people react to it. What people mean by this, is that most of what happens to people is because of the way they react. The other part of life is what happens because of the reaction. Another simple way of putting it, is that attitudes controls what happens. A popularize definition of attitude is: “an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual, and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world (Wrenn et al., 2014). Attitude has become one of the most valuable topic or subject marketers and academicians focus their attention because of the power influence it has in the field of marketing. Attitude is the central part of human individuality. Many examples can be found for people...
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...Relationship between Attitudes and Behavior Attitude is holding a particular object in some degree of favor or disfavor. The attitude object can be a person, an event, an action or a thing. Previously it was believed that the inner dispositions are what controlled the actions of man. This is to say that man is rational with all behavior being deliberate. However, evidence has shown that this is not always the case and though attitude does influence behavior to an extent, it is not the only factor that influences behavior. Moreover, in some cases behavior can cause attitude change. Theory of planned behavior This theory aimed at predicting deliberate and premeditated behavior. The theory was an add on to the previously formulated theory of reasoned Action when research proved that human action is not entirely voluntary or controlled by rational reason. According to this theory the greatest determinant that leads to behavior is intention (a person’s willingness and readiness to perform a certain action).This intention is determined by attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms and an individual’s perception on their ability to control behavior (Ajzen 2005). Cognitive Dissonance theory According to this theory people have a tendency of seeking a consistency in their inner dispositions (both attitudes and beliefs). Further there is also a need for personal behavior to be in tune with attitudes and beliefs held. If there is a disconnect between behavior and attitudes, then it is...
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...others ideas, issues, and the entire social environment in a favourable or unfavourable manner. Social psychologists therefore refer to attitude as the predisposition to behave in a consistent evaluative manner towards others, groups, objects etc. Attitude is defined as the individual’s evaluation of any aspect of his/her social world (Olson & Maio, 2003). It refers to the general and relatively enduring evaluations people have of other people, object or ideas (Petty, Wheeler, & Tormala, 2003). According to Dillard (1993), there are several varying conceptualizations of attitude in social research. At different points in it history, the concept of attitude has been linked to emotional, cognitive and behavioural processes (Brecker & Wiggins, 1989). Therefore, the definition of attitude should consist of cognitive, affective and behavioural components (Rokeach, 1968, Ajzen, 2005). According to Thurstone’s definition of attitude, it is referred to an affect for or against a psychological object (Ajzen, 2005). Ajzen and Fishbein (1975), defined attitude as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object. Petty and Cacioppo is of the view that attitudes are general and enduring positive or negative feelings about some person, object, or issues (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981). Attitudes are defined by Allport (1953, as cited in Myers, 2008) as a reasonably stable organization of beliefs, feeling and behavioural dispositions...
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...this sets a poor precedent for the other employees and reminds him that his actions are inappropriate. Walt counters this by commenting that he has not only already finished his assigned work, but also worked at home to finish other company materials. He feels that this should entitle him personal time at work since he gave up time at home for company work. This case study is an excellent example of how attitudes, mainly Walt’s toward his use of time, play an important part in actions, feelings, and behavior in the workplace. Attitudes at work, such as Walt’s about his use of company time both at home and at work, are evaluative statements about objects, people, or events in the workplace. In this paper, I will evaluate how the situation at work for Walt concerning his attitude towards work, his boss, and his time spent at home and work. I will also evaluate Walt’s discourse in order to try to predict his future behavior at work as well as comment on how Walt’s supervisor, Ken, should handle the manner in which Walt’s attitude affects his performance at work. Walt’s attitude towards work is mainly negative, especially in terms of how his time is regulated. Walt feels that as long as he has completed his assigned work, particularly before others, he should be able to use the remaining company time as he chooses. He feels a great deal of unfairness in the rule stating he abstain from both working at home and engaging in personal projects at work. He makes this known to his boss...
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...Eating Attitudes Test- Eating DisorderEAT © David M. Garner & Paul E Garfinkel (1979), David M. Garner, et al., (1982) | The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was the screening instrument used in the 1998 National Eating Disorders Screening program. The EAT-26 is probably the most widely used standardized measure of symptoms and concerns characteristics of eating disorders. The EAT-26 alone does not yield a specific diagnosis of an eating disorder. Neither the EAT-26, nor any other screening instrument, has been established as highly efficient as the sole means for identifying eating disorders. However, studies have shown that the EAT-26 can be an efficient screening instrument as part of a two-stage screening process in which those who score at or above a cut-off score of 20 are referred for a diagnostic interview. If you score above 20 on the EAT-26, please contact your doctor or an eating disorders treatment specialist for a follow-up evaluation. | ------------------------------------------------- Top of FormAge Sex: F M Height: Current Weight: Highest Weight: Lowest Adult Weight: Education: if currently enrolled in college/ university, are you a: Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Grad Student If not enrolled in school, level of education completed: Jr. High/ Middle School High School College Post College Ethnic / Racial Group: African American Asian American European American Hispanic American Indian Other Do you participate in athletics at any of the following...
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...Question 2: What are attitudes and how do they influence message reception and attitude change? The influence communication has on our lives is often taken for granted. How we have been taught to communicate shapes our behaviour, opinions, perceptions and entire value system. How we then communicate with one another reflects our attitude towards our social environment. According to Baron and Byrne (1997), “Attitudes are lasting evaluations of various aspects of the social world” (p. 112). It is essentially the mental state when responding to objects and situations through the opinions, perceptions and value systems formed, which are all as a result of early socialisation. Communication, whether verbal or non-verbal, is essential in human interaction. Therefore, the study of communication is essential in understanding human behaviour. The field of social psychology deals with how we think about and interact with others, so it is no surprise that this field will be the basis of reasoning in this paper. Relationships are very important in our social reality; however, they are also very fragile. Building relationships instead of destroying them will depend on our understanding of our ongoing interaction with people. Our attitudes will always tell a very interesting story as they are deeply imbedded in our self identity. As individuals we tend to get passionate about specific concepts, this passion really demonstrates our attitudes on social information. For this reason, the influence...
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...Case study: Companies are trying to improve Employee attitudes during the recession. This is a case study which revolves around the steps taken by managers and corporations in improving the attitudes of employees towards recession. Real life examples are given in the form of consumer services giants like Bain & Co, Home Depot and Best buy. Now let us look at the facts and the answers to the questions asked. Facts Presented in the case: 1. Bain & co.’s CEO Steve Ellis hired people even during the recession. He added consultants in the hot-growth areas such as emerging markets and targeted experienced consultants who were left stranded during the hard financial times. 2. Home Depots chairman and chief executive Frank Blake set realistic goals to boost employee morale in spite of handing pink slips to some of the employees. This resulted in many employees getting high bonuses thus resulting in high employee morale. 3. Companies which took advantage of employees in the downturn were rewarded with many employees leaving the company. 4. Best buy found ways to boost employee morale by getting them involved in the organization. 5. JetBlue has cut back across the board and over the past year –delaying aircraft orders, trimming head count through voluntary unpaid leaves and even shedding the free pillows from its aircraft in order to cut costs. Identifying the Key issues: The key issues that can be observed from the above case are as follows. 1. Corporations...
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...Discuss the relationship between persuasion and attitude change? Persuasion is the use of appeals to reasons, values, beliefs, and emotions to convince a listener or reader to think or act in a particular way. We face persuasive advertisements particularly on a daily basis; from the television to magazines. To explain the psychology of persuasion there are various models; the Hovland-Yale model and the elaboration likelihood model. The Hovland-Yale model states that there several factors that will affect how likely a change of attitude through persuasion is, after all behavioural change cannot occur without attitude change also having taken place. The three most prominent factors are the source, the message and the audience. Hovland et al found that source characteristics played an important role in determining the persuasive nature of any communication. The theory states that people more likely to be persuaded when a source presents itself as credible. For example, people were more likely to be persuaded when hearing the information from an expert. This was supported by Bochner and Insko study, where they found that people were more likely to trust a sleep expert than a non-sleep expert, on matters surrounding sleep. The creditable sources were more influencing towards the audience, where with the non-expert source the audience tried to find ways of discrediting the communicator. The Hovland-Yale model says the content of the message is an important factor. When trying...
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