1. Unit 14: Social Psychology
Essential Task 12-2: Discuss attitude
formation and how attitudes change with
specific attention to schema, primacy effect,
cognitive dissonance and the central and
peripheral routes to persuasion.
CHS AP Psychology
2. Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• (Leon Festinger 1957)
• Occurs whenever a person has two
contradictory cognitions or beliefs at the
same time. They are dissonant, each one
implies the opposite of the other.
• The less coerced and more responsible
we feel for an action the more dissonance.
The more dissonance the more likely we
are to change our attitude
• It creates an unpleasant cognitive tension
and the person tries to resolve in the
following ways: (see next slide)
3. Audience Characteristics
• Most difficult to change if
– Strong commitment to present attitude
– Attitude is shared by others
– The attitude has been held since early
childhood
• Up to a point the larger the difference
between message and audience the more
likely attitudinal change will occur
• Low self-esteem more likely to change
4. Resolution of Cognitive Dissonance
1. Sometimes changing your attitude is the
easiest way to solve this.
– Example: I am a loyal friend, but yesterday I
gossiped about my friend Chris . . . Well I can’t
change my action . . . but I don’t want to change my
view of myself, so my attitude about Chris must be
wrong. He is more of an acquaintance than a friend.
2. Increase the number of consonant elements –
the number of thoughts that back one side.
– It was awesome gossip
3. Reduce the importance of one or both of the
sides
– The person I gossiped with won’t really tell that
many people.
5. Obedience and Conformity
• Sometimes we experience Cognitive
Dissonance when we feel we have to obey
something in which we do not necessarily
believe.
• Milgram’s Obedience Study
– What would it look like if done today?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnYUl6wlBF4
– Take notes on the video in whichever format you
choose
6. After the Video Clip…
Respond on the back of your notes:
a)What conditions influenced participants to
obey?
b)What elements are present in your own
life that encourage obedience?
c)What are the implications of Milgram’s
findings? As a student? A citizen? Other
roles?
7. Asch’s Experiment
• People, 35% of the time, will conform to
incorrect answers if other people in the
group do as well.
• WHY?
• Informational Social Influence: The
influence other people have on us
because we want to be right.
• Normative Social Influence: The
influence others have on us because we
want them to like us.
8. Outside the Class Experiment
• Another one of Milgram’s studies was to
have a small group of people look up at
the sky.
– He wanted to see how many other people
would be willing to look.
• Try this outside the class sometime before
class tomorrow.
• Report back and tell me how it went!
