Influencing policy (training slides from Fast Track Impact)
Attitudes
1. Definition of Attitude
Originally meant as indicating physical properties such as
a position of the body, figure, or statue. Later, in
aeronautics, it refers to orientation of an aircraft relative
to the horizon.
• Leaning
• Stance
• Position
• Direction
2. A more current definition of attitude ---
A psychological tendency that is expressed by
evaluating a particular entity with some degree of
favor or disfavor *
* From: Eagley and Chaiken (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes.
6. Text (in favor
of fluoride)
versus
Factual
approach
Emotional
approach
Campaign For and Against Adding Fluoride to Drinking Water
(Against
fluoride)
Don’t Put Rat
Poison in Your
Drinking Water
Which approach would be the most effective?Which approach would be the most effective?
7. Text (in favor
of energy
conservation
in homes)
Campaign to Make Homes More Energy Efficient
Factual
approach
Emotional
approach
Which approach would be the most effective?Which approach would be the most effective?
8. Fear Appeals
Do they work?
Create a lot of fear in
the message (within
ethical limits)
Give audience additional
information on how to
deal with their fear (e.g.,
where to go, when, why)
Self-esteem
Personal relevance
Perception of control
Influence of other
factors
9. Examples of Fear Mesages
Drunk driving
Drug Use
Seat Belt Use
Skin Cancer
Condom Use
• Odds of negative outcome (low)
• Time frame may be long between behavior and negative outcome
• Abiliity fo control behavior (e.g., habit, addiction)
Why May They Not Work?
10. Traditional Persuasion Techniques
A) Greater rewards lead to more responses
B) Greater punishment leads to less responses
C) Use of "credible" sources (experts, authority figures)
D) Use of conformity paradigms (e.g., Asch, Sherif)
11. Some Weaknesses of Traditional
Persuasion Approachs
A) Effects not very strong
B) Short-term effects
C) Limited to less important issues
12. THEORY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (1957)
BASIC HYPOTHESIS
The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate
the person to try and reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance
Attitude
Behavior inconsistent
with the attitude
Creation of
dissonance
Leon Festinger
13. Some Options
1) Change behavior (e.g., Throw pack away)
2) Change cognitions (e.g., “Smoking isn’t all that bad”; “I don’t
really smoke that much”)
3) Add supporting cognitions (e.g., “ Smoking relaxes me” “it helps
me think better”
Attitude: “I’m not going to smoke cigarettes anymore”)
Behavior: Smoke cigarettes
14. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
FESTINGER & CARLSMITH (1$ - $20 Study)
Perform
boring task
Asked to tell participant
that the task was
interesting
$1
$20
Rate
task
• Which group rated the task as more interesting after lying,
those paid $1 or $20?
Key is lack of sufficient external justification for one’s behavior
15. “TOY” STUDY
Children rate desirability of toys
Told not to play with the most desirable toy
MILD THREAT SEVERE THREAT
Children did not play with the desired toy
Children rate the desirability of the toys a 2nd
time after not playing with
the desired
Which group viewed the desirable toy most attractive?
16. ATTITUDES REGARDING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
Original belief = “No”
Asked to give speech
opposite of their attitude
(for legalization)
Speech watched
by research team
Told speech taped and
would be shown to high
school students
Attitudes regarding marijuana legalization
More positive
views of
legalization
17. 1) Choice is involved
2) Commitment has been made
3) Individuals are responsible for any consequences of their
behavior (and if the consequences could be anticipated)
4) Negative consequences are believed to be likely to occur
5) One’s self-concept is involved
More Cognitive Dissonance Occurs When:
18. SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY
Internal States (e.g., “So-called “private” stimuli,
physiological)
“Gross” evaluation (e.g., “I feel happy”; “I feel sad”
Use of external social cues for precise discriminations (e.g.,
other people’s behavior or one’s own actions, statements,
thoughts)
Attitudes formed
DARYL
BEM
19. Attutude
survey (on
environmental
issues
WEAK STRONG
Behavioral
survey (what
people actually
did about
environmental
issues
Attitude
survey (on
environmental
issues
Those with weak initial environmental
attitudes had their attitudes affected by
their responses to the behavior
questionnaire
SELF-PERCEPTION STUDY
20. Do Changing Attitudes Lead to Changes in Behavior?
• Norms regarding proper behavior in a given situation
(& consequences)
• Availability or absence of alternatives
• Extraneous events
21. Factors Affecting The Consistency of Attitudes and Behaviors
ATTITUDES
• Specific Role of
• Strength personal
• Accessibility
Range of behaviors
assessed
BEVAVIOR
experience
22. Central
Processing
Peripheral
Processing
In-Depth Thought;
Detailed Analyses of
Information
“Lazy” Thinking;
Superficial Analyses of
Information
• Ability (IQ, knowledge base,
distracters, message complexity)
• Motivation (e.g., personal relevance)
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
23. Message
Motivation to Process?Motivation to Process?
(e.g., relevance, need for
cognition, responsibility
Peripheral Cues
Present in Message?
(e.g., attractive source,
emotional content)
Peripheral
Processing
Ability to Process?Ability to Process? (e.g.,
knowledge, distractions,
message comprehensibility)
Nature of Cognitive Processing
Favorable
thoughts
Unfavorable
thoughts
Neutral
thoughts
Cognitive Structure Change (e.g., new thoughts
stored in memory)
Central positive
attitude change
Central negative
attitude change
No
Yes
No
Yes
~ ELM Detail ~
Relatively permanent attitudes,
More predictive of behavior
Keep initial
attitude
Yes
24. Low High
Low argument
quality
High argument
quality
Relevance Relevance
Low High HighLow
STUDY OF
ELM
MODEL
If high perceived relevance exists, argument quality is most
important
Status of Presenter
Issue: To institute a comprehensive university exit exam
25. Behavioral BeliefsBehavioral Beliefs (beliefs about the
likely consequences of a behavior
and the evaluation of the
consequences
Normative BeliefsNormative Beliefs (beliefs
about the expectations of other
people and the motivation to
comply with these expectations)
Control BeliefsControl Beliefs (beliefs about
the existence of factors that
may help or hinder the
performance of a behavior and
the perceived power of these
factors)
Attitude toward the behavior (the
specific attitude toward a behavior,
favorable or unfavorable)
Subjective norms (beliefs
about how other people will
view a behavior; social
pressure)
Perceived behavioral control
(ease with which people believe
they
can perform the behavior)
Behavioral
Intention
Behavior
Actual behavior
control
~THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR~
Beliefs
26. Behavioral BeliefsBehavioral Beliefs (beliefs
about the likely consequences
of a behavior and the
evaluation of the possible
outcomes
Normative BeliefsNormative Beliefs (beliefs
about the expectations of other
people and the motivation to
comply with these expectations)
Control BeliefsControl Beliefs (beliefs about
the existence of factors that
may help or hinder the
performance of a behavior and
the perceived power of these
factors)
Predicting the use of birth-control pills; An example
• My taking the pill regularly will reduce my chances of becoming
pregnant:
Extremely unlikely _____________________ Extremely Likely
• Reducing my chances of becoming pregnant is:
Extremely bad _______________________ Extremely good
• My close friends believe that
I should __________________________________ I should not
take birth control pills.
• On average, I really care what my close friends thinks I should do.
Not at all _________________________________ Very much
• I forget to do some very important activities.
Very rarely _______________________________ Very often
• My forgetfulness would make it very difficult for me to remember to
take birth control pills
Definitely not true _______________________ Definitely true
Beliefs
27. Attitude toward the behavior
(the specific attitude toward a
behavior, favorable or
unfavorable)
Subjective norms (beliefs
about how other people will
view a behavior; social
pressure)
Perceived behavioral control
(ease with which people believe
they
can perform the behavior)
For me to be able to take a birth control pill on a regular basis would
be:
Impossible ___________________ Possible
Most of my close friends are using birth control pills
Definitely untrue _______________________ Definitely true
For me, taking birth control pills regularly is:
Extremely valuable_______________________ Worthless
B ~ BI = w1AB + w2 SN + w3 PC
28. Behavioral
Intention
• I plan on taking birth control pills regularly
Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely
true
• I will make every effort to take birth control pills
regularly
Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely
true
Behavior
Regularly taking
birth control pills or not
29. • Role of past behavior and habits
• Focus on the prediction of individual behavior; what
about the role of others (e.g., cooperation), obtaining
resources not possessed by an individual
• Assumption that people engage in elaborate cognitions before
behaving
• Role of self-identity and/or moral obligations
~ Some Shortcomings the Theory of Planned Behavior ~
30. Attitude Inoculation
Small (“weak”) doses of arguments
against one’s position
Larger, stronger arguments
given later
Less likely to change one’s attitudes
(more able to fight off the stronger
attack; received an inoculation earlier)
31. Advertising --- Product Placement
Quite frequent (e.g., greater than 40 products displayed
in the move Iron Man)
Why can this approach work?
• Defenses are down (do not recognize our attitudes
are being manipulated)
• Failure to generate counterarguments
32. Reactance Theory
Persuasion messages, if too strong, can lead to a boomerang effect
Why?
Belief than our freedom is being threatened
DO NOT write on these walls under any circumstances**
Versus
PLEASE DON’T write on these walls
** Significantly more graffiti writing on walls with the stern message
Editor's Notes
High --- Prestigious universities have comprehensive exit exams; Average starting salaries are higher for students from such schools;
The National Accrediting Board would give the school a higher academic rating
Low --- The source’s friends support the proposal; students would like the challenge; ETS wouldn’t develop the exams unless they were useful
