Attitude Formation Lesson 20-1

Objectives Trace the origin of attitudes Describe the function of attitudes

Attitude Attitude-the predisposition to act, think, and feel in particular ways towards a class of people, objects or an idea. 3 elements A belief or opinion about something Feelings about that thing Tendency to act in certain ways Your attitudes and lead you to believe that something is fact when it is really imaginary or that something is not real when it really is fact. Do you believe your senators are doing a good job? Do you feel you trust or distrust them? Would you act to vote for them? Have students write down whether they agree or disagree with each statement 1. Rap music should be censored for use of profanity and violence 2. Employers should have the right to test employees at random for drug use 3. Parents should have the right to approve all their children’s decisions until children reach the age of 18 4. The federal government should have the right to ban violent television programs from prime-time television Tell students that their responses to each of these statements involved an attitude or belief. On which, If any, of these issues might you and your parents disagree? Why?

Where Attitudes Come From Conditioning Classical conditioning can help you form attitudes automatically We acquire attitudes through operant conditioning Praise, approval, or acceptance for expressing certain attitudes or punished for expressing others. Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s dog’s. Dog had a positive attitude towards meat. Then paired the meat with the ringing of a tuning fork, and the dog formed a positive attitude toward the sound of the tuning fork and started to salivate and wag tail when heard the sound of the fork. Meat is the unconditioned stimulus, tuning fork is the conditioned stimulus.

Where Attitudes Come From Cognitive Evaluation Can develop an attitude without even thinking about it because a friend thinks it’s a good idea Use a heuristic- a mental shortcut On other issues, we may disagree with a friend and choose to think about the issue What does the word cognitive mean? How can this help us remember this method of attitude formation?

Where Attitudes Come From? Culture Influences our taste in food and many other issues Parents Parental influence wanes as children get older Peers People tend to adopt the likes and dislikes of groups whose approval and acceptance they seek. You may develop your attitudes through observational learning- watching others. You may adopt your parent’s political views, dress like your friends, etc. Culture- the list of how our culture affects us is almost endless. Most Americans would consider eating grubs, curdled milk spiced with blood, or monkey meat disgusting. Yet in some parts of the world these are considered delicacies. Parents- How else can you account that most elementary children favor the same political party as their parents Peers- Most maintain these attitudes that they acquire in college because they choose friends, spouses and careers that support these values.

Where Attitudes Come From Exposure The more frequently people encounter an object or idea, the more favorably they evaluate it. You may listen to a song over and over and grow to like it. Political candidates focus on this during a campaign and constantly advertise Create a chart Politics Education Clothing Styles Dating Choices Personal Values List the following influencers: parents, other respected adults, peers, media, society Use a ten point scale to rate the amount of influence each influencer has in each group. Have groups compare their charts.

Functions of Attitudes Self-Defining Mechanism Self-concept- how we see our describe ourselves Cognitive Guideline and Guide for Action Attitudes most strongly predict behavior when acquired through direct experience. Why do we have attitudes? How do they help us function and interact with others? Ask a friend to describe themselves and they will probably give you a physical description, but may also include attitudes and values: likes helping others, good student, supporter of equal rights. These attitudes help define who they are and helps to make up their self-concept Cognitive Guide- our attitudes help us categorize people, objects, and events. Sometimes our attitudes are not consistent with our behaviors. We may litter even though we don’t agree with littering. We are more likely to allow our attitudes to control our behavior when it is something we have actually experienced. If you disagree with eating meat because you have gotten sick when eating meat your attitude toward meat is much more likely to determine your behavior than if your attitude for not eating meat is just based on moral reasons. If your attitude is just based on moral reasons, you may not remember it when you smell and see the meat, but if it was because you got sick, you are much more likely to remember this and translate it into action. Activity- Write down four of your stongest beliefs. Next to each item, have them list some of the ways these beliefs influence their behavior.

Activity Generate a list of 10 statements about social issues, such as political affiliation, nuclear energy, mandatory retirement, equal pay, paternity leave Have a 5 point scale where participants can agree or disagree Complete questionnaire and then give to parents Studies have shown that parents are an important source of many of our basic attitudes and beliefs. What is the degree of similarity between your parents’ views and your views on selected issues? Word the questions so your viewpoints are not obvious Analyze your parents’ responses. On what issues did you agree and disagree? Why do you think your parents have been influential in shaping some of your attitudes and not others.

Activity Create identity boxes