1. Social Thinking: Attitudes and Persuasion

3. Agree or Disagree?
World hunger is a serious problem that needs attention.
Our country needs to address the growing number of homeless people.
If I was running my own business, I would not hire someone who admitted to being lazy
1 = strongly disagree =agree
2 = disagree 5= strongly agree
3 = neither agree or disagree

4. Yes or No? Do you personally do anything to lessen world hunger?
Do you personally do anything to help the homeless?
Have you worked as hard in school over the past few weeks as you have in the past?

5. How and why do our attitudes change?
Cognitive Dissonance
Dissonance: The sense of discomfort people experience when confronted by contradictory ideas.
Creates an unpleasant state of tension that motivates people to change their attitudes in order to reduce dissonance. “If it is painful to accept something, then it will not be accepted.”

6. INCONSISTENCY DISSONANCE Attitude:
“Driving under the influence of alcohol is wrong”
DISSONANCE
INCONSISTENCY
Action:
Person drinks and drives
How do we reduce this dissonance?

7. Cognitive Dissonance
There are several strategies for reducing dissonance, including:
Changing the behavior to match one’s attitude.
Changing the attitude to match one’s behavior.
Cognitively minimizing the degree of inconsistency or its importance (excuses, justification)

8. Suppose you had volunteered to participate in a psychology experiment
Suppose you had volunteered to participate in a psychology experiment. Upon arrival, you were seated at a table and asked to turn knobs attached to a board for one hour (you are asked to turn each know clockwise one rotation over and over).
Afterward, the experimenter convinces you to speak highly of the tasks you had performed by describing them to other potential participants as fun, worthwhile, interesting, and educational. You are paid either $1 or $20 to do this.
Suppose you were then asked to privately rate your enjoyment of the tasks on a questionnaire. After which amount do you believe your actual enjoyment rating of the tasks would be higher—$1 or $20?

9. How and why do our attitudes change?
Cognitive Dissonance: Festinger study
Subjects perform a very boring task for one hour. All agreed… BORING!
Subjects then "bribed" (either $1 or $20) to tell the next group coming in that the activity was exciting
What’s the dissonance?
"The task was really boring" (attitude) contradicts with "I lied and told someone that I liked the task” (behavior)

10. How and why do our attitudes change?
Cognitive Dissonance: Festinger study
Later, the subjects were asked their true feelings
$20 group's attitude towards the activity did not change much because they had an obvious reason to behave inconsistently with their original attitudes
“I said that I enjoyed the task because I got $20, but I really thought it was boring”
$1 people changed their attitude to “I actually enjoyed the task” because $1 was not a good enough reason to lie

11. How and why do our attitudes change?
Belief-Disconfirmation:
Reducing dissonance through justifications:
What dissonance exists with smoking?
Effort Justification:
You’ve waited all summer for a concert and paid a ridiculously high price on Stub Hub for the tickets
The concert is terrible… cognitive dissonance?

12. Attitudes and Action
Not only will people stand up for what they believe, they will also come to believe what they have stood up for

13. Changing Attitudes Foot-in-the-Door Technique (Lowballing)
Asking for small favors first to induce persuasion
Experimental group asked to put a 3 inch square sign ("Be a safe driver”) in their house window
Control group not offered this request
Both groups asked to place a large ugly billboard reading, "Drive Carefully” on their front lawn
17% of control group allowed sign
76% of experimental group agreed when they had first complied with smaller request

14. Door-in-the-Face Technique
Changing Attitudes
Door-in-the-Face Technique
Unrealistically high initial request, is followed by a more reasonable secondary request
Norm of Reciprocity
If I give something to you, you are obligated to give me something back

15. Wrap-up: Shuman Psych Challenge
You will be assigned to a group where you must try to change the attitude of someone else
See the handout provided