Exam 5: Attitudes and Attitude Change

When a low-credibility source communicates a message, and the persuasiveness of the message increases over time, this is known as the ________ effect.

Paul, an avid Chicago Bulls fan, hears an acquaintance arguing persuasively that the Los Angeles Lakers are the most consistent and talented basketball team ever. When he can't find reasons to support his own position, he tells the acquaintance, "You just don't know anything about basketball!" This is an example of

Overall evaluations toward attitude objects are often difficult to change.

Provide an example of an attitude that might be related to a behavior. Describe three conditions under which the attitude and the behavior are likely to be the most consistent.

The greatest attitude change occurs when there is a large discrepancy between the pre-existing attitude and the communication.

After making decisions, we tend to increase our liking for what we choose and to decrease our liking for what we did not choose.

Explain the significance of choice in the formation and reduction of dissonance.

When people are engaged in counter-attitudinal behavior, they are likely to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance by

Self-perception theory applies to situations when our attitudes are clear-cut and unambiguous.

Discuss cognitive dissonance theory and its implications for attitude change.

The ________ approach to understanding attitudes began with the work of Carl Hovland and his associates at Yale University.

Discuss the principle of least effort as it applies to balance theory.

You take a psychology course and receive an A for the semester, and then decide that you like psychology and want to be a psychology major. Which principle best explains your attitude?

According to dissonance theory, a mother who wants her child to believe that having a clean room is a good thing should

When we choose something that works out badly, dissonance is created even if we were unaware that the outcome could have been negative.

When people argue against their own self-interest, it increases

The most influential of the cognitive consistency theories has been ________ theory, proposed by Leon Festinger.

McGuire and Papageorgis (1961) conducted a study of the inoculation defense and found that the participants who were least influenced by a strong attack on their initial attitudes were those who

We tend to be persuaded when a position is adopted by a(n) ________ group.

Research by Tesser has shown that thinking about an attitude object tends to make the attitude