Attitude Formation: Cognitive Consistency and Inconsistency

Attitude Formation Cognitive unison and InconsistencyMinahil MeherAttitude FormationMany of our views ar acquired in situations in which we interact with or point out the behaviour of others, called friendly learning. Such learning can be acquired through several operatees, which in turn help us form military capabilitys.Classical instruct Learning based on AssociationThe evoking of an attitude by the association of an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral conditioned stimulus is the first process of learning classical conditioning. When a stimulus that is capable of producing a positive response (U.S) regularly precedes a second stimulus (C.S), the first becomes a steer for the second. Advertisers and other persuasion agents have considerable expertise in using this principle to create positive attitudes towards their products.EXAMPLE Marketing a smart drink. beforehand ConditioningAttractive Girls Positive Emotions(Unconditioned Stimulus) (Unconditioned Response)Drinks Log o No Response(Neutral Stimulus)During ConditioningAttractive GirlsPositive Emotions/AttitudesDrinks Logo (Conditioned Response) aft(prenominal) ConditioningDrinks Logo Positive Emotions/ Attitudes(Conditioned Stimulus)As the Drinks Logo is continuously being paired with images of attractive girls, positive attitudes deliver the goods be developed within the target population.Classical conditioning takes place best in social settings where an individuals close ones ar concerned, gum olibanum helping form attitudes. A young kidskin defines her mother frown and show other signs of displeasure and discomfort in the presence of a busy societal or religious class of volume. At first the child is neutral towards the presence of these people as she/he is unaw ar of their distinct characteristics e.g. peel colour, type of clothes, language etc. The child at this point has non yet learned to categorize these variations in terms of group membership. However, once these cues be pair ed repeatedly with the mothers veto emotional reactions, classical conditioning materializes, and the child then gradually begins to react in a sympathetic fashion as her mother in the presence of the particular set of people. This usually takes place on the unconscious level i.e. the child whitethorn non have conscious access to the role that mothers changed emotional reactions play on the formation of a negative attitude. As a result, the child acquires a negative attitude that is generalized to members of that group as a whole.Subliminal Conditioning jibe to a study by Krosnick et. al. (1992, as cited in Baron et.al. 2010), individuals can often form an attitude without being aware of the stimulus responsible. Students were shown photographs of a stranger engaging in a grocery stemma or walking into her apartment. While viewing these photos, other pictures associated with either positive or negative feelings, were exposed for brief periods of time. Participants who were expo sed to photographs that bring forth positive feelings (e.g. laughter, newly wed couple) liked the stranger better than participants who had been exposed to photos that induced negative feelings (e.g. open-heart surgery). This for of attitude formation is known as subliminal conditioning.Mere ExposureThis refers to having seen an fair game before, but not remembering having seen it. This too results in attitude formation and its effects on attitudes are stronger as the stimuli are perceived consciously kind of than subliminally thus, conscious memory of the stimuli is not required (but conscious pictorial matter is). Alzheimer patients, who cannot not memorize the stimuli, are seen to form new attitudes on the basis of mere exposure to certain stimuli.Instrumental Conditioning Rewards for the Right Views.We can acquire an attitude toward our classes and jobs through instrumental conditioning i.e. learning based on organise project with the object on the basis of rewards and pu nishments. If an individual experience rewards related to some(a) object, his/her attitude forget be favorable. thusly, if their work provides them with good pay, a sense of accomplishment, and compliment from co-workers, their attitude toward it will be quite positive. Attitudes that are followed by positive outcomes tend to be strengthened and are likely to be repeated, while attitudes that are followed by negative outcomes are weakened so their likelihood of being expressed a succeed is reduced.The rewards given to individuals during such conditioning, in a social context, are usually in the form of psychological acceptance. That is why it is seen that most children express political, religious and social views that are highly similar to those of their parents and other family members, until the teen when the mates influences become especially strong.EXAMPLE Positive/Favorable Attitude toward alcohol consumption (Teenage).Before Instrumental ConditioningAlcohol Consumption Ne gative(Behaviour) (Attitude towards it)Peers provide IF Alcohol Consumed sociable Acceptance/ Status(Reward Given)After Instrumental ConditioningAlcohol Consumption Positive (Behaviour) (Attitude towards it)This shows that if someone rewards a behavior, even if the behaviour itself is wrong, it is more(prenominal) likely to be repeated as it is strengthened it is the right view in the opinions of those who are in favor of alcohol consumption.As adults, we may be aware that different groups we belong to will reward or punish us for expressing support for a particular attitude position. We may even honor ourselves expressing one view on a topic to one audience and other view to a different audience. A relevant example would be the upcoming Elections 13 of Pakistan i.e. they depend on a candidates success at delivering the right view to the right audience, and so may be perceived as shifting their responses to accommodate the views of different audiences rather than taking a firm s tand on anything. This shows that they alter their attitudes just to gain rewards from people (votes). This however, can also be applied to the voters who will change their views or attitudes of voting for a particular party on the basis of the rewards in store for them e.g. financial benefits, technological advancements etc.Observational Learning Learning by Exposure to OthersAttitudes can form also in the absence of direct rewards for acquiring or expressing those attitudes through the method of observational learning or vicarious learning when individuals acquire attitudes or behaviors simply by observing others. According to Myers and Caniglia (2004, as cited in Delamater Myers, 2011) the media provide interpretive packages or frames about an object that may influence the attitudes of viewers and readers. By portraying events and actors in certain ways, TV news, news magazines, and newspapers can produce cognitive images of a racial group as being volatile, dangerous, or unreas onable that in turn produce negative attitudes. A common example is that of how Muslims are shown on international television as terrorists, instilling within the international audience that all Muslims are terrorists even though they may never have actually been in direct contact with them and yet develop a negative attitude towards them. But why do people adopt the attitudes that they hear others express or imitate the behaviors they observe in others?Social ComparisonThis refers to our tendency to differentiate ourselves with others to determine whether our view of social reality is correct or not, as we often adopt the attitudes that others hold. An individual is then seen to adopt the attitude position of those they see as similar to themselves and not of those they consider or see as dissimilar. An 18 year-old girl is more likely to look at another 18 year-old girl to adopt a clothing fashion or be up-to-date with the latest trends rather than a 50 year-old woman who isolates herself from societal values. withal if a teenaged boy wants to know about the latest games to play on his Xbox/PS3, he will more likely observe gamers rather than non-gamers also, if we go deeper, he will observe gamers who play the same kind of games as him same genre of games.Reference GroupsA reference group consists of the people an individual values and prefers to identify with, who they look up to when adjusting and forming their attitudes. The adoption of an attitude thus depend on extend to which an individual identifies with the group advocates the formation of an attitude or the change. This may apply to making small purchase decisions which brand of sunscreen to buy, as well as forming attitudes about other groups of people whether a new social group is positive or negative. According to a research it has been proven that if your reference group holds negative views about a new social group we have never been in contact with, we are more likely to form the similar nega tive attitude towards them despite not sagacious them at all. Not completely this but we ourselves expect to be influenced by those who we consider as similar. typesetters case University students being given a lecture on AIDS and the hazards of unprotected sex are more likely to be influenced by the attitude or views of the speakers if they are also university students, like themselves.Cognitive Consistency/InconsistencyConsistency among a persons cognitions i.e. beliefs and attitudes is widespread. If you have liberal political values, you probably favor medical assistance programs for people living in poverty. If you value equal rights for all persons, you probably support affirmative action plans. The observation that most peoples cognitions are consistent with one another implies that individuals are motivated to maintain that consistency. Several theories of attitude organization are based on this principle. In general, these cognitive consistency theories hypothesize that if an inconsistency develops amongst cognitive elements, people are motivated to restore harmony between those elements.Balance TheorySocial end conjecture as proposed by Fritz Heider (1946) is the theory that people strive for cognitive labyrinthine sense in their network of likes and dislikes. According to the offset theory, an imbalanced state is one in which two of the human relationships between elements are positive and one is negative or in which all three are negative. This theory can thus be used to explain our attitudes and fretfulness related to people we know, and consists of three possible statesBalance When the person/people we know have the same attitude as us.Imbalance When the person/people we know hold a contradictory attitude to ours.Non-balance When the person/people we dont like hold a contradictory attitude to ours. guinea pigConsider Fatima and Bilal, who are seniors in college. They have been passing game out together for 3 years and soon want to get married. Bilal is thinking about going to law instruct. Fatima doesnt want him to stay in school after he gets his bachelors degree. She doesnt want him to go to school for 3 more years, during their starting years of marriage.Bilal feels strongly about Law School (Positive Attitude).Bilal loves Fatima greatly and so does she (Positive Attitude).Fatima doesnt want him to go to Law School (Negative Attitude).Thus there is an imbalance that needs to be restored. There are three basic ways to do thisFirst, Bilal may change his attitudes so that the attitude emplacement (negative or positive) of one of the relations is reversed. For instance, Bilal may decide he does not want to attend law school (Positive to Negative). Alternatively, Bilal may decide he does not love Fatima (Positive to Negative), or he may persuade Fatima it is a good idea for him to go to law school (Negative to Positive). Each of these involves changing one relationship so the system of beliefs contains either zer o or two negative relationships.Bilal can restore balance by changing a positive or negative relation to a null relation. Bilal may decide that Fatima doesnt know anything about law school and her attitude toward it is irrelevant.Third, Bilal can restore balance by differentiating the attributes of the other person or object. For instance, Bilal may distinguish between major law schools, which require all the time and energy of their students, and less(prenominal) esteemed ones, which require less work. Fatima is correct in her belief that they would have to postpone marriage if he went to Yale Law School. However, Bilal believes he can go to a topical anaesthetic school part-time and also work and maintain a marriage.Balance is usually restored in whichever way is easiest. If one relationship is weaker than the other two, the easiest mode of restoring balance is to change the weaker relationship. Because Bilal and Fatima have been seeing each other for 3 years, it would be very d ifficult for Bilal to change his sentiments toward Fatima. It would be easier for him to change his attitude toward law school than to get a new fiance. However, Bilal would prefer to maintain their relationship and go to law school. Therefore, he may attempt to change Fatimas attitude, perhaps by differentiating the object (law schools). If this influence attempt fails, Bilal will probably change his own attitude towards law school.Cognitive-Dissonance TheoryWhenever we make a decision, there are some cognitions attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, that are consonant with that decision, and other cognitions that are dissonant with it. Dissonant cognitions create an unpleasant psychological state that we are motivated to reduce or eliminate. Whereas balance theory deals with the relationships among three cognitions, dissonance theory deals with consistency between two or more elements (behaviors and attitudes). There are two situations in which dissonance usually occursAfter a decision.W hen one acts in a way that is inconsistent with ones beliefs.Post-decision DissonanceAfter one has made a decision.Example Sajid needs a job in the city to earn money for his family.Having made the choice, Sajid is experiencing cognitive dissonance a state of psychological tension induced by dissonant relationships between cognitive elements. Some decisions produce a large amount of cognitive dissonance, others very little. The magnitude of dissonance experienced depends in part on the proportion of elements that are dissonant with a persons decision. In Sajids case, there are three consonant and only two dissonant cognitions, so he will experience moderate dissonance. The magnitude is also influenced by the magnificence of the elements. He will experience less dissonance if it is not important that he will seldom get a holiday, but more dissonance if spending time with his family is of great importance to him. A way of reducing the dissonance would be to emphasize more on the cons onant cognitions and de-emphasize the dissonant cognitions.Counter-attitudinal BehaviorA second fact that produces dissonance occurs when a person behaves in a way that is inconsistent with his or her attitudes.Example When a person who considers himself high in honesty is asked to lie. Jameel whole works as a sales man and is asked to lie to the customers about the quality of a certain product asked to say its imported when its not. For either customer he convinces to make such a purchase, he receives extra money (apart from his basic salary). If Jameel actually lies to the customer, he will face dissonance as it goes against his attitude of being honest behaviour is inconsistent with cognitions. The theory of cognitive dissonance, in regard to reducing the amount of dissonance being faces predicts thatOne will change their attitudes toward the tasks (like them better).The amount of change will depend on the incentive paid to tell the lie.Specifically, the theory predicts that g reater attitude change will occur when the incentive to tell the lie is low rather than high, because one will experience greater dissonance under low incentives than under high incentives.ReferencesBaron, R. A., Bhardwaj. G., Branscombe, N. R. Byrne, D. (2011) Social Psychology(12th ed). India Dorling Kindersley.Delamater, J. D. Myers, D. J. (2011) Social Psychology (7th ed). CA, USAWadsworth Cengage Learning.