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Attitudes
Attitudes are evaluations and judgements we make about people, places, actions, or things
The ABC Model of Attitudes states that our attitudes are comprised of 3 components:
1. Affective - how we feel about something
2. Behavioural - how we act towards something
3. Cognitive - how we think about something
Example: our attitude towards jaywalking is shaped by our affect (we don't feel much guilt or shame when we do it), our behaviour (we might sometimes jaywalk if there's no one around), and our cognition (we might think: "it's not really hurting anyone if it's in a quiet place")
Attitudes can be formed and shaped by:
- Socialization (family, school, friends)
- Experience (memories and past experiences can shape future attitudes)
- Conditioning (formed associations can influence how we think or feel about something)
- Observation (watching others and hearing about their attitudes can shape yours)
Cognitive dissonance - discomfort and tension experienced as a result of a clash between our attitudes and behaviours
- Example: we may think that smoking cigarettes is unhealthy (attitude), but we continue to do it (behaviour)
- This results in cognitive dissonance, which we are naturally inclined to reduce
- Cognitive dissonance can be reduced by either changing the attitude (Maybe smoking isn't as bad for you as people say) or the behaviour (I'll stop smoking)