Attitude a Behavior Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Attitude a Behavior - Research Paper Example The concept is that attitude is a learned behavior. The hypothesis is to show how they relate and influence each other. Social Psychology Social psychology is concerned with social influences upon the individual. Because it emphasizes the individual, it qualifies as psychology, yet because of its focus on the social situation it has much in common with sociology. Thus the general area where sociology and psychology overlap is called social psychology, although the topic involves far more than simply trying to find common ground between the two disciplines. Myers (1987) has identified three areas of consideration in social psychology: the way people think about one another, how they influence one another, and how they relate to one other. Attitudes Social psychologists are concerned not only with the formation of attitudes but also with how attitudes can be influenced and changed. An attitude is made up of thought, feeling, and a predisposition to act upon that thought and feeling. Sh eer thought is the basis of an opinion. While thought and feeling may technically make up an attitude a third factor, behavior is likely to result. The credibility of the person attempting to change attitudes is an important factor in determining success. The perceived intentions of the communicator are especially important. If intentions are seen as positive, influence will tend to be greater. Some have debated whether one or two-sided presentation is the most effective. Is it better to just present one side of an issue or to give both sides? Research to date indicates that the one-sided approach is more effective if the audience is unintelligent, authoritarian or already in agreement with the stated position. Generally, however, the two-sided approach works better because the presenter sounds more objective (Jones and Brehm, 1970). Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance is an inner tension resulting from the attempt to hold two contrasting thoughts at the same time (Festinger 1 957). One of those thoughts may result from behavior therefore, if an attitude contradicts action, dissonance results. When dissonance occurs, the individual tries to relieve that tension by changing opinions, changing actions, or adding new ideas to thinking. Any of these will tend to nullify the cognitive dissonance and reduce tension over the issue. Case study Experiment Festinger demonstrated this concept by having people perform an extremely boring task (turning knobs a quarter –turn on a board). He asked each participant to convince another person, supposedly waiting to take part in the experiment, that it was an interesting task. At this point he offered either one or twenty dollars to the participant for convincing the other person the task would be interesting. Afterward he evaluated those who were paid to see whether they had enjoyed the knob-turning task. While behavioral psychology might suggest that the bigger reward would produce the greatest change, just the op posite occurred; those who received one dollar for lying the most positive about the boring task while those who received twenty dollars changed the least in their attitudes.