Random 1
attitude
An evaluation of an object in a positive or negative fashion that includes three components: affect, cognition, and behavior
system justification theory
The theory that people are motivated to see the existing sociopolitical system as desirable, fair, and legitimate.
implicit attitude measure
An indirect measure of attitudes that doesn't involve a self-report.
self-perception theory
The theory that people come to know their own attitudes by looking at their behavior and the context in which it occurred and then inferring what their attitudes must be.
effort justification
The tendency to reduce dissonance by justifying the time, effort, or money devoted to something that turned out to be unpleasant or disappointing.
response latency
The amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, such as an attitude question.
Likert scale
A numerical scale used to assess people's attitudes; a scale that includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme.
cognitive dissonance theory
The theory that inconsistency between a person's thoughts, sentiments, and actions creates an aversive emotional state (dissonance) that leads to efforts to restore consistency.
terror management theory (TMT)
The theory that people deal with the potentially crippling anxiety associated with the inevitability of death by striving for symbolic immortality through preserving valued cultural worldviews and by believing they have lived up to their culture's standards.
induced (forced) compliance
Subtly compelling people to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their beliefs, attitudes, or values in order to elicit dissonance and therefore a change in their original attitudes and values.
elaboration likelihood model (ELM)
A model of persuasion that maintains there are two routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route.
central route
A route to persuasion wherein people think carefully and deliberately about the content of a persuasive message, attending to its logic and the strength of its arguments as well as to related evidence and principles.
peripheral route
A route to persuasion wherein people attend to relatively easy-to-process, superficial cues related to a persuasive message, such as its length or the expertise or attractiveness of the source of the message.
source characteristics
Characteristics of the person who delivers a persuasive message, such as attractiveness, credibility, and certainty.
sleeper effect
An effect that occurs when a persuasive message from an unreliable source initially exerts little influence but later causes attitudes to shift.
message characteristics
Aspects or content of a persuasive message, including the quality of the evidence and the explicitness of its conclusions.
identifiable victim effect
The tendency to be more moved by the vivid plight of a single individual than by the struggles of a more abstract number of people.
audience characteristics
Characteristics of those who receive a persuasive message, including need for cognition, mood, and age.
agenda control
Efforts by the media to emphasize certain events and topics, thereby shaping which issues and events people think are important.
hostile media phenomenon
The tendency for people to see media coverage as biased against their own side and in favor of their opponents' side.
thought polarization hypothesis
The hypothesis that more extended thought about a particular issue tends to produce a more extreme, entrenched attitude.
attitude inoculation
Small attacks on people's beliefs that engage their preexisting attitudes, prior commitments, and background knowledge, enabling them to counteract a subsequent larger attack and thus resist persuasion.
A speaker delivers a persuasive message emphasizing a threat but also provides a clear solution that people believe they can perform. According to research on fear appeals, why is this most effective?
A) It maximizes emotional discomfort
B) People feel capable of performing the recommended action
C) It relies on unconscious processing
D) It creates cognitive dissonance
The correct answer is B) People feel capable of performing the recommended action.
A student who was initially against a school initiative starts following it because their friends do, and later reports supporting it. Which mechanism explains this change?
A) Reactance
B) Observational learning
C) Cognitive dissonance
D) Self-perception theory
The correct answer is B) Observational learning.
A student touches their face, bites their nails, and fidgets during a stressful exam. These behaviors are examples of:
A) Emblems
B) Illustrators
C) Adaptors
D) Regulators
The correct answer is C) Adaptors.