Attitudes and Behaviour
High-Yield Summary
- Social cognition = study of how people think about others and how those thoughts shape behavior. Attitude = positive/negative feeling toward a person, place, thing, or scenario, with 3 components: affective (emotion), behavioral (action), cognitive (belief/justification).
- Functional Attitudes Theory — 4 functions: knowledge (predicts others' behavior), ego-expressive (affirms identity), adaptive (gains social acceptance), ego-defensive (protects self-esteem, may excuse known-wrong behavior).
- Learning Theory: attitudes form via classical conditioning (paired with existing emotional stimulus), operant conditioning (reward/punishment), or observational learning (watching/replicating others).
- Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo): central route processing (deep, deliberate thought) vs. peripheral route processing (superficial cues — appearance, slogans, credibility) — situational, not a fixed trait; most people fall in between.
- Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura): reciprocal determinism — behavior, personal factors (thoughts/attitudes), and environment all continuously shape and are shaped by each other (not one-directional).
Key Terms
- Attitude
- A positive or negative feeling toward a person, place, thing, or scenario; made of affective, behavioral, and cognitive components.
- Ego-expressive function
- Attitudes that communicate and solidify self-identity.
- Ego-defensive function
- Attitudes that protect self-esteem or justify known-wrong actions.
- Central route processing
- Deep, deliberate elaboration of persuasive information before deciding.
- Peripheral route processing
- Reliance on superficial cues (appearance, slogans, credibility) rather than message content.
- Reciprocal determinism
- Bandura's concept: behavior, personal factors, and environment continuously and mutually influence one another.
The 3 Attitude Components
| Component | What it captures |
|---|---|
| Affective | How a person feels (emotion) |
| Behavioral | How a person acts |
| Cognitive | How a person thinks/justifies the feeling or action |
Functional Attitudes Theory — 4 Functions
| Function | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | Provides consistency/stability; predicts others' behavior |
| Ego-expressive | Communicates and solidifies self-identity |
| Adaptive | Gains social acceptance via socially acceptable attitudes |
| Ego-defensive | Protects self-esteem / justifies known-wrong actions |
Common MCAT Trap
- Sort vignette details into affective/behavioral/cognitive before answering — a feeling, belief, and action are easy to confuse for one another.
- Ego-expressive (affirms identity) vs. ego-defensive (protects from a threat, may excuse wrong behavior) — both relate to self but point opposite directions.
- Central/peripheral route processing is situational, not a personality trait — judge by how much the person actually engages with the message content.
- Reciprocal determinism runs in ALL directions: behavior, personal factors, and environment each shape and are shaped by the other two — not just environment → behavior.
Quick Recall
A person justifies cheating on a test by claiming 'everyone does it.' Which attitude function?
An attitude forms after repeatedly pairing a brand logo with pleasant music. Which learning mechanism?
A person skims an ad and is swayed mainly by the attractive spokesperson, not the argument. Central or peripheral route?
Per reciprocal determinism, what three factors mutually influence each other?
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