Attitudes and Attitude Change
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| stereotype/ˈsterɪəʊtaɪp/ | A generalised belief about members of a group that overlooks differences between individuals. |
| prejudice/ˈpredʒuːdɪs/ | An attitude and discrimination is a behaviour. |
| discrimination/dɪˌskrɪmɪˈneɪʃn/ | Unfair treatment of people based on their membership of a particular group. |
| Cognitive dissonance/ˈkɒɡnɪtɪv ˈdɪsənəns/ | The mental discomfort when actions and attitudes conflict. |
| Implicit attitudes/ɪmˈplɪsɪt ˈætɪtjuːdz/ | Evaluations that can influence responses automatically without being consciously reported or deliberately expressed. |
| Belief perseverance/bɪˈliːf ˌpɜːsɪˈvɪərəns/ | Clinging to a belief after the evidence for it has been discredited. |
| confirmation bias/kɒnfəˈmeɪʃn ˈbaɪəs/ | confirmation bias |
Acting against your own belief is uncomfortable
- People do not simply hold attitudes — they defend them, and adjust them under pressure.
- The discomfort of a mismatch is itself a force that changes attitudes.
- This topic names the mechanisms of both stability and change.
Stereotypes
- A stereotype 刻板印象 is a generalised concept about a group.
- The CED notes that stereotypes can reduce cognitive load when making decisions — that is why they persist.
- They also produce prejudice 偏见 (an attitude) and discrimination 歧视 (a behaviour).
Cognitive dissonance 认知失调: when behaviour and belief clash, the attitude often shifts
Prejudice and discrimination mean the same thing.
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Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is a behaviour. They often co-occur but are separable.
Implicit attitudes
- Implicit attitudes 内隐态度 are held without the person being aware of them or acknowledging them.
- Because they are not conscious, they cannot be measured by simply asking.
- That is precisely why they matter: behaviour can follow an attitude a person sincerely denies holding.
Change an attitude, or fail to
The route the persuasion takes decides how durable the attitude change is.
Select all that are true of implicit attitudes.
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If they were deliberate they would not be implicit.
Prejudice is an attitude and discrimination is a behaviour. The two often go together but they are separable, and the CED tests the distinction — an answer that uses them interchangeably has lost the point.
Noticing evidence that fits your belief and discounting evidence that does not is ____ bias.
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Confirmation bias is how belief perseverance is maintained in practice.
Match each term to what it does to an attitude.
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One holds an attitude in place, one moves it, and one supplies it.
Belief perseverance
- Belief perseverance 信念固着 is a belief persisting even when the evidence says it is wrong.
- People experience confirmation bias 确认偏差 — noticing evidence that fits and discounting evidence that does not.
- The belief is not defended by argument so much as protected by attention.
Cognitive dissonance most often changes...
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The action is fixed, so the attitude moves to remove the discomfort.
Cognitive dissonance
- Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort when actions and attitudes conflict.
- People reduce it by changing the attitude, since the action has already happened.
- That is why doing something can change what you believe — the causal arrow runs backwards from the usual assumption.
Participants who were paid a very small amount to say a dull task was interesting later reported actually enjoying it. Those who were paid a large amount did not. With no external justification, the only way to remove the dissonance was to change the attitude.
Stereotypes reduce cognitive load and produce prejudice (attitude) and discrimination (behaviour). Implicit attitudes operate without awareness. Belief perseverance and confirmation bias keep attitudes stable, while cognitive dissonance changes them by making a mismatch uncomfortable.
Write from rejecting a qualified 58-year-old
- A manager holds a stereotype about older workers, feels unwilling to hire them, and rejects a qualified 58-year-old.
- Separate stereotype, prejudice and discrimination.
A manager stereotypes older workers, feels unwilling to hire them, and rejects a qualified 58-year-old. Which step is discrimination?
Discrimination is the behaviour. Prejudice can exist before anyone is rejected.
What is the rejection of the 58-year-old?
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Turning the attitude into a hiring rejection is discrimination. Other options — Only prejudice (because no action is involved); Dissonance from a small payment (the lesson study).