Psychology Project: Attitudes
Aim: To study attitudinal differences regarding Fashion/Work or
Lifestyle/Marriage.
Literature review:
Attitude: According to Gordon Allport, “An attitude is a mental and
neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a
directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all
objects and situations with which it is related.” A person's general
approach to an object, idea, event, or other person is referred to as
their attitude. Depending on how they feel about something, a
person's attitude might be either positive or negative. A person's
approach and response to diverse objects and situations are
influenced by three primary aspects of attitude. Affective,
cognitive, and behavioural aspects of attitude make up attitude.
Attitude is characterised by the following:
Attitudes are emotions, not principles. Attitudes are acquired and
predetermined in before. Attitudes are either favourable or
unfavourable. Attitudes can vary in intensity. The attitude of a
person can impart information, among other things. For instance, a
person's attitude might influence how they interpret and respond to
certain life circumstances. A person's identity can be expressed
vocally and non-verbally through their attitudes, which are also ego-
expressive. For example, a person may express oneself non-orally by
utilising bumpers stickers on their automobile, or verbally by
articulating their thoughts about a thing. Additionally, since
attitudes are malleable, a person can change them to fit in with a
certain social group. Additionally, attitudes can aid a person in
defending their identity because they are ego-defensive.
Persuasion: People's decisions and behaviours can be strongly
influenced by persuasion, which can be a strong force. It is a
procedure when one individual or group attempts to persuade
another individual or group of individuals to alter their attitudes or
habits. It differs from coercion in that those receiving the message
have the option of acting on it or not. Symbolic messages that are
intended to persuade people can be communicated vocally,
nonverbally, through media, or in person. Overt or covert persuasion
is possible. One knowing how it functions can make you more
conscious of how persuasive messages affect you.
Cognitive dissonance: The mental pain that occurs from having two
contradictory views, values, or attitudes is referred to as cognitive
dissonance. This conflict results in feelings of unease or discomfort
because people want consistency in their attitudes and perceptions.
The discrepancy between what people believe and how they behave
encourages them to take steps that will lessen their discomfort.
People make many efforts to release this tension, including
rejecting, explaining away, or ignoring new knowledge.
According to the cognitive dissonance theory, when a person's
action conflicts with his or her opinions and beliefs, an underlying
psychological tension result. An individual is thus motivated to
adjust their attitude in order to achieve consistency between their
beliefs and behaviours as a result of this underlying tension.
According to research, when someone acts in a way that is at odds
with their attitude or belief (for example, taking the opposite side
of an argument), their attitude changes in a way that is congruent
with that action. The same mechanism that results in changes in
unfavourable, irrational beliefs that are important in the
maintenance of depression and other related disorders also
produces changes in thoughts or attitudes.
Discrimination: Discrimination is the unfair or biased treatment of
people and groups based on qualities such as race, gender, age or
sexual orientation. The simple response is yes. But figuring out why
it occurs is more difficult. The human brain automatically organises
things in categories to make sense of the world. For example, very
young children quickly pick up on the differences between boys and
girls. However, we learn the values we assign to various categories
through our parents, our classmates, and the observations we make
about how the world functions. Discrimination frequently results
from mistrust and misunderstanding.
Causes of prejudice: The causes of prejudice differ. Some are
associated with historical occasions. Prejudice frequently stems
from ignorance. Education is the answer, but because prejudices
frequently make individuals feel superior, many people choose to
stay uninformed. Bullying victims who later become bullies
themselves are possible. Similar to this, if someone has experienced
prejudice, there is a possibility that they would develop similar
views about other people. A person's upbringing may contribute to
their bias. There is a possibility that parents' preconceptions will be
handed along to their children if they themselves had any.
Ultimate attribution error: The ultimate attribution error is a
cognitive fallacy made by prejudiced people whereby unfavourable
behaviours are assigned to the personalities of members of the
outgroup and are then applied to all of those members. Members of
the ingroup's negative actions are attributed to contextual, or
external, factors and do not have the same effect on opinions of the
ingroup as a whole. A people who believe this fallacy typically
perceive people of different races or religions as genetically and/or
dispositionally inferior or flawed, while they perceive those within
their own racial or religious ingroup as good people who are making
the best of the circumstances in which they find themselves.
Contrarily, those who make this mistake view the good deeds of
outgroup members as the exception rather than the rule or blame
the outgroup member's good deeds on unfair advantages.
Stereotypes: a stereotype is a fixed, over generalized belief about a
particular group or class of people. By stereotyping we infer that a
person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we
assume all members of that group have. For example, a “hells angel”
biker dresses in leather. The use of stereotypes is a major way in
which we simplify our social world; since they reduce the amount of
processing we have to do when we meet a new person.
How to combat prejudice?
In order to combat bias, one strategy that has had a lot of success
is teaching individuals to be more empathic toward persons from
various communities. The following strategies might be used to
lessen prejudice: increasing public support and knowledge of societal
norms against bias expanding interactions with people from various
social groupings educating individuals about the contradictions in
their own ideas passing legislation requiring everyone to receive fair
and equal treatment.
