The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change

Human beings have a unique ability to create elaborate predispositions and evaluations based on their social experiences. The concept of attitudes is central to understanding how experience gives rise to these predispositions, and psychologists have spent the best part of the past 100 years trying to understand the intricacies of this process. Yet, despite decades of research, we still do not fully understand how attitudes are created, maintained and changed. The main objective of this book is to review and integrate some of the most recent, cutting-edge developments in research on attitudes and attitude change, presenting the work of eminent scholars in this field. Chapters in this book deal with such intriguing questions as: What role do associative processes play in the formation of attitudes? How do attitudes function as global and local action guides? What is the function of implicit evaluations, and vicarious experiences in producing attitude change? Are implicit associations a useful way to measure attitudes? What role does affect play in attitude formation and change? What role do social interaction processes play in persuasion, and how does persuasion work in real-life settings? The book is essential reading for students and researchers in social psychology, as well as practitioners in every field where understanding and changing attitudes is important, such as clinical, counseling, organizational, marketing, forensic, and developmental psychology.

Table of Contents:
Part 1. Introduction and Basic Issues. J.P. Forgas, J. Cooper, W. Crano, Introductory Remarks: History Background and Issues of Research on Attitudes and Attitude Change. B.T. Johnson, M. Boynton, Putting Attitudes in their Place: Behavioral Prediction in the Face of Competing Variables. A. Ledgerwood, Y. Trope, Attitudes as Global and Local Action Guides. E. Walther, For Whom Pavlov’s Bell Tolls: Is There Any Evidence for Associative Processes Underlying Attitude Formation and Change? J. Blascovich, C. McCall, Attitudes in Virtual Reality. Part 2. Attitudes: Cognitive and Affective Processes. J. Cooper, Vicarious Cognitive Dissonance: Changing Attitudes by Experiencing Another’s Pain. S.J. Spencer, M.P. Zanna, Implicit Evaluations and Attitude Change: How Implicit Attitudes and Norms Can Foster Changes in Attitudes and Behavior. E. Harmon-Jones, D.M. Amodio, C. Harmon-Jones, An Action-based Model of Cognitive Dissonance: On Cognitive Conflict and Attitude Change. K. Fiedler, The Asymmetry of Causal and Diagnostic Inferences: A Challenge for the Study of Implicit Attitudes. J.P. Forgas, The Role of Affect in Attitude Formation, Expression and Attitude Change. Part 3. Attitudes and Persuasion. M. Waenke, L. Reutner, Pragmatic Persuasion or the Persuasion Paradox. K. Williams, S. Zheng, D. Wegener, A Needs-based Theory of Persuasion. R. Prislin, Persuasion as Social Interaction. W.D. Crano, Experiments as Reforms: Persuasion in the Nation’s Service. Part 4. Applications and Implications of Attitude Research. B. Major, Perceiving and Reacting to Prejudice: Impact of Shared Attitudes and Beliefs about Status Inequality. F. Rhodewalt, B. Petersen, The Self and Intergroup Attitudes: Connecting "Fragile" Personal and Collective Self-Concepts. J. Krosnick, Passion in Politics: The Study of Attitude Strength Inside and Outside the Laboratory.