Attitude change

Attitude change is when a person or group changes their views, values, or beliefs about a particular topic, issue, or object. This can happen as a result of new information, experiences, or influence from others. Attitudes are associated beliefs and behaviors towards some object. They are not stable, and because of the communication and behavior of other people, are subject to change by social influences, as well as by the individual's motivation to maintain cognitive consistency when cognitive dissonance occurs—when two attitudes or attitude and behavior conflict. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of affective and cognitive components. It has been suggested that the inter-structural composition of an associative network can be altered by the activation of a single node. Thus, by activating an affective or emotional node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined.

There are three bases for attitude change: compliance, identification, and internalization. These three processes represent the different levels of attitude change in response to accepting influence.

Compliance refers to a change in behavior based on consequences, such as an individual's hopes to gain rewards or avoid punishment from another group or person. The individual does not necessarily experience changes in beliefs or evaluations of an attitude object, but rather is influenced by the social outcomes of adopting a change in behavior. For example, a child might outwardly agree with their parents' political party to avoid conflict or gain approval, even though they don't personally agree with or understand the party's values or policies. The individual is also often aware that he or she is being urged to respond in a certain way.

Compliance was demonstrated through a series of laboratory experiments known as the Asch experiments. Experiments led by Solomon Asch of Swarthmore College asked groups of students to participate in a "vision test". In reality, all but one of the participants were confederates of the experimenter, and the study was really about how the remaining student would react to the confederates' behavior. Participants were asked to pick, out of three line options, the line that is the same length as a sample and were asked to give the answer out loud. Unbeknown to the participants, Asch had placed a number of confederates to deliberately give the wrong answer before the participant. The results showed that 75% of responses were in line with majority influence and were the same answers the confederates picked. Variations in the experiments showed that compliance rates increased as the number of confederates increased, and the plateau was reached with around 15 confederates. The likelihood of compliance dropped with minority opposition, even if only one confederate gave the correct answer. The basis for compliance is founded on the fundamental idea that people want to be accurate and right.

Identification explains one's change of beliefs and affect in order to be similar to someone one admires or likes. In this case, the individual adopts the new attitude, not due to the specific content of the attitude object, but because it is associated with the desired relationship. Identification also reflects a need to establish or maintain a meaningful, self-defining connection with another person or group, often by taking on their role or forming a reciprocal relationship. For example, children's attitudes on their political party affiliations are often adopted from their parents' attitudes and beliefs, not because the children have critically evaluated these ideas, but because doing so strengthens their bond with their parents and aligns with their identity within the family.

Internalization refers to the change in beliefs and affect when one finds the content of the attitude to be intrinsically rewarding, and thus leads to actual change in beliefs or evaluations of an attitude object. The new attitude or behaviour is consistent with the individual's value system, and tends to be merged with the individual's existing values and beliefs. Internalization occurs when the adopted behaviour aligns with the individual's value and fulfills their personal needs, making it deeply integrated into their value system. Using the same example, a child may grow up aligning with their parents' political party because over time, they come to genuinely agree with the party's values and policies, finding them consistent with their own developing belief system.

The expectancy-value theory is based on internalization of attitude change. This model states that the behaviour towards some object is a function of an individual's intent, which is a function of one's overall attitude towards the action. These attitudes are influenced by two key factors: the individual's expectation of success (how likely they believe they are to achieve the desired outcome) and the value they place on the outcome (how important or beneficial they perceive it to be). Together, these components explain how attitudes and motivations drive behaviour.

Emotion plays a major role in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change. Much of attitude research has emphasised the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns (see tobacco advertising) and political campaigns emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitude change based on emotions can be seen vividly in serial killers who are faced with major stress. There is considerable empirical support for the idea that emotions in the form of fear arousal, empathy, or a positive mood can enhance attitude change under certain conditions.