Social Psychology
by David G. Myers 8th Edition

Behaviors and Attitudes

Attitudes (cont.)

When Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?

Minimizing social influences on expressed attitudes

Minimizing other influences on behavior

Examining attitudes specific to the behavior

Making attitudes potent

Does Behavior Determine Attitudes?

Role playing

Saying becomes believing

The foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Evil acts and attitudes

Interracial behavior and attitudes

Social movements

Why Do Actions (Seem to) Affect Attitudes?

Self-Presentation Theory

This theory explains why our actions might seem to affect our behavior.

Self-presentation theory says that our behavior is aimed at creating desired impressions, and it may seem like our attitudes have changed (because we act in a certain way) when inside our attitudes don’t really match our behavior.

Why Do Actions (Really) Affect Attitudes?

Cognitive dissonance theory

Insufficient justification

Dissonance after decisions

Dissonance & Insufficient Justification

More on Dissonance

Why Do Actions (Really) Affect Attitudes?
A Second Theory

Self-perception theory

An alternative to the cognitive dissonance theory

When we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them from our behavior

Overjustification and intrinsic motivations

Comparing the theories

Dissonance as arousal

Self-perceiving when not self-contradicting

Attitudes & Motivation

Cognitive Dissonance-Revised
Self-Affirmation Theory

Comparison of the Two Theories