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AP Psychology · Unit 4: Social Psychology & Personality

4.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

What is an attitude?

An attitude is a learned tendency to evaluate something (a person, object, or idea) in a positive or negative way, shaping how we think, feel, and act toward it. Attitudes form through direct experience, classical/operant conditioning, observational learning, and social norms/culture. They influence behavior most strongly when they're specific, stable, and easily brought to mind.

Cognitive dissonance drives change

Cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger) is the mental discomfort felt when behavior conflicts with attitudes or beliefs. To reduce dissonance, people often change their attitude to match their behavior rather than change the behavior itself, especially when justification for the behavior is weak. This explains why people rationalize actions after the fact.

Persuasion: two routes

Persuasion changes attitudes through two routes. The central route uses logical arguments and evidence, producing durable change when the audience is motivated/attentive. The peripheral route relies on superficial cues (attractiveness, emotion, credibility) and works when people aren't focused on content — producing weaker, less lasting change. The elaboration likelihood model describes this process.

Key terms

Attitude
A learned tendency to evaluate a person, object, or idea positively or negatively.
Cognitive dissonance
Discomfort from inconsistency between attitudes and behavior; often resolved by changing the attitude.
Central route (persuasion)
Attitude change through careful evaluation of logical arguments and evidence; produces durable change.
Peripheral route (persuasion)
Attitude change through superficial cues like attractiveness or emotion; produces weaker, less lasting change.
Elaboration likelihood model
Theory describing how attitudes change via two routes: central (thoughtful) and peripheral (superficial).

Try an AP-style question

Experiment

Participants paid $1 to lie that a boring task was fun later rated it as more enjoyable than those paid $20.

What explains this?

  1. Central route persuasion
  2. Cognitive dissonance
  3. Foot-in-the-door
  4. Social facilitation
Show the answer

B. Festinger.

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