MODULE 52- ATTITUDES AND SOCIAL COGNITION

Evaluations of a particular person, behavior, believ, or concept

MESSAGE SOURCE- the characteristic of a person who delievrs a persuasive message, known as the attitude communicator, have a major impact on the effectiveness of that message. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MESSAGE- it is not just who delivers a message but what the message is like that affects attitudes CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TARGET-once a communicator has delivered a message, characteristics of the target of the message may determine whether the message will be accepted.

Message interpretation charcacterized by thoughtful consideration on the issues and arguments used to persuade.

Message interpretation characterized by consideration of the source and related general information rather than of the message itself.

The conflict that occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts (referred to as cognitions)

The cognitive processes by which people understand and make sense of othes and themselves

Sets of cognitions about people and social experiences

The major traits considered in forming impressions of others

The theory of personality that seeks to explain how we decide, on the basis of samples of an individual's behavior, what the specific causes of that person's behavior are.

Perceived causes of behavior that are based on environment factors.

Perceived causes of behavior that are based on internal traits or personality factors.

A phenomenon in which an initial understanding that a person has positive traits is used to infer other uniformly positive characteristics

The tendency to think of people as being similar to oneself, even when meeting them for the first time

The tendecy to attribute personal success to personal factors (skill, ability, or effort)and to attribute failure to factors outside oneself

A tendency to overattribute other's behaviors to dispositional causes and the corresponding minimization of the importance of situational causes.