Page 3 - LN 2_Attitude and Social Cognition

ATTITUDE CHANGE

▪ During the process of attitude formation, and also after this process, attitudes may
be changed and modified through various influences.
▪ Attitudes that are still in the formative stage, and are more like opinions, are much
more likely to change compared to attitudes that have become firmly established,
and have become a part of the individual’s values.
▪ Process of attitude change
Three major concepts that draw attention to some important processes in attitude
change are described below:
a) The concept of balance-
✓ Proposed by Fritz Heider
✓ Described in the form of the ‘P-O-X’ triangle, which represents the relationships
between three aspects or components of the attitude.
P is the person whose attitude is being studied,
O is another person, and
X is the topic towards which the attitude is being studied (attitude object).
It is also possible that all three are persons.
✓ The basic idea is that an attitude changes if there is a state of imbalance between
the P-O attitude, O-X attitude, and P-X attitude.
✓ Therefore, the attitude changes in the direction of balance.
✓ Imbalance is found when
(i) all three sides of the P-O-X triangle are negative, or
(ii) two sides are positive, and one side is negative.
✓ Balance is found when
(i) all three sides are positive, or
(ii) two sides are negative, and one side is positive.

b) The concept of cognitive dissonance-
✓ Proposed by Leon Festinger.
✓ It emphasises the cognitive component.
✓ The basic idea is that the cognitive components of an attitude must be
‘consonant’ (opposite of ‘dissonant’), i.e., they should be logically in line with
each other.
✓ If an individual finds that two cognitions in an attitude are dissonant, then one
of them will be changed in the direction of consonance.
▪ Both balance and cognitive dissonance are examples of cognitive consistency.

Cognitive consistency means that two components,
aspects or elements of the attitude, or attitude system,
must be in the same direction.