Page 145 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Unit 7: Perception and Communication

(b) Subsequent work over next 35 years did little better. As Abelson (quoted in Myers) Notes
said, “we are, apparently, very well trained and very good at finding reasons for
what we do, but not very good at doing what we find reasons for.”
2. Later work found a relationship
(a) Expressed attitudes are not always the same as true attitudes, especially when dealing
with sensitive topics. Methods such as the “bogus pipeline” and other methods for
dealing with sensitive questions are helpful here.
(b) Specificity of measures was found to be important - items used were not specific
enough. Should determine attitudes toward the specific behavior, rather than some
more general topic. Fishbein and Aizen note that, ideally, measures should
correspond in Target, Action, Context, and Time.
1. Target: Suppose I say I think drugs are bad - yet I smoke marihuana, or drink
alcohol. There are different targets here. When you say drugs, I may think
more of thinks like cocaine and heroin than I do marihuana or alcohol. I might
have favorable attitudes toward the environment, but have negative attitudes
toward recycling because I find it inconvenient.
In LaPiere’s case, subjects may have viewed the target as a devious oriental,
rather than a nicely dressed oriental couple traveling with a white man.
2. Action: I can be against selling cocaine, but still willing to use it personally. I
might support somebody’s right to have an abortion, while being opposed to
having an abortion myself. (We see this in public opinion polls today - a lot of
people oppose abortion, while still supporting the right of others to have
abortions, at least under certain circumstances.)
3. Context: I might support the right to have an abortion under certain
circumstances (save the life of the mother, rape, incest) while being opposed
to it in others. Indeed, depending on the question asked, you get widely
varying levels of support for abortion. I might think it is ok to drink when I
am going to stay at home, but not when I am going to drive.

4. Time: It is ok to drink at night or on the weekends, but not in the morning.
Type of Attitude Measured is Important

cognitive, affective, conative. These are not identical or totally consistent - our minds are not
efficient enough to process all information immediately and consistently. The behavioral
component of attitudes best determines what we do.

7.4 Personality

Each individual has their own unique personality. This personality can show how a person
behaves and reacts to certain situations. There are many different factors to consider when
determining personality, like environment settings and heredity traits. A person’s personality
can also have an effect on self-esteem, which is an individual’s general feeling of self-worth, as
well as self-monitoring, the ability to base behavior on social cues. Different theories are used
today to help measure a person’s personality such as trait theory, psychodynamic theory,
humanistic theory, and integrative approach.
In measuring self-esteem, Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale can be used to help measure the trait
self-esteem of individuals in a given environment or situation. This will help determine who

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