Written by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Definition
The beliefs, feelings, and opinions that an individual has towards a person, object, group, or idea. Individual attitudes can be influenced by various factors such as personal experiences, social interactions, and cultural values.
The psychological discomfort that arises when there is a conflict between an individual's attitude and behavior. It often leads to attempts to reduce the dissonance by changing one's attitude or justifying one's actions.
Self-perception Theory: The idea that individuals develop their attitudes based on observations of their own behaviors. People infer their attitudes by observing how they behave in certain situations.
Implicit Attitudes: Unconscious biases or preferences that influence an individual's thoughts and behavior without conscious awareness. Implicit attitudes can be measured using implicit association tests (IATs).