Attitude and Social Behavior (Psych 456/556)
Questions to ponder for May 6, 2002
1. In the Wilson et al. study, whose decisions about the poster are better, the participants who analyze why they feel the way they do, or the participants who don't? Are these results consistent with decision-making advice that you have been given or not? Can you think of examples in your life that are similar to what occurred in this study?

2. What kinds of reasons do people give for their attitudes?

3. How are the effects of analyzing reasons related to self-justification? What support do Wilson et al. provide that people bring their attitudes in line with the reasons they give?

4. What were the measures of post-choice satisfaction with the posters in the Wilson et al. study? Which group of participants showed more post-choice satisfaction?

5. How does knowledge moderate the effects of analyzing why you feel the way you do?

6. How did Baldwin, Carrell, and Lopez present the disapproving or approving "audiences" in their study? What was the effect of these "audiences?"

7. What was the dependent measure in Baldwin et al.'s Study 1? What special relationship did Bob Zajonc have to the subjects in this study?

8. What were the shortcomings with Baldwin et al.'s Study 1? How were they corrected in Study 2? Which do Baldwin et al. believe is responsible for the effect they find, the disapproving facial expression, or the person making that expression? How does Study 2 support their hypothesis? (Who in particular is affected in Study 2?)

9. Are some private audiences chronically present in our heads? What cues are present in our lives to keep us aware of various private audiences?

10. Together, these two studies suggest that our judgments can be influenced by subtle factors that we are either unaware of entirely, or unaware of the extent of their influence. Is the self generally characterized as this labile in the average person's everyday understanding of what the self is? Do you think people find it threatening to have aspects of the self, such as preferences and self-concept, subject to these influences?