Attitudes and Opinions

by Oskamp, Stuart; Schultz, P. Wesley

• ISBN13: 9780805847697
• ISBN10: 0805847693
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-06
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

Notable advances resulting from new research findings, measurement approaches, widespread uses of the Internet, and increasingly sophisticated approaches to sampling and polling, have stimulated a new generation of attitude scholars. This extensively revised edition captures this excitement, while remaining grounded in scholarly research. Attitudes and Opinions, 3/emaintains one of the main goals of the original edition--breadth of coverage. The book thoroughly reviews both implicit and explicit measures of attitudes, the structure and function of attitudes, the nature of public opinion and polling, attitude formation, communication of attitudes and opinions, and the relationship between attitudes and behaviors, as well as theories and research on attitude change. Over 2,000 references support the book's scientific integrity. The authors' second goal is to demonstrate the relevance of the topic to people's lives. Subsequently, the second part of the book examines many of the topics and research findings that are salient in the world today--political and international attitudes (including terrorism), voting behavior, racism and prejudice, sexism and gender roles, and environmental attitudes. This thoroughly revised new edition features: *an entirely new chapter on implicit measures attitudes; *a new chapter on environmental attitudes; *updated opinion poll data throughout the book; *additional material on time trends in attitudes about many issues; and *expanded, updated sections on international attitudes reflecting the events of 9/11 and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Attitudes and Opinions'broad and interdisciplinary perspective makes this an ideal text in courses on attitudes, public opinion, survey research, or persuasion, taught in a variety of departments including psychology, communication, marketing, sociology, and political science.

Author Biography

Stuart Oskamp earned his Ph.D. at Stanford and is Professor Emeritus at Claremont Graduate University. He has served as editor of the Journal of Social Issues as well as Past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).
P. Wesley Schultz is Associate Professor of Psychology at California State University, San Marcos. Recent books include Social Psychology: An Applied Perspective (2000, Prentice-Hall) and Psychology of Sustainable Development (2002, Kluwer).

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
I: APPROACHES TO STUDYING ATTITUDES AND OPINIONS	1	(292)
Background: History and Concepts	3	(16)
Why Study Attitudes?	3	(4)
Definitions of ``Attitude''	7	(2)
Theoretical Views About Attitudes	9	(4)
Related Concepts	13	(2)
What Is Public Opinion?	15	(2)
Approaches to Attitude and Opinion Research	17	(1)
Summary	17	(2)
Social Perception and Social Cognition	19	(25)
Characteristics of Perception	19	(2)
Common Thought Processes	21	(5)
Stereotypes and Schemas	26	(4)
Attribution Processes	30	(12)
Summary	42	(2)
Explicit Measures of Attitudes	44	(23)
Types of Attitude Questions	44	(3)
Attitude-Scaling Methods	47	(9)
Reliability and Validity of Measurement	56	(1)
Problems Affecting the Validity of Attitude Scales	57	(3)
The Bogus Pipeline	60	(1)
Other Ways of Measuring Explicit Attitudes	61	(5)
Summary	66	(1)
Implicit and Indirect Measures of Attitudes	67	(21)
Indirect Measures of Attitudes	68	(6)
Implicit Measures of Attitudes	74	(3)
Control and Automaticity: Priming	77	(2)
Automatic Stereotyping	79	(2)
Implicit Associations	81	(5)
Summary	86	(2)
Structure and Functions of Attitudes and Beliefs	88	(24)
Functions of Attitudes	88	(4)
The Structure of Beliefs	92	(6)
The Structure of Attitudes	98	(7)
A Different Approach---Attitude Latitudes	105	(5)
Summary	110	(2)
Public Opinion Polling	112	(28)
Historical Highlights of Polling	113	(1)
Characteristics of Opinion Polls	113	(6)
Problems in Public Opinion Polling	119	(12)
Reasons for Famous Polling Failures	131	(1)
Impact of Polls in Politics and Government	132	(6)
Summary	138	(2)
The Structure of Public Opinion	140	(21)
The Extent of Public Information	141	(3)
The Elitist View of Public Opinion	144	(7)
The Mass-Politics View of Public Opinion	151	(7)
Resolution of the Controversy	158	(1)
Summary	159	(2)
Formation of Attitudes and Opinions	161	(20)
What Leads to Attitude Formation?	162	(1)
Genetic and Physiological Factors	163	(2)
Direct Personal Experience	165	(3)
Parental Influence	168	(3)
Group Determinants of Attitudes	171	(3)
Mass Media	174	(1)
Learning Processes in Attitude Formation	175	(4)
Summary	179	(2)
Communication of Attitudes and Opinions	181	(26)
Early Studies of Communication and Propaganda	181	(1)
Factors in Persuasive Communication	182	(2)
Persuasive Effects of Mass Media	184	(14)
Persuasive Effects of Personal Communication	198	(3)
Other Effects of Mass Media	201	(5)
Summary	206	(1)
Attitude-Change Theories and Research: Methodology; Learning and Judgment Approaches	207	(26)
Types of Attitude-Change Research	208	(2)
Methodological Issues	210	(4)
Why Have Theories?	214	(2)
Learning Approaches to Attitude Change	216	(10)
Judgment Approaches to Attitude Change	226	(5)
Summary	231	(2)
Attitude Change: Cognitive Theories and Research	233	(32)
Consistency Theories	233	(8)
Dissonance Theory	241	(11)
Reactance Theory	252	(2)
Attribution Theories and Attitude Change	254	(2)
Cognitive Response Theories	256	(7)
A Final Comment on Theories	263	(1)
Summary	263	(2)
Attitude--Behavior Consistency and Related Issues	265	(28)
Attitudes and Behavior	265	(12)
Attitudes and Personality	277	(3)
Laboratory Research Versus Field Research	280	(3)
Ethical Problems in Attitude Research	283	(3)
Public Opinion and Public Policy	286	(5)
Summary	291	(2)
II: PUBLIC OPINION ON SOCIALLY IMPORTANT TOPICS	293	(170)
Political Attitudes I	295	(23)
Presidential Popularity	295	(4)
Concerns of Citizens	299	(2)
Trust in Government	301	(3)
The Quality of Life	304	(2)
Political Attitudes of Population Subgroups	306	(4)
Attitudes Toward Civil Liberties	310	(1)
Liberal--Conservative Ideology	311	(4)
Leading Public Opinion Versus Following It	315	(1)
Summary	316	(2)
Political Attitudes II: Voting	318	(27)
Some Determinants of Individual Voting Decisions	318	(6)
Effects of Political Persuasion on Voting	324	(7)
Factors Affecting Aggregate Voting	331	(6)
Party Dominance and Realignment	337	(4)
Predicting the Vote	341	(3)
Summary	344	(1)
International Attitudes	345	(31)
The Ignorant Public	346	(1)
Children's Views of Foreign Peoples	347	(2)
Adults' Views of Foreign Peoples	349	(2)
Foreigners' Views of the U.S.	351	(3)
U.S. Attitudes About Foreign Policy	354	(3)
Internationalism Versus Isolationism	357	(2)
Attitudes Concerning War	359	(3)
Attitudes Toward Terrorism	362	(7)
Who Holds Which International Attitudes?	369	(3)
How Do International Attitudes Change?	372	(2)
Research on International Attitudes	374	(1)
Summary	374	(2)
Racism and Prejudice	376	(35)
Background of Race Relations in the U.S.	376	(2)
What Is Racism?	378	(1)
Children's Racial Attitudes	379	(2)
Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes	381	(2)
The Nature of Ethnic Prejudice	383	(1)
White Racial Attitudes About Blacks	384	(6)
Theories of White Racial Attitudes	390	(6)
Implicit Racial Attitudes	396	(1)
Which Whites Hold Which Attitudes?	397	(2)
Racial Attitudes of Black Americans	399	(4)
Changing Racial Attitudes	403	(6)
Summary	409	(2)
Gender-Role Attitudes	411	(29)
Sexism and Racism	412	(1)
Origins of Gender Roles---Biological or Cultural?	413	(3)
Traditional Gender Roles and Stereotypes	416	(2)
Sources of Gender-Role Attitudes	418	(8)
Trends Over Time in Gender-Role Attitudes	426	(8)
Aspects of Current Gender-Role Attitudes	434	(5)
Summary	439	(1)
Environmental Attitudes	440	(23)
A Historical Overview	440	(2)
What Are the Main Environmental Problems?	442	(2)
Attitudes About Pollution and Energy	444	(3)
Why Do People Care? Worldviews and Values	447	(5)
Determinants of Environmental Attitudes	452	(4)
Group Differences in Environmental Attitudes	456	(3)
From Attitudes to Actions	459	(2)
Summary	461	(2)
References	463
Name Index	461	(106)
Subject Index	567