PSY220H1 Chapter 8: PSY 220 CH.8 summary.docx
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Persuasion: ads for smoking have reduced its occurrence from 50% in 1950"s to 20% these days. Ads by tobacco companies contribute to the 20% that continue to smoke: people can be remarkably persistent or susceptible to persuasion. The ego-defensive function of attitudes: ego-defensive function: an attitudinal function that enables people to maintain cherished beliefs about themselves and their world by protecting them from contradictory information. John lost has argued that political conservatism is a form of motivated or ego-defensive cognition that helps people ward off certain anxieties. They identify 2 core values to political conservation. 2) endorsement of inequality: to ward off fear or uncertainty, conservatives gravitate to attitudes and beliefs that envision a structured and orderly world, and this behaviour gives rise to core values. Students who went their often ended up with a change of view. A follow up study using the same students found that the school formed a lasting impression on them.