ATTITUDESare examples. Attitudes toward the significant per-
sons in one’s life are also learned in this way. More
often, attitudes are learned through interactions
with others. Socialization by parents, explicit teach-
ing in educational and religious settings, and inter-
actions with friends are important sources of atti-
tudes. Research shows that children’s attitudes
toward a variety of objects, including gender roles
and political issues, are similar to those held by
their parents.
Another source of attitudes is the person’s
observations of the world. A topic of continuing
interest is the impact of mass media on the atti-
tudes (and behavior) of users. A thorough review
of the literature on this topic (Roberts and Maccoby
1985) concludes that television viewing affects
both children’s and adolescents’ attitudes about
gender roles. Further, the viewing of programs
intentionally designed to teach positive attitudes
toward racial or ethnic minorities does increase
children’s acceptance of such persons. With re-
gard to adults, evidence supports the ‘‘agenda
setting’’ hypothesis; the amount and quality of
coverage by the media (press, radio, and televi-
sion) of an issue influences the public’s perception
of the importance of that issue. The effects of mass
media exposure on aggression are discussed by
Felson (1996) and Geen (1998).
Stereotypes are also learned. A stereotype
may arise out of direct experience with a member
of the stereotyped group, for example, a person
who encounters a musically talented black person
may create a stereotype by overgeneralizing, infer-
ring that all African Americans are gifted musical-
ly. More often, however, stereotypes are learned
from those with whom we interact such as parents.
Other stereotypes may be acquired from books,
television, or film. Research indicates that televi-
sion programming portrays women, the elderly,
and members of some ethnic minorities in nega-
tive ways and that these portrayals create (or rein-
force) misperceptions and negative stereotypes in
viewers (McGuire 1985).
Social institutions influence the attitudes one
learns in several ways. Adults’ ties to particular
ethnic, religious, and other institutions influence
the attitudes they teach their children. The instruc-
tion given in schools reflects the perspectives of
the dominant political and economic institutions
in society. The amount and quality of media cover-
age of people and events reflects the interests of
particular groups in society. Through these mecha-
nisms, the individual’s attitudes reflect the society,
institutions, and groups of which she or he is
a member.Each attitude fulfills one or more of four
functions for the individual. First, some attitudes
serve an instrumental function: An individual de-
velops favorable attitudes toward objects that aid
or reward the individual and unfavorable attitudes
toward objects that thwart or punish the individu-
al. For example, a person who earns a large salary
will have a positive attitude toward the job. Sec-
ond, attitudes often serve a knowledge function.
They provide the person with a meaningful and
structured environment. Third, some attitudes ex-
press the individual’s basic values and reinforce
self-image. Whites’ attitudes toward black Ameri-
cans reflect the importance that whites place on
the values of freedom and equality. Fourth, some
attitudes protect the person from recognizing cer-
tain thoughts or feelings that threaten his or her
self-image or adjustment.Stereotypes also serve several functions. The
act of classifying oneself as a member of a group
(males, Republicans, whites) elicits the image of a
contrasting group (females, Democrats, Latinos).
Thus, stereotypes contribute to social identity.
They also reduce the demands on the perceiver to
process information about individual members of
a stereotyped group; instead, one can rely on a
stereotype. Finally, stereotypes may be used to
justify the political and economic status quo.ATTITUDE MEASUREMENTBecause attitudes are mental states, they cannot be
directly observed. Social scientists have developed
a variety of methods for measuring attitudes, some
direct and some indirect.Direct Methods. These methods involve ask-
ing the person questions and recording the an-
swers. Direct methods include various rating scales
and several sophisticated scaling techniques.The three most frequently used rating scales
are single item, Likert scales, and the semantic
differential. The single-item scale usually consists of