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Attitudes and Attitude Change
 Sometimes it seems like life is one big opinion survey. Walk
through a mall and the odds are good that someone will ask you
to fill out some sort of consumer survey. Spend a little time
surfing the web and you will be flooded with opportunities to
share your views in countless online surveys. Or simply sit at
home and count how many times some stranger calls with just a
few questions that she would like you to answer. Everybody, it
seems, wants to know what you are thinking. Do you like their
product? Would you vote for their candidate? Do you think the
economy is getting better? Do you approve of the way the President
is handling foreign policy? And it is not just strangers who want
to know. Friends ask you about the latest movies, new restaurants,
mutual acquaintances, and even what you think about your class
schedule. In short, we spend a lot of time discussing attitudes
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The ABCs of attitudes
 But what are attitudes? Consider an attitude that is shared by
both authors. Neither of us, as it turns out, is very fond of
Brussels sprouts. Indeed, if we were asked to compare these small
cabbages to all the other vegetables in the world, we would put
them at the very bottom of the list. We hate them and we don't
eat them, even though we know they are wonderfully nutritious.
Notice that our attitude toward Brussels sprouts involves three
different elements <REF>(Olson & Znna, 1993). First,
there is an emotional, or affective, component. We don't
feel very positive toward Brussels sprouts. When we think about
Brussels sprouts, we are much more likely to think "Yuck"
than we are to think "Yum" Second, there is a behavioral
component. Our dislike of Brussels sprouts means that we probably
do not eat them very often. We might eat them when we are guests,
but we would never freely choose them. Finally, there is a cognitive
component. Although we don't like Brussels sprouts, we
know lots of things about them that influence our attitudes. The
fact that they have some nutritional value, for example, keeps
us from rating them on par with industrial toxic waste.
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