Balance Theory
Fritz Heider’s Balance Theory is a Cognitive Consistency theory that describes how people try to maintain harmony in their relationships and attitudes. This idea holds that humans desire balanced conditions in which they have congruent views about people or objects. When there is a disparity in an unbalanced state, it causes psychological distress and encourages people to adjust their attitudes or perceptions in order to bring the situation back into balance.
Example of a Balance Theory
Suppose, Mrs. Y likes her friend Mr. X, and Mr. X likes a particular book. If Mrs. Y dislikes the book, this creates an imbalance because Mrs. Y’s positive attitude toward Mr. X conflicts with her negative attitude toward the book that Mr. X likes. To restore balance, Mrs. Y might decide to read the book and find aspects she enjoys, thus aligning her attitude with Mr. X’s, or she might downplay the significance of Mr. X’s preference, maintaining her initial dislike for the book but minimizing its impact on her view of Mr. X. In either case, Mrs. Y is motivated to resolve the inconsistency to achieve a balanced state.
Theories of Attitude Formation: Theory and Examples
Theories of Attitude Formation investigate how people establish their opinions, convictions, and inclinations about different things and people. These theories describe how individual experiences, societal influences, and informational inputs develop attitudes. They include a wide spectrum of psychological, social, and cognitive frameworks. Important theories include the social learning theory, which emphasizes the importance of observation and imitation, the cognitive dissonance theory, which concentrates on the alignment of attitudes and behaviors, and the learning theory, which stresses conditioning and reinforcement. Gaining knowledge of these ideas can help one better understand social interaction dynamics, human behavior, and decision-making processes.
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