AP Psychology · Lesson 2 of 10 · Unit 4

Attitude formation and change: stereotypes, implicit attitudes and cognitive dissonance

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Attitudes shape how we evaluate the world, interact with groups, and justify our own actions. On the AP Psychology exam, this topic is heavily tested in Section I scenario questions and gives you useful psychological concepts to apply on the Section II Evidence-Based Question (EBQ).

By the end you’ll be able to

Explain how stereotypes reduce cognitive load and can cause or result from biased perceptions, forming the basis of prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behaviors.
Distinguish stereotypes, prejudice (an attitude) and discrimination (a behavior) in scenarios.
Explain implicit attitudes and how the just-world phenomenon, out-group homogeneity bias, in-group bias and ethnocentrism reflect negative evaluations of others.
Explain belief perseverance and how confirmation bias maintains a belief despite contrary evidence.

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What the exam asks

Distinguishing the “ABC” triad of intergroup bias: Separating prejudice (Affect/attitude), discrimination (Behavior), and stereotypes (Cognition) in real-world scenarios.
Group and implicit biases: Identifying how implicit attitudes, the just-world phenomenon, in-group bias, out-group homogeneity bias, and ethnocentrism operate.
Attitude maintenance vs. change: Explaining why attitudes resist change (confirmation bias, belief perseverance) or shift under internal tension (cognitive dissonance).

Core ideas

Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination

A stereotype is a generalized belief (cognition) about a group of people. Stereotypes function as mental shortcuts (schemas) that reduce cognitive load, allowing rapid processing of social information. However, they overgeneralize and both cause and result from biased perceptions.

When stereotypes combine with negative emotions, they form the basis of prejudice and discrimination.

Concept	Component	Definition	Scenario Example
Stereotype	Cognitive (Belief)	A generalized belief about a group’s traits.	Believing that older adults are slow to learn new software.
Prejudice	Affective (Attitude)	An unjustifiable, usually negative attitude or feeling toward a group and its members.	Feeling annoyed or resentful when assigned an older coworker as a project partner.
Discrimination	Behavioral (Action)	Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.	Refusing to interview job applicants who graduated more than 30 years ago.

Implicit attitudes and group biases

Implicit attitudes are evaluations and feelings toward people, objects, or groups that individuals hold without conscious awareness. Even people who consciously reject prejudice may harbor implicit biases that subtly influence their judgments. Several cognitive and social biases reinforce negative evaluations of others:

In-group bias: The tendency to favor one’s own group (in-group) over other groups (out-group).
Out-group homogeneity bias: The perception that members of an out-group are all alike (“they are all the same”), while recognizing varied, distinct personalities within one’s in-group (“we are diverse individuals”).
Ethnocentrism: The belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or culture is superior to others, using one’s own cultural standards to judge other cultures as abnormal or inferior.
Just-world phenomenon: The tendency to believe that the world is fair and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get. This often leads to blaming victims for their misfortune (e.g., assuming people experiencing poverty simply did not work hard enough).