Attitude Change

An intensive review of the theory and practice of attitude and behavior change, applied through a public service campaign project.


Learning Outcomes:

At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to answer the following questions:

  • What is attitude change and how does it relate to persuasion?
  • How is motivated cognition used in persuasion?
  • What factors drive compliance & conformity?
  • How can a persuader use your own behavior to change your attitudes?
  • What techniques help us to resist persuasion?
  • How do we apply laboratory science on attitude change to real life scenarios?
  • What is the role of persuasion in interrogation?

Course Project:

Students analyze a social problem in a target audience, conduct targeted attitude & behavior testing, create an evidence-based intervention (e.g., poster, video, meme), empirically test the intervention’s effectiveness, market the intervention by conducting a public awareness campaign, and defend their entire project to a faculty committee.