"You've come a long way, baby."

In 1968, this was the slogan that U.S. Tobacco Company Philip Morris used to introduce a cigarette marketed exclusively to women: Virginia Slims. The brand was wildly successful, with its name and slim shape connoting femininity and the company recommending it, not so subtly, as a weight loss aid. Forty years earlier, only "bad" women smoked. Fast forward: By 2008, cigarette ads were long banned from television, and anti-smoking advertising is ubiquitous. In an 80-year span, attitudes about smoking veered from disapproval, to acceptance, back to disapproval, to the point that today all smokers are nearing pariah status. Consider how this episode illustrates the factors that influence attitudes, both individual and societal. How is attitude change achieved, and why is it so difficult and complex?

Reference: Philip Morris' New Virginia Slims Advertising Campaign Insults and Degrades Women. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/id_0334.

Application: Attitude Formation

One of the central areas of study and research within social psychology is attitudes. There are three key areas of research: (1) how attitudes are formed, (2) the functions they serve, and (3) the nature of the attitude-behavior relationship. Early theorists speculated that attitude formation comes from an ego-defensive nature. More current research focuses on precise functions of specific attitudes. Ultimately, one goal of increased understanding of attitude formation is to be able to link attitudes to actual behavior, although this area of study has yielded conflicting results.

For this Assignment, consider the impacts of cognition, affect, and behavior on attitude formation and think about the functions of attitudes.

The Assignment (3-5 pages) double spaced 12 point font.

Explain at least two ways cognition, affect, and behavior impact attitude formation. Explain at least three functions attitudes serve. Support your response using both formal theoretical and empirical literature addressing attitude function.

Explain the extent to which you believe attitudes can have an impact on behavior.