What assumption do people often make about their attitudes in the context of attitude change?

The assumption that people often make about their attitudes in the context of attitude change is that they believe their attitudes align with verbalized reasons. This phenomenon is tied to the idea of self-perception theory, where individuals infer their attitudes by reflecting on the reasons they give for their behaviors. When people articulate reasons for their actions, they tend to believe those expressed reasons truly represent their underlying attitudes, even if that may not always be the case.

This can lead to a situation where individuals may change their attitudes to be consistent with the reasons they provide, a process influenced by cognitive dissonance. When there’s a discrepancy between their beliefs and their actions, they may adjust their attitudes to reduce the dissonance, assuming that the reasons they verbalize must reflect their genuine beliefs. This tendency is particularly relevant in various social contexts where individuals are motivated to appear consistent or rational in their attitudes and behaviors.

In contrast, relying solely on external feedback, ignoring behaviors, or depending only on observable outcomes do not capture this inherent link between articulated reasons and personal attitudes, which emphasizes the subjective interpretation individuals make of their own reasons for acting.