Attitude behaviour Flashcards
What is the assumption about the attitude-behavior (A-B) relation in social psychology?
it’s long been assumed that attitudes determine behavior, meaning attitudes can explain and influence how we act.
Why is it desirable to assume that attitudes influence behavior?
It implies we can explain and influence behavior, for example, by changing people’s existing attitudes.
What did LaPiere’s (1934) study demonstrate about the attitude-behavior relation?
LaPiere traveled with a Chinese couple during a time of anti-Chinese sentiment. Despite 92% of establishments later stating they wouldn’t accept Chinese guests, they only refused service once, showing weak attitude-behavior consistency.
What was the flaw in LaPiere’s research?
The individuals who responded to the letters may not have been the same ones who served the couple, and the attitudes were not directly measured during the actual behavior.
did early research show strong consistent relations between attitudes and behaviour?
Serves how early research failed to show strong and consistent relations between attitudes and behavior
What did Wickers (1969) meta-analysis reveal about the attitude-behavior relationship?
It found a very weak correlation (r = 0.15 on average) between attitudes and observed behavior, with the highest correlations rarely exceeding r = 0.3.
who made principle of correspondence
a concept from Fishbein & Ajzen (1975) that addresses the relationship between attitudes and behavior
what is the principle of correspondence
suggests that for the attitude-behavior (A-B) relation to be strong or accurate, there must be a close match between the specificity of the attitude being measured and the specificity of the behavior being measured.
The attitude and the behavior need to correspond or match in terms of the type of attitude and the type of behavior.
General attitudes (e.g., “I support the environment”) may not always align with a specific behavior (e.g., “I recycle”).
What did Weigel et al. (1976) find about the relationship between general attitudes and specific behaviors?
general attitudes towards protecting the environment were not related to whether people volunteered for a specific environmental protection organization. However, specific attitudes towards that organization were related to whether people volunteered for it.
What was the result of Davidson & Jaccard (1979) study on general attitudes towards contraception and birth control pill use?
general attitudes towards contraception were weakly related to birth control pill use (r = .08), while a more specific measure of attitude was more strongly related (r = .57).
When you measure attitudes broadly (e.g., general views on contraception), the relationship to specific behaviors (e.g., using birth control pills) tends to be weak.
When you measure attitudes specifically (e.g., attitudes toward using birth control pills), the behavior is more likely to match the attitude, leading to a stronger correlation.
This aligns with the Principle of Correspondence
is the principle of correspondence a theory?
a concept within the broader framework of attitude-behavior research
part of theory of reasoned action
What did Kraus (1995) find in his meta-analysis of 8 studies on attitudes and behaviors?
specific attitudes were significantly better predictors of specific behaviors than general attitudes
What did Fishbein & Ajzen (1974) find about the relationship between general attitudes and behaviors when using multiple act measures versus single act measures?
Fishbein & Ajzen (1974) found that general attitudes towards religion were more strongly related to behavior when multiple act measures were used
What are multiple act measures?
Multiple act measures assess attitudes based on multiple behaviors related to the same attitude object, providing a more comprehensive picture of the attitude-behavior relationship.
An example of multiple act measures for attitudes towards religion could include:
Frequency of attending church
Frequency of praying at home
Donating to religious organizations
Supporting religious charities
What did Weigel & Newman (1976) find about the relationship between general attitudes and specific environmental behaviors?
General attitudes towards environmental preservation were weakly related to specific environmental behaviors (with correlations ranging from r = .12 to .57). However, when using an aggregate behavior measure (a combined measure of behaviors), the correlation was stronger (r = .62).
this indicates that general attitudes might not predict specific behaviors very well unless multiple behaviors are considered together, again showing the importance of multiple act measures in understanding attitude-behavior links.
why are multiple act measures important?
they provide a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the attitude-behavior relationship
- capture a range of behaviours, someone might hold a positive attitude towards environmental conservation, but express it through various actions like recycling, donating to environmental charities, or using public transport.
- increase Predictive Power-ishbein & Ajzen (1974), shows that the correlation between attitudes and behaviors is stronger when multiple behaviors are measured (r = .66) compared to just a single behavior (r = .14).
- . Improve Accuracy of Attitude Measurement
Why are attitudes based on direct experience stronger in relation to behavior?
Attitudes based on direct experience are held with greater clarity, confidence, and certainty (Fazio & Zanna, 1981), making them more strongly related to behavior.
How does attitudinal clarity, confidence, and certainty affect the attitude-behavior relationship?
Clarity, confidence, and certainty in attitudes correlate significantly with the extent of direct experience with the attitude referent (Fazio & Zanna, 1978a, 1978b), and increasing these factors can strengthen the attitude-behavior relationship (Fazio & Zanna, 1978b).
What is the effect of direct experience on the attitude-behavior relationship?
Attitudes formed through direct experience with the attitude referent are more strongly associated with behavior than attitudes formed through indirect experience.
What is attitudinal strength synonymous with?
Attitudinal strength is synonymous with clarity, confidence, and certainty in attitudes (Raden, 1985)
what is attitude strength
Attitude strength refers to how durable and impactful an attitude is. Strong attitudes are:
Stable over time
Resistant to change
Consistent with behavior
Held with high clarity, confidence, and certainty
Strong attitudes are held with greater clarity, confidence, and certainty, and are more likely to guide behavior.
(Fazio & Zanna, 1981; Raden, 1985)
What is attitude accessibility?
The ease to which an attitude can be retrieved from memory
Measured by the speed with which people access their attitudes in response to direct inquires about their attitudes
what does attitude accessibility increase with?
Accessibility increases with associative strength
what is associative strength
the degree to which there is a consistent, well-rehearsed association between the attitude referent and its evaluation (Fazio et al., 1984)
What did Fazio et al. (1984) find about repeated expression of attitudes?
people who were asked to repeatedly express their attitudes (greater associative strength) responded more quickly to attitudinal inquiries than did people who were not asked to express their attitudes
How are highly accessible attitudes linked to behavior?
Highly accessible attitudes are more consistent with behaviour than are less accessible attitudes
They are activated spontaneously when presented with cues about the attitude referent
How does direct experience affect attitude accessibility
Attitudes formed from direct experience are more accessible, leading to stronger attitude-behavior consistency
What effect do accessible attitudes have on perception and behavior?
Accessible attitudes bias perception of a situation, making it more likely that behavior will align with the attitude.
(Fazio, 1990)
How does attitude accessibility mediate the relationship between direct experience and attitude-behavior consistency?
Direct experience leads to more accessible attitudes, which are activated more quickly and are more predictive of behavior.
Thus, attitude accessibility mediates the link between direct experience and behavior.
What is a mediator in psychology?
A mediator is a variable that explains the process through which one variable influences another.
It helps to clarify how or why an effect occurs.
Example: Attitude accessibility mediates the effect of direct experience on behavior.
How do highly accessible attitudes compare to less accessible ones in predicting behavior?
Highly accessible attitudes are more strongly related to behavior than less accessible attitudes.
They guide behavior more consistently.
What is a limitation in the research on attitude accessibility as a mediator?
Evidence for attitude accessibility as a mediator is less strong when type of experience, attitude accessibility, and attitude-behavior consistency are all studied within a single study.
(e.g., Doll & Ajzen, 1992)
What is attitude stability and how does it relate to behavior?
Attitude stability refers to the consistency of attitudes over time.
Stable attitudes are more strongly related to behavior than unstable attitudes.
What did Doll & Ajzen (1992) find about stability as a mediator?
Stability mediated the relationship between type of experience (direct vs. indirect) and attitude-behavior consistency.
What is attitude ambivalence and how does it affect behavior?
Attitude ambivalence occurs when people evaluate an attitude referent as both positive and negative.
Why are ambivalent attitudes unstable?
Ambivalent attitudes are unstable because the evaluation expressed at any moment depends on which components (cognitive or affective) are more accessible or important at the time.
(Katz, 1981)
A person on a diet might think that eating pizza will make me gain weight (cognitive) but also that it will make me feel good (affective)
How does personal involvement affect the attitude-behaviour relationship?
Greater personal involvement leads to:
Stronger associative links between attitude and behaviour
More univalent (consistent) attitudes
More stable attitudes over time
Therefore, higher involvement = stronger attitude-behaviour consistency
(Hovland, 1959)
what is personal involvement a measurement of?
attitude strength
How does self-monitoring (individual differences) affect attitude-behaviour consistency?
High versus low self-monitors (Snyder, 1974)
High self monitors – see themselves as adaptive people who match their actions to the requirements of a situation
Low self monitors – see themselves as principled so their actions are controlled by inner states
is A-B consistency greater for low or high self monitors
A-B consistency has been found to be greater for low self monitors
Prislin & Kovrlija (1992) – class attendance
low self-monitors were more likely to attend class if they held a positive attitude toward it—stronger A-B consistency.
High self-monitors:
Showed weaker attitude-behavior consistency.
Their attendance was less predictable based on their attitudes—likely influenced more by social or situational factors (e.g., peer expectations or impression management).
what is self monitoring
Self-monitoring is a personality trait that refers to how much people regulate and adjust their behavior to fit social situations.
Different self monitors
Low self-monitors = more consistent between what they believe (attitudes) and what they do (behaviours).
High self-monitors might behave based on social expectations, not necessarily their true attitudes.
What is the social desirability effect?
The tendency to present oneself in a way that will be viewed favourably by others (Rosenberg, 1969).
How does social desirability affect the attitude-behaviour relationship?
People may not act on their true attitudes if those attitudes are socially undesirable, or if important others disapprove or social norms discourage the behaviour.
What is an example of people not reporting socially undesirable attitudes?
Gaertner & McLaughlin (1983)
- Study on racist attitudes using implicit measures (reaction times) when making judgements about being (a) White or Black and (b) being ‘smart’
to uncover racist attitudes that participants may not explicitly report
What role do norms play in A-B consistency?
If behaviour conflicts with social norms, people may suppress or change their behaviour to fit in, even if their personal attitudes differ.
What is behavioural control in the context of attitudes and behaviour?
The idea that behaviour won’t occur unless people have the ability (resources, skill, opportunity, cooperation) to perform it (Liska, 1984
How does behavioural control affect A-B consistency?
ven if someone holds a positive attitude, they may not act on it if they lack control: “I want to, but I can’t.”
What is the causation debate in social psychology?
The ongoing debate over whether attitudes cause behaviour or behaviour causes attitudes (Liska, 1984).
What theory suggests that behaviour causes attitudes?
Self-perception theory (Bem, 1972) – people infer their attitudes by observing their own behaviour.
What kind of theories suggest attitudes cause behaviour?
Social cognition models, which propose that attitudes guide and predict behaviour (to be covered in the next lecture).
according to fishbein and ajzen, what must attitude and behaviour be measured the same
A specific action
Performed towards a target
In a context
At a certain time
how to improve attitude–behaviour consistency:
Match general attitudes with general (multiple-act) behaviour measures.
Match specific attitudes with specific (single-act) behaviour measures.
This supports the principle of compatibility and shows how measurement strategy matters.
what did MAio and Haddock 2009 say about personal involvement
Maio & Haddock (2009): When people are invested in a topic, they’re more likely to resolve mixed feelings to maintain internal consistency
example of personal involvement (climate change)
🧠 Example: Climate Change
Low personal involvement:
You vaguely care about climate change.
You think driving less is good for the planet (positive attitude).
But you also really enjoy the convenience of your car (negative attitude).
Result: You feel ambivalent and don’t change your behaviour.
High personal involvement:
You study environmental science or just had a child and are now more concerned about their future.
You start researching the impacts of emissions and join environmental groups.
This strengthens your positive beliefs about reducing emissions.
The negative feelings (e.g., inconvenience) are now less important.
Result: You resolve your ambivalence, develop a strong univalent attitude, and stop using your car as much.
who proposed attitude accessibility
Fazio et al 1982
who proposed personal involvement
hovland 1959
who proposed attitude ambivalence
Katz (1960)
expanded by Thompson, Zanna, & Griffin (1995)
who proposed attitude stability
Ajzen & Fishbein (1980)
who proposed principle of correspondence
Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975
