attitudes Flashcards
what are attitudes
an attitude toward any concept is simply a person’s general feeling of favorableness or unfavorableness for that concept” (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 54)
what are the 3 components of attitudes
- affect
- behaviour
- cognition
affect
3 components of attitudes
how we feel about the attitude object
how we behave towards an attitude object
3 components of attitudes
cognition
3 components of attitudes
what we know and believe about the attitude object
where do attitudes come from
4
- experince
- social roles & norms
- classical & operant conditioning
- observing people in enviroment
measuring attitudes
- Attitudes are often measured through explicit measures, in which participants are directly asked about their attitudes towards objects, people, or issues (e.g., a survey).
- However, sometimes people may not be willing or able to report their attitudes,especially about sensitive topics.
- ## We can also try and figure out what people’s attitudes are without asking directly. For example, we might try to infer a person’s attitude through the speed of their reaction times.These are known as implicit measures.
- Individuals’ implicit attitudes are sometimes inconsistent with their explicitly held attitudes!
are attitudes useful for predicting behavior ?
- Undergraduate students (N=137) completed various measures about binge drinking (including attitudes) and reported frequency of binge drinking one month later (N=109).
- These measures predicted 75% of the variance in binge drinking intentions, and 35% of the variance in behaviour [Norman, 2011]
People often behave according to their attitudes (often enough that they’re a useful predictor), but not always.
when do attitudes best predict behaviour?
- When attitudes are strong or have been held for a long time
- When social influences on attitudes are minimized (i.e. people report more honestly)
- When the measure of attitudes is specific to the behaviour
- When explicit measures are used to predict deliberate behaviours, and implicit measures to predict automatic behaviours
Examples of attitude-behaviour inconsistency
studies
people generally report positive attitudes to pro-environmental behaviours, but most people do not behave in ways consistent with their attitudes [Gupta & Ogden, 2009]
young people’s attitude toward texting and driving had no correlation with whether they actually texted while driving [Atchley et al., 2011]
the theory of reasoned action [e.g. Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980]
The Theory of Reasoned Action, by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), posits that behavior is driven by intentions influenced by:
- Attitude: An individual’s positive or negative evaluation of the behavior.
- Subjective Norms: Perceived social pressures regarding the behavior.
If a person has a positive attitude and believes significant others support the behavior, they are more likely to intend to act, leading to actual behavior. The theory emphasizes rational decision-making based on evaluations.
subjective norms
- ‘a person’s . . . perception that most people who are important to him think he should or should not perform the behavior in question’ (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 57)
- ‘a person’s perception of the social pressures put on him to perform or not perform the behavior in question’ (p. 6).
the theory of planned behaviour
The Theory of Planned Behavior, developed by Ajzen in 1985, posits that behavior is influenced by three components:
- Attitude: Evaluation of the behavior.
- Subjective Norms: Perceived social pressures regarding the behavior.
- Perceived Behavioral Control: Belief in one’s ability to perform the behavior.
These factors together shape intentions, which predict actual behavior, highlighting that perceived control can impact the likelihood of acting on intentions.
perceived behavioural control
- ‘people’s perceptions of the degree to which they are capable of, or have control over, performing a given behaviour’ (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010, p. 64)
- “the person’s belief as to how easy or difficult performance of the behavior is likely to be” (Ajzen & Madden, 1986, p. 457)
Using the TPB to predict binge drinking in students
- Undergraduate students (N=137) completed various measures about binge drinking (attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, self-efficacy, intention, habit strength) and reported frequency of binge drinking one month later (N=109)
- Attitude and self-efficacy (but not norms) predicted intentions, and both intentions and habits predicted behaviour
[Norman, 2011]
how well does the theory of planned behaviour predict behaviour?
- Some good evidence for this has come from meta-analyses, which combine the results of many similar studies together
- e.g., all published studies which included measures of attitudes / norms / perceived behavioural control at Time 1, and then measured behaviour at Time 2
- One meta-analysis of 237 studies on health behaviours found that the TPB explained 19.3% of variability in behaviour
[McEachan et al., 2011]
limitations of the theory of planned behaviour
- Better at predicting some behaviours than others
- e.g., better at predicting rational, deliberative behaviours than spontaneous, unintentional, or habitual behaviour
-
More useful for predicting behaviour than changing it
- e.g., it might tell us perceived behavioural control is an important predictor of a behaviour, but that doesn’t tell us how to change this factor (or whether it can even be changed)
Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010; Ajzen, 2014
- Predicting intentions isn’t the same thing as predicting behaviour
- The correlation between intentions and behaviour is around .45 to .62
Ajzen & Fishbein, 2006
the intention-behaviour gap
- Even strong intentions are translated into behaviour only about half the time
Webb & Sheeran, 2006
- People might fail to act on intentions for multiple reasons(e.g. they forget to act, they don’t know how to act, they encounter obstacles)
- This means that psychologists can predict intentions quite well with the TPB but are less good at predicting behaviourWebb & Sheeran, 2006
Since the TPB, the role of NORMS has been further developed
- The Reasoned Action Approach is an even more complicated model building on the TRA and TPB
- One interesting change is the replacement of ‘subjective norm’ with ‘perceived norm’, which is a combination of:
- injunctive norm: perceptions concerning what should or ought to be done with respect to performing a given behaviour
- descriptive norm: perceptions that others are or are not performing the behaviour
how well do attitudes predict behaviour ?
Attitudes tend to correspond to behaviour, but don’t explain everything, and their ability to predict behaviour depends upon how accurately attitudes and behaviour are measured
which other factors are important ?
Perceived behavioural control and subjective norms are also factors which improve our ability to predict behaviour
cognitive consistency
- Beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviour, and mentalrepresentations ‘are mutually interdependent parts of a systemthat tends toward a state of harmony, balance, or consonance’(Eagly & Chaiken, 1993, p. 455)
Maintaining consistency is an important human motive, especially when inconsistencies threaten our self-view
when prophecy fails [Festinger, Riecken, & Schachter, 1956]
- Marion Keech claimed that aliens from the planet Clarion revealed to her the world would end in a great flood on December 21st 1956.
- Festinger and colleagues infiltrated her cult, whose members believed they would be picked up by a flying saucer before the world was destroyed.
- When the flying saucer did not turn up, the believers were stunned, but did not doubt Mrs Keech. At 4am she received a message from the aliens to say the believers of the cult had saved the world because of their great faith.
cognitive dissonance
a state of emotional discomfort that people experience when they hold inconsistent attitudes or engage in behaviour that is inconsistent with their attitudes or beliefs