attitudes and behaviour Flashcards
what is an attitude?
a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour
what is the perceived relationship between attitudes and behaviour
we often believe that if we understand the attitudes some people hold we should be able to predict their behaviour, but this is often not the case
what is the attitude-behaviour correlation (Wicker, 1969)
meta-analysis fund that the correlation between attitude and behaviour was at best r=.3 and on average r=.15
only 9% of the variance in behaviour is explained by attitudes
why is there such a mismatch between reported attitudes and actual behaviour of the people in Pierre’s prejudice study
for attitudes to be predictive of behaviours the measures of each must correspond, which can be achieved if they match on
action: the behaviour performed
context: the environment the behaviour will occur in
target: of the behaviour
time: immediate or delayed
Pierre (a white, respected academic) travelled America with an Asian couple at a time when prejudice was particularly high - 1/250 refused to serve them but 225/250 said they would refuse to serve people of asian descent
what are the different types of measurement correspondence criteria
single act criteria:
specific behaviour performed at a single point in time
looking at attitudes towards specific behaviour
repeated observation criteria:
creating an index based on single behaviours but assessing them at multiple points in time
looking at attitudes towards general tendencies to engage in specific behaviours
multiple act criteria
create an index based on different behaviours combined at either single or multiple observation points
looking at general attitudes towards an object
what are the different models of how attitudes predict behaviour
theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Azjen, 1975)
theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991)
the MODE model (Fazio, 1990)
what is the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Azjen, 1975)
the immediate predictor of behaviour is a person’s intention
intention is based on two things: attitudes and subjective norms
attitudes -
a person’s beliefs that the behaviour leads to certain outcomes
their evaluation of outcomes
subjective norms -
individual’s normative beliefs that specific individuals or groups think they should/nt perform the behaviour and their motivation to comply with the specific references
how has the theory of reasoned action been criticised
people do not engage in such deliberative reasoning before engaging in specific actions and even if they do the outcomes are often not rational - better described as automatic or habitual
repeated behaviours often become habitual and are then not necessarily mediated by attitudes, subjective norms or intentions (Ouellette & Wood, 1998) once established habit controls later behaviour without conscious cognitive mediation (Aarts et al., 1998)
frequency of past behaviours can be seen as a measure of habit strength
thus having a direct effect on the future performance of said behaviour
when behaviours are not well learned or performed in difficult contexts, conscious decision making is necessary to initiate the behaviour - likely when past behaviour, attitudes and subjective norms likely contribute to intentions
intentions do not always predict behaviour (liska, 1984)
time interval
lack of resources, opportunities and perceived control
what is self-efficacy?
the belief about one’s ability to obtain a specific goal or enact a specific behaviour
since modified to include a factor about whether people felt they could engage in a behaviour
what determines perceived control
whether an individual perceived they have the resources and opportunities required to perform a behaviour
if not they won’t engage in a behaviour even if it contradicts their subjective norm or attitude and subsequent intentions
what is the theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991)
revised version of theory of reasoned action to include perceived behavioural control (which directly affects intentions and behaviour)
behaviour is most strongly affected by actual control
Perceived control improves prediction of behaviour from intentions for conscious deliberate behaviour including:
Problem drinking
Losing weight
Using condoms
Leisure choice
Exercising
But it is not a good predictor for unconscious unintended behaviour (Fazio, 1990)
A stronger indicator for this is frequency of past behaviour and by extension, habit strength.
The strength of a habit improves prediction beyond effects of intentions and perceived behavioural control
what is the methodological approach to attitude-behaviour research
trying to predict behaviours based on attitudes
studies are conducted in the field
the research is correlational
what is the moderating/mediating approach to attitude-behaviour research
aim is to understand when and why attitudes inform behaviour
studies are conducted in the lab
the research is experimental
what factors influence the magnitude of the attitude-behaviour relationship (Fazio, 1986)
the probability of retrieving the attitude object (AO) from memory (attitudes associated with direct experience are more accessible / available and more predictive of behaviour)
the strength of the relationship between AO and evaluation
the opportunity and ability to act in accordance with one’s attitude-based perceptions
what is the MODE model (Fazio, 1990)
M- motivation
O- opportunity
DE- determination
dual-processes processing model where attitudes guide behaviour in two ways: deliberate control (if motivation and opportunity) or automatically (unconscious influence - what’s accessible)
what is the relationship between attitude strength and the attitude-behaviour relationship (Kraus, 1995)
the stronger the attitude, the greater its impact on behaviour (Petkova et al., 1995)
attitude strength denotes
intensity (strength of evoked emotional response)
importance (how much do you care/personal relevance)
knowledge (how much you know about the AO)
accessibility (how easily the attitude comes to mind in various situations)
note importance and accessibility are the two key features
what determines attitude accessibility (Fazio, 1990)
defined as the speed of attitude expression
strength of association between the representation of the AO and an evaluation stored in memory
key moderator of attitude-behaviour consistency
respondents with highly accessible attitudes show stronger attitude-behaviour link than those with weaker attitudes
direct behavioural experience results in an attitude that is held with more clarity, confidence, and stability than an attiude formed through indirect information about the AO
experienced based attitudes should be more accessible and should ultimately produce greater attitude behaviour consistency
what is self-monitoring (Snyder, 1982)
a moderating personality variable
high self-monitors tend to be sensitive to and influenced by situational cues (which they monitor)
low self-monitors tend to rely on own inner states and dispositions - higher correspondence between attitudes and behaviours and more accessible attitudes (correspondence bias?)
how do different types of atttitudes predict different types of behaviours
atttitudes can be examined at three levels (Dovidio et al., 1997)
public and personal (explicit)
unconscious (implicit)
no one level represents a person’s true attitude as we have mutlipel context-dependent attitudes (Wilson & Hodges, 1992)
different aspects predict different types of behaviour
can behaviour change attitudes
Festinger argued that behaviour can change attitude when there is an inconsistency –> cognitive dissonance theory
are attitudes related to behaviour?
they are when they are strong, important, acquired through direct experience, influence self-interest, come readily to mind
