Lecture 5 - Attitues and behaviour

Question 1

What is an overview of this lecture?

Answer 1

Overview
 Why should we expect there to be a relationship?
 What is the empirical evidence?
 early research: low attitude–behaviour correlations
 What is the solution?
-*Methodological
- aggregation
- compatibility
* Theoretical
- Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)
- Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985)

Question 2

Definition of an attitude

Answer 2

“Tendencies to evaluate an entity with some
degree of favor or disfavor, ordinarily expressed in
cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses”
(Eagly & Chaiken, p. 155)

Question 3

Early evidence indicating no relationship between attitudes and behaviour - La Piere

Answer 3

LaPiere (1934)
 White professor who travelled across USA with a
young Chinese couple
 Stopped at 251 establishments (e.g., hotels,
restaurants)
 Received well in 250
 6 months later: mail questionnaire
 (“Will you accept members of the Chinese race as guests
in your establishment?”)
 128 replies: 92% said ‘no’

Question 4

Wicker 1969

Answer 4

Wicker (1969)
 Reviewed 42 studies of the attitude–behaviour
relationship
 Found few studies in which the relationship
between attitude and behaviour was greater
than .30
 Average correlation was about .15
 “The present review provides little evidence to
support the postulated existence of stable,
underlying attitudes within the individual which
influence both his verbal expressions and his
actions” (p.75)

Question 5

DeFleur & Westie 1958

Answer 5

 Measure of racially prejudiced attitudes given to
250 white college students
 Twenty-three highest- and 23 lowest-scoring
participants selected
 Behavioural measure: willingness to be
photographed with a black person of opposite sex
 Photographic release form
 scores ranged from 0 to 7
 Correlation between attitudes and behaviour: .40

Question 6

What are some reasons for rejecting Wicker’s conclusions?

Answer 6

Methodological (see Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977)
 Aggregation of measures
 For two measures to correlate, they must both be reliable and valid
indicators of the underlying construct
 Compatibility of measures
 For two measures to correlate, they must both refer to the same
target, action, context, and time

Theoretical
 Attitudes are not the only important determinants of behavior
(e.g., what about social influence?)
 It might be more fruitful to examine the attitude-behavior
relationship in a theoretical framework that acknowledges
these social influences

Question 7

Issues with LaPiere’s study

Answer 7

• He did the survey 6 months after doing the behavioural analysis
• He did not account for role of social motivation (Ajzen)

Question 8

What is the Theory of Reasoned Action?

Answer 8

Fishbein & Ajzen’s (1977) Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)
analyses a different angle; behavioural beliefs influence attitudes and behaviour.

Question 9

What are the limitations of TRA that led to TPB?

Answer 9

 In general, this theory has fared very well in
terms of empirical support
 However, there are some problems
 In particular, the TRA has problems in predicting
behaviours that require resources, cooperation, and
skills (i.e., behaviours that are not completely under
‘volitional control’)
 This is why Ajzen extended the TRA
 Added the construct of perceived behavioural
control

Question 10

What is the Theory of Planned Behaviour?

Answer 10

This was
developed into the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to include the role perceived as well as
actual control of behaviour in this relationship (Ajzen, 1985). In the TPB, behavioural intention
is influenced by: attitudes towards the behaviour; social pressure around performing the
behaviour and the perceived control over performing the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The stronger
the behavioural intention, the more likely behaviour will be performed (Ajzen, 1991).

Question 11

In TPB Percieved behavioural control also influences behavioural intention as well as attitude and social norms.

What is Percieved Behavioural Control and how does it influence behavioural intention and behaviour?

Answer 11

Indirect, via intentions
 You do not generally form intentions without taking
some account of how much control you have over
the behaviour in question

Direct
 Sometimes your intention to behave in a certain
way does not result in the behaviour
 Often the reason for this is a lack of control over
the behaviour
 If PBC is accurate and therefore reflects this lack
of control, it will help to predict behaviour

Question 12

Tell me about attitudes and social norms as determinants of behaviour

Answer 12

Attitude to behaviour
 Behavioural beliefs
 e.g., “Voting for party X in the next General Election will help to protect the
NHS” (likely–unlikely)
 Outcome evaluations
 e.g., “Protecting the NHS is …” (good–bad)

Subjective norm
 Normative beliefs
 e.g., “Most of my friends think that I [should–should not] vote for party X in
the next General Election”
 Motivation to comply
 e.g., “In general I like to do what most of my friends expect me to do”
(agree–disagree)

Question 13

Can you answer these study questions for this topic

Answer 13

Lecture 10: Study questions
1. Summarise the theoretical reasons for thinking that there
should be a relationship between attitudes and behaviour.
2. What conclusion did Wicker (1969) draw on the basis of the
‘early evidence’?
3. What do Fishbein and Ajzen (1977) mean by the ‘principle of
aggregation’ and the ‘principle of compatibility’?
4. What are the main elements of the theory of reasoned
action? How are they related to each other?
5. What did Ajzen (1985) add to the theory of reasoned action
to turn it into the theory of planned behaviour, and why?