Social Psychology
Lecture 8
Theory of attitudes and
behaviour
Jane Clarbour
Room PS/B007 email: jc129
Objectives
• Show an understanding of how cultural
differences in social norms effect social
influence on attitudes
• Specify the relationship between:
– Beliefs and attitudes
– Attitudes and behavioural intentions
– Behavioural intentions and behaviour
• Demonstrate an understanding of the
differences between:
– The Theory of Reasoned Action
– The Theory of Planned behaviour
Collectivist vs. Individualist cultures
Collectivist
Individualist
• Identity based on social
system and given by group
• Socialised to be emotionally
dependent on
organisations/ institutions
• Consistency between group
goals and personal goals
• Social behaviour thought to
be more determined by
social norms and roles than
by personal attitudes
• Identity based in the
individual
• Socialised to be
emotionally independent
• Personal and group goals
are inconsistent
• Social behaviour thought
to be more determined
by attitudes than social
roles or norms
Influence of individualismcollectivism on attitude formation
• ‘Values’ hierarchy designed to
provide information relating to
importance of either individualist
or collectivist values for selfconcept
– If individualist values are more central they
will have greater influence in shaping
attitudes and behaviour (Franzoi, 2000).
Attitudes as explanation for social
behaviour
Attitudes have three main
functions:
1. They help define social groups
2. Help to establish personal identity
3. Mediate thinking and behaviour
– i.e Mandela is famous for his attitude
towards apartheid. Explanation for
social motivation
– But what is meant by attitude…?
Diversity of ‘attitude’ definitions
• Definitions of attitude are
ambiguous and may include
reference to:
– Attribution of dispositions
– Behavioural intentions
– Evaluations
Attitudes as learned predisposition
Fishbein & Ajzen (1975)
• ‘A learned predisposition to respond in a
consistently favourable or unfavourable
manner with respect to a given object’
– Predisposition
– Associationist
• implication of attitude development through
repeated experience of behavioural consequence
Attitudes as expressed evaluations
Eagly & Chaiken (1993)
‘Attitude is a psychological tendency that is
expressed by evaluating a particular entity
with some degree of favour or disfavour’
–
–
–
–
More cognitive than Fishbein & Ajzen
More emphasis on evaluation (favour/disfavour)
Less emphasis on how gained (ie learned)
More social
Attitudes and behaviour
LaPiere (1934) racial prejudice
– Attitudes to Chinese
“Will you accept members of the Chinese race as
guests in your establishment?”
– Inconsistency between attitude and
behaviour
– Concluded attitudes should be studied from
behaviour in actual social settings
Review of attitude-behaviour
relationship (Wicker, 1969)
• No attitude-behaviour relationship
(mean .15)
– Psychometric inadequacies
• (1 item measure)
– Principle of aggregation
• LaPieres poor prediction of behaviour used a
general measure of attitude to try to predict a
specific action rather than a general action.
Diversity of measurement
(Ajzen, 1988)
Response
categories
Affect
Cognition
Behaviour
Verbal
Expressions of
feelings towards
attitude object
Expressions of
beliefs about
attitude object
Expression of
behavioural
intentions towards
attitude object
Non-verbal
Physiological
responses to
attitude object
Perceptual
responses (e.g.
reaction times) to
attitude object
Overt behavioural
responses to
attitude object
Ambiguity of definition
• Attitudes are… learned
• Attitudes …predispose action
– Actions are consistently favourable
or unfavourable towards the object
Three types of consistency
1. Stimulus-response
consistency
2. Response-response
consistency
3. Evaluative consistency
Theory of reasoned action
(Fishbein
& Azjen, 1975)
• Problems arise from lack of clarity of which
aspects are most important in definition of
attitude and how should be measured
– Must distinguish between
• Attitude
• Beliefs
• Behaviour
Theory of reasoned action
(Fishbein
& Azjen, 1975)
• Attitude:
– Main feature is its evaluative (or affective) nature
– Measurement should be bipolar in relation to affect
• Beliefs:
– The information a person has about an object
– Measurement should be dimensional in relation to
subjective strength of belief
• Behaviour:
– The observable acts that are studied in their own right
– Measurement of behaviour should not be taken to infer
attitude
Relationships between these
distinctions:
• Stage 1.
Beliefs:
– Links an object to some attribute
E.g. “China is a totalitarian state”
Object
attribute
“Small dogs are snappy“
(see OHP: Figure1)
Conceptual structure
• Beliefs as foundations for attitudes
– Knowledge about object
• Determines attitudes, intentions &
behaviour
– Used for
• Making judgements
• Forming evaluations
• Decision making
Stage 1: 3 main sources of beliefs
1. Primary sources
–
Direct observation
2. Inference
–
e.g. person with negative attitude towards
communist China and who positively values
freedom of religion may infer that China has no
religious freedom, even though no direct
information on this point
3. Information from a secondary
source
–
e.g. peers, newspapers, parents, books
Stage 2:
Attitudes
• Attitude to object is based on
salient beliefs
– (a) That the object has certain
attributes
– (b) How the person evaluates the
particular attributes
• Evaluation of specific belief to object
– (not beliefs in general)
– So, it’s the evaluation of the belief
attitude formation
Stage 3:
Intentions
• Attitude to an object is related to
person’s intention to perform a variety of
behaviours with respect to the object
– Intention relates to belief in respect of evaluation
of behavioural consequences rather than
attributes of object
– Not just one behaviour, but whole set
• So, might expect consistency
– Based upon ‘subjective norms’
Theory of Reasoned Action
Behavioural
beliefs
Outcome
evaluations
(Fishbein & Azjen, 1975)
Attitude
towards the
behaviour
Relative
importance of
attitudinal and
normative factors
Normative
beliefs
Motivations
to comply
Subjective
norm
Intention
Behaviour
Theory of Reasoned Action
Prediction of goal directed behaviour
(from Azjen & Maddson, 1986)
Attitude
towards a
behaviour
Intention
Subjective
norms
Behaviour
Intention-behaviour relationship
• Intentions and behaviours must be
measured at same level of specificity
– Behaviour, target, situation, time
• The closer the correspondence of these factors
the greater the correlation between intention
and behaviour
Subjective norms
• A person’s beliefs that key people would
or would not behave that way
• A person’s motivation to comply with
what these people think
– So includes process of conformity as
mediator against attitude and behaviour
Stage 4:
Behaviour
• Each intention is viewed as related to
the corresponding behaviour
– Assumption that most social behaviour is
volitional
• A person should perform the behaviour that they
intend to perform
– Note, no direct link between attitude and
behaviour
• Model assumes that to predict behaviour, need
access to intention, not attitude.
Criticisms of Fishbein & Ajzen’s
model (Bentler & Speckart, 1979)
• Structural equational modelling techniques
demonstrated that both attitude and past
behaviour contribute strongly to future
behaviour (when measured 2 weeks later)
• Behavioural intent mediates predictive
capacity of subjective norms on future
behaviour
– Conclusion that factors other than intentions also are
predictive of behavioural intent
– Limits value of Fishbein & Ajzen’s model
• suggests incomplete
Summary
Theory of Reasoned Action
• Attitudes do not predict single behaviours
• Attitudes are related to multiple behaviours
(behavioural patterns)
– Questionnaires with a multiplicity of behavioural
statements are likely to predict attitudes
• Intentions are the better predictors of single
behaviours
– Need to understand psychological process relating
to beliefs and attitudes in order to understand
intention-behaviour relationship
Recap…
• Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein &
Ajzen,1975)
– People rationally think about or evaluate
the consequences of their behaviour prior
to acting
• Cognition is the primary process of attitude development
• Behaviour is intended to achieve particular outcomes
• By discovering intentions in a particular situation it
becomes possible to predict behaviour
• Attitudes influence behaviour by their influence on
intentions
Limitations of the Theory of
Reasoned Action
• Assumes rational evaluation of
consequence
– People also act:
• on their emotion without any thought of consequence
• irrationally
• according to own morals rather than social norm
– Based on individualist assumptions
– Ignores individual differences in the need to
evaluate
Theory of planned behaviour
(Ajzen & Madden, 1986)
Theory of Reasoned Action developed in
relation to volitional behaviour
– Not all behaviour is volitional
• Deeply ingrained habits
• Lack of resources
• External obstacles
Introduction of additional factor of
PERCIEVED CONTROL to the earlier Theory of
Reasoned Action
Theory of planned behaviour (2)
Perceived control
• Additional set of beliefs relating to
control
– Presence or absence of resources and
opportunities
• As not all behaviour is under voluntary control
• Greater perception of control with
– increased perception of resources or
opportunities
– Fewer obstacles or impediments
Theory of planned behaviour
(Azjen & Madden, 1986)
Attitude to
behaviour
Subjective
norm
Perceived
behavioural
control
Behavioural
intention
Behaviour
Perceived behavioural control
(Ajzen & Madden, 1986)
• Theory of reasoned action assumes
control over behaviour
• Factors other than intention may
mediate control
– Internal factors:
• Perception of skills, abilities, knowledge and
planning…
– External factors:
• Perception of time, opportunity, other people…
Theory of Planned Behaviour:
Prerequisites for behavioural intention –
behaviour relationship
• The measure of intention must match the
specificity of the behaviour
– i.e. to be able to predict attendance of Social lectures must
measure intention to attend Social lectures, rather than just
lectures more generally
• Time
– The measure of intention should be as close as possible to
measure of behaviour to avoid change of intention
•
Volitional control
– The behaviour should be perceived to be performable and
not reliant upon external variables
Conclusions
• Attitudes do not predict single behaviours
• Attitudes are related to multiple behaviours
(behavioural patterns)
• Attitudes influence behaviour through
influencing intention
• Intention is the better predictor of behaviour
• In order to understand intentions and
behaviours, need to know about beliefs and
attitudes
– This is essential in relation to attitude change
What next…
• Lecture 9 – Attitude change: Advertising and
Fear Appeals
• Essential reading
– Rogers (1983) Cognitive and physiological
process in fear appeals and attitude change
– Stroebe & Jonas (2001) Health Psychology: A
Social-Psychological Perspective
– Franzoi (2000) Chapter 6: Persuasion