Attitudes & Behavior

1. Attitudes & Behavior November 9, 2006

2. Do Attitudes Determine Behavior? • An underlying assumption in persuasion research is: Shift a person’s attitude in the right direction and behavior will follow. Examples: • If people see the value of wearing their seatbelt then they are more likely to actually wear it. • If people think that smoking is bad for their health then they will quit.

3. Basic Questions • Is there a relationship between attitudes and behavior and, if so, how strong is it? • When might such a relationship exist? • How do attitudes influence behavior? In other words, what is the psychological process?

4. Do Attitudes Predict Behavior? Yes, but not strongly. • Classic Study of Cheating • Relationship between attitudes toward cheating and actual cheating behavior. • Students took True-False exam then asked to assign themselves a score. • Instructor also graded the exam. • Discrepancy between student’s self-assigned score and instructor’s score was measure of cheating behavior. • Relationship between attitude toward cheating and actually cheating close to zero. • Those who did poorly more likely to cheat. • Meta-analysis of attitude studies showed less than .30 correlation between attitudes and behavior.

5. Attitude-Behavior Survey • Students should read • Homelessness is a problem • I should exercise • I should recycle • I should designate a driver • I should vote • Should change strategy to fight terrorism

6. When do attitudes predict behavior? • Are there factors that make attitudes more or less predictive of behavior? • 4 Factors that Impact the Relationship: • Qualities of the… • Behavior (General vs. specific) • Person (Who is being asked) • Situation (When and how are they being asked?) • Attitude (How was the attitude formed?)

7. Behavior Being Predicted • Attitudes and behaviors must be measured at the same level of specificity. • Example: A person’s attitude toward their general health will not predict their propensity to jog. • Specific attitudes will predict specific behaviors.

8. Person You Ask • Certain peoples’ attitudes are more consistent with their behaviors than others. • Example: High Self Monitors • A high self monitor changes their behavior depending on the situation. A low self monitor behaves the same way across situations. • Are you a high self monitor? • The behavior of low self monitors is consistent with their expressed attitudes.

9. Situation in Which You Ask Them • Whether attitudes predict behavior may depend on the context in which you ask the question. • Norms can be so strong that it is unlikely that overt behavior will reflect private attitudes. • Example: People who hate their jobs will still go to work because of normative and financial incentives. • Attitudes toward work predict attendance when obligation to attend is removed. • Question: How many people would show up if I made one class “optional”?

10. Additional Situational Factors • Attitudes are more predictive of behavior when: • People have a vested interest in the issue. • When people are under time pressure. • When situational cues make your attitude salient (a focus of attention). • Situations can be changed to make attitudes more predictive.

11. Job Satisfaction and Performance • Studies have shown consistently that happy workers are not necessarily more productive. • Why do think this is the case? • How can job attitudes become more predictive of behavior at work? • Recent study shows that happy workers don’t make firms more successful, but successful firms make their employees happier.

12. How do Attitudes Actually Predict Behavior? • Two theoretical models that explain why attitudes predict behavior. • Theory of Reasoned Action: • Theory relevant when the behavior is thoughtfully planned in advance. • Attitude-To-Behavior Process Model • Theory relevant when behavior is a spontaneous reaction to one’s immediate situation.

13. Planned Behavior

14. Decision to Protest Parking Lot • Attitude Formation: • Saving trees is important to me. Environmental protests are effective. • Social Pressure: • My friends are going to protest and they might not talk to me if I don’t. • Result: I intend to protest and my intention will result in action.

15. Decision to Stay Home • Attitude Formation: • Protests never work and there are enough trees in Ithaca anyway. • Social Pressure: • My friends think protesting is stupid and they will think I am weird if I go. • Result: • I intend to stay home.

16. Spontaneous Behavior • Sometimes people’s attitudes will result in a spontaneous (unplanned) behavior. • Example: If you hate cockroaches then you don’t have to think about what to do when you see one. • Reason: Some attitudes are more accessible (memorable) than others.

17. Attitude Accessibility • Attitudes guide our interpretation of an object or a situation. • If the attitude is memorable than it will have an immediate impact on our behavior. • If the attitude is not memorable than it will impact our behavior only when recalled.

18. Attitude Change Through Priming Title: ILR (Development/Recovery) Exercise Instructions: “A recent external audit revealed that ILR has been (improving/declining) as an institution over the last decade. However, the audit was vague as to why this (improvement/decline) might be occurring. As a group, please list all of the ways that the administration can (keep/get) ILR moving in the right direction. In other words, list all of the things you (like/dislike) about ILR.”

19. Satisfaction with ILR • Student who were randomly assigned to think about things they didn’t like about ILR were also less satisfied: • With the academic resources at ILR (p < .05) • That they are receiving a high quality education at ILR (p < .10) • With the variety of courses offered at ILR (p < .05 • That ILR has helped them prepare for career after college (p < .10)

20. Self Serving Bias • On average, people believe that they are above average. • People take credit for their success but attribute failure to external/situational factors. • Egocentric bias in groups such that each person believes they contributed more than any other person.

21. Satisfaction with Yourself • On average you listed 6.5 strong statements vs. 4.9 weak statements, t (45) = 4.37, p < .01

22. In Sum • In general, the relationship between attitude and behavior is weak. • However, it is possible to strengthen this link. • Combine attitude with social pressure. • Make attitude memorable.