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
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

Individualist
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 Verbal Affect
Expressions of feelings towards attitude object

Cognition
Expressions of beliefs about attitude object

Behaviour
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
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

2. Inference

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, its the evaluation of the belief attitude formation

Stage 3:

Intentions

Attitude to an object is related to persons 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

Intention

Behaviour

Normative beliefs
Motivations to comply

Subjective norm

Theory of Reasoned Action

Prediction of goal directed behaviour

(from Azjen & Maddson, 1986)

Attitude towards a behaviour

Intention Behaviour

Subjective norms

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 persons beliefs that key people would or would not behave that way A persons 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 & Ajzens 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 & Ajzens 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

Behavioural intention

Behaviour

Perceived behavioural control

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