Notes on Behavior and Attitudes
Attitudes: Definition and ABCs
Attitudes are beliefs and feelings related to a person or an event, often rooted in one’s beliefs and exhibited in one’s feelings and intended behavior. They help us size up the world and respond quickly; the affective reaction guides how we respond. The ABCs of attitudes are: Affect (Feelings), Behavior (Actions), and Cognition (Thoughts).
Attitude-Behavior Relationship: Core Findings
Early research questioned whether attitudes predict behavior. Festinger (1964) argued that changing people’s attitudes often hardly affects their behavior; instead, behavior can influence attitudes, with behavior acting as the horse and attitude as the cart. Abelson (1972) suggested we are skilled at finding reasons for what we do but not always good at doing what we find reasons for. Wicker (1969) concluded that expressed attitudes hardly predicted varying behaviors. Batson and colleagues highlighted a moral dissonance: moral hypocrisy, where morality is professed but costly actions are avoided; well-ingrained habits can override attitudes.
When Do Attitudes Predict Behavior? Conditions and Theories
Attitudes predict behavior when external influences are minimal, the attitude is specific to the behavior, and the attitude is potent. Triandis (1982) identifies many factors (40) that complicate the attitude–behavior link. The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein) posits that Behavioral Intention depends on: Attitude toward the Behavior, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control; Behavior follows from Intentions and the level of control. The Aggregation Principle states that attitude effects become more evident when examining average or aggregate behavior over time.
Behavior is influenced by BI and PBC.
Implicit Attitudes and Biases
Implicit Association Test (IAT) assesses automatic associations between attitudes and evaluative words. Implicit biases are pervasive; for example, many show implicit dislike for the elderly compared with the young. People often are unaware of their implicit biases, even researchers. Both explicit and implicit attitudes contribute to predicting behaviors and judgments.
When Behavior Affects Attitudes? Mechanisms
Attitudes can be shaped by what we do. Role playing (e.g., Stanford Prison Experiment) shows that norms of a position can elicit actions that alter attitudes; saying can become believing; attitudes-follow-behavior can apply to immoral acts, with gradual commitments fostering negative attitudes toward the initial stance. Self-perception theory suggests we infer our attitudes by observing our behavior and the circumstances. When acting as a leader, we may come to think of ourselves as leaders.
Cognitive Dissonance and Self-Justification
Self-presentation theory explains why we express attitudes to appear consistent with our actions. Cognitive Dissonance theory describes the tension from holding incongruent cognitions and how we minimize it via selective exposure, insufficient justification, and later justification of the behavior. Dissonance is strongest when we feel free to choose and the consequences are foreseeable; post-decision dissonance leads to upgrading the chosen option and downgrading the rejected one.
Additional Mechanisms and Effects
Expressing attitudes to please listeners can shift our own stance (self-justification). The facial feedback effect shows that facial expressions can influence emotions, and emotional contagion can align others’ feelings with ours. The overjustification effect shows that external rewards can diminish intrinsic motivation for an activity. Self-perception theory and self-affirmation theory offer frameworks for how attitudes are formed or reaffirmed after actions, especially when behavior risks self-image.
Practical Takeaways for Exam
Attitudes have three components: Affect, Behavior, and Cognition, and they guide quick evaluative responses.
The attitude–behavior link is strong only under certain conditions: specificity, potency, and minimal external influence; and when looking at aggregate behavior.
Both explicit (conscious) and implicit (automatic) attitudes can predict behavior, but each may operate in different situations.
Behavior can shape attitudes through cognitive dissonance, self-perception, and role-identity processes; this can lead to moral rationalization or attitude shifts.
Key theories to remember: Theory of Planned Behavior (A_B, SN, PBC → BI → B), Cognitive Dissonance, Self-Perception Theory, Self-Presentation, Overjustification, and Self-Affirmation.