The attitude-behavior link: influencing factors

One of the fundamental questions in the study of attitudes is the extent to which they predict actual behavior.

Although we intuitively expect our attitudes to guide our actions, research has shown that the relationship between the two is not always direct or strong, and is influenced by a variety of factors.

Attitude-Behavior Consistency: Not Always a Strong Link

Classic studies, such as LaPiere's in the 1930s, already highlighted the potential discrepancies between expressed attitudes and observed behavior.

LaPiere traveled across the United States with a Chinese couple, and despite the strong anti-Chinese prejudice of the time, they were refused service at only one establishment out of over 250 they visited.

However, when he later wrote to those same establishments asking if they would accept Chinese customers, 90% responded that they would not.

This study, although with limitations methodological, illustrated that stated attitudes do not always translate into consistent behaviors.

Factors That Increase Consistency

The strength of the attitude-behavior relationship depends on several factors:

• Strength of Attitude: Strong attitudes—that is, those that are important to the person, well-founded, formed through direct experience, and readily accessible to the mind—are more likely to predict behavior.

• Specificity: Consistency is greater when the measured attitude is specific to the behavior in question, rather than being a general attitude. For example, a specific attitude toward "wearing a seat belt within the next two months" will better predict seat belt behavior than a general attitude toward "traffic safety."

• Self-Awareness: When people are more aware of themselves and their own attitudes (e.g., by looking in a mirror), they are more likely to act in a manner consistent with them.

• Situational Pressure and Social Norms: Social norms and situational pressures can strongly influence behavior, sometimes leading people to act contrary to their personal attitudes. If the situation exerts strong pressure to behave in a certain way, the influence of the individual attitude may be diminished.

Theoretical Models of Attachment

Understanding when and how attitudes influence behavior is crucial to social psychology,Since many social interventions are based on the idea that changing attitudes can lead to changes in behavior.

Later theoretical models, such as the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Action, have attempted to more precisely explain the factors that mediate this relationship.