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Attitudes & BehavioursFactors that influence whether attitudes and behaviour will be consistent

+ Factors that influence attitudes

There are many factors that influence whether attitudes and behaviour will be consistent.

Research findings have identified a number of conditions when it is more likely that attitudes and behaviour will match. How strongly we hold the attitude (strength) How easily the attitude comes to mind (accessibility) The situation we are in (context) Personal belief that we can actually perform the behaviour

associated with an attitude (control)

+Factors that influence whether attitudes and behaviour will be consistent

Definition Example

Strength of attitude

Accessibility of attitude

Social context of the attitude

Perceived control of the behaviour

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Strength of the attitude A strong attitude is an attitude that is

usually thought about well-known easily accessible. personally relevant has a strong underlying emotional

component.

The stronger the attitude, the more likely it is that it will be stable and consistent over time be resistant to change influence behaviour.

Stronger attitudes are more likely to predict behaviour than weaker attitudes.

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Strength of the attitude example Strength of an attitude

(supporting gay marriage) will influence whether behaviour matches that attitude (protesting, voting, signing petitions etc)

This is much more likely to occur if attitude has occurred as a result of direct rather than indirect experience (if the person themselves are or have close friends who are gay)

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Accessibility of the attitude

An accessible attitude is a strong attitude that easily comes to mind it has been thought about is well known has been stored in memory ready for use.

American social psychologist Elliot Aronson has proposed that attitudes and behaviour are more likely to be consistent when the attitude is accessible to the person who holds the attitude.

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Accessibility of the attitude example

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Social context of the attitude Social context refers to

the specific situation or social context the person finds themselves in in some cases, the situation may dominate, or ‘overpower’, the

affective and cognitive components of an attitude someone holds.

American social psychologists Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1975) have proposed that whether an attitude leads to actual behaviour may be dependent on the social context or specific situation in which a person finds themselves.

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Social context of the attitude example

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Perceived control over the behaviour Perceived control is

the belief an individual has that they are free to perform or not perform behaviour linked to an attitude

a belief that they can actually perform that behaviour (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2002).

Attitudes and behaviour are also more likely to match when people perceive that they have control over the behaviour that may be triggered by their attitude.