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PSYC1004 Understanding
People in Context
Social Psychology Lecture 4:
Examining the Relationship et!een
"ttitudes and eha#iours
Lecture $utline
The role of attitudes in social psychological
research
Defining attitudes
Empirically examining the relationship
beteen attitudes and beha!iours
% "a#iere$s %ospitality &tudy
%o do attitudes relate to beha!iours'
"ttitudes in Social Psychological
Research
(ttitudes represent an element of human
thought processes hich is of interest to
psychologists
)nterest in attitudes largely based on the
assumption that attitudes pro!ide some
insight into ho humans ill actually act or
beha!e in certain situations
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*elationship beteen attitudes and action
initially assumed to be a straightforard one
+ strong correspondence beteen the to
,reater ease in examining attitudes -i.e.
through paper/pencil sur!eys01 compared to
measuring actual beha!iours in context
(ttitudinal 2uestionnaires became a ma3or
method of socio/psychological in!estigation
"ttitudes in Social Psychological
Research
&e'ining "ttitudes
(n attitude can be understood as4
56 ac2uired out of social experience and pro!ide the
indi!idual organism ith some degree of preparation
to ad3ust1 in a ell/defined ay1 to certain types of
social situations if and hen these situations arise7
-"a#iere 18941 p.2900
5a relati!ely enduring organisation of beliefs1 feelings1
and beha!ioural tendencies toards socially significant
ob3ects1 groups1 e!ents or symbols7 -%ogg : ;aughn
200<1 p.1<00
56 a psychological tendency that is expressed by
e!aluating a particular entity ith some degree of
fa!our or disfa!our7 -Eagly : =hai>in 18891 p.10
?roadly spea>ing1 attitudes can be see as4
E!aluations of !arious aspects of the social orld
% The extent to hich e hold positi!e or negati!e
!ies about certain issues1 ideas1 people1 groups etc.
% )s it the same as an opinion'
,enerally seen as more enduring than passing
references
@Aore resistant to change
Bey dimensions to attitudes4
% &trength
% )mportance
% (ccessibility
&e'ining "ttitudes
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(o! do "ttitudes Relate to
eha#iours)
)f you >no ho a person feels about an issue
-their attitude01 then this should be a good
basis for predicting and understanding ho
they are going to beha!e in relation to that
specific issue
% ?ut is this really the case'
% =hallenging and testing basic assumptions
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
&tudies on attitudes in Crance and England
toards different ethnic groups -18280
% =ompared hotel policies in Crance and England
% DDE of Crench hotels had policies that ere non/
pre3udicedF 80E of English hotels had policies that
ere pre3udiced
Cindings consistent ith "a#iere$s on obser!ations
% Gere actual practices -as opposed to officially
stated policies0 in line ith public sentiments'
Aethods4
?egan in 18901 and conducted o!er a period
of to years
Tra!elled extensi!ely across the H& ith a
young =hinese couple
;isited no feer than 2<0 establishments -66
hotels1 auto/camps1 tourist homesF 184
restaurants and cafIs0
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
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Aethods -cont.04
=hinese couple ere not informed that they ere
part of research pro3ect
Hpon arri!al at each location1 the couple ere
responsible for negotiating the rele!ant ser!ice
-e.g.1 accommodation or a meal0
)n his ords1 "a#iere as able to compile
Jaccurate and detailed records$ of the Jo!ert
response$ to the presence of the =hinese couple
at !arious establishments -18941 p.2920
*esponses collected from a range of ser!ice
industry staff
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
*esults4
)n 2<1 re2uests for ser!ice1 the =hinese customers
ere refused ser!ice only once
#ositi!e response to =hinese couple inconsistent
ith large/scale attitude sur!eys conducted at the
time
% Gidespread antipathy toards =hinese people
% *acial stereotypes study at the time ith #rinceton
students re!ealed that many considered =hinese people to
be sly and deceitful -BatK : ?raly1 18990
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
Collo/up study4
&ent out 2uestionnaire to each of the 2<0
establishments 6 months after their !isit
<1E response rate -81 restaurants and cafIsF 4D
hotels1 auto camps and tourist homes0
% (lso obtained responses from 86 dining establishments
and 92 accommodation places that the group did not !isit
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
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Collo/up study -cont.0
Establishments recei!ed one of 2 !ersions of the
2uestionnaire4
@ ;ersion ( + simply as>ed the 2uestion 5Gill you
accept members of the =hinese race as guests in your
establishment'7
@ ;ersion ? + same 2uestion about =hinese people
embedded in a larger sur!ey that as>ed the same
2uestion about other racial1 ethnic and national
groups
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
*esults -follo/up 2uestionnaire04
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
Response Establishments visited Establishments not
visited
Lo 118 186
Lot sure 8 8
Mes 1 1
Total 128 128
=onclusions4
Nuestionnaires may be useful for measuring
reactions to symbolic or abstract targets1 but are
unable to assess ho people ould respond in real
and concrete situations
5Only a !erbal reaction to an entirely symbolic
situation can be secured by the 2uestionnaire. )t may
indicate hat the responder ould actually do hen
confronted ith the situation symboliKed in the
2uestion1 but there is no assurance that it ill7
-18941 p.2960
LaPiere*s (ospitality Study
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(ospitality Study: Strengths
and +ea,nesses
&trengths4
"arge scale study1 conducted o!er a long period of
time1 and collected actual beha!ioural responses
#ut in place se!eral control measures4
(s much as possible1 "a#iere remo!ed himself from the
interaction situation hen initiating ser!ice re2uests
&ur!eyed a ide range of ser!ice establishments
=ontrolled for personal appearances across
establishments
Gea>nesses4
% 6/month inter!al beteen 2 assessment points
Did the same indi!idual respond to both the face/to/
face re2uest for ser!ice and the 2uestionnaire'
(ttitudes ha!e been shon to be predicti!e of
beha!iour1 to the extent that they are measured not
too long apart -&chartK1 18D80
% Did "a#iere actually assessed an attitude in his
2uestionnaire'
Aeasure did not capture the essence of an attitude as
formally defined/understood
Aore a>in to behavioural intentions-(K3en et al.1 18D00
(ospitality Study: Strengths
and +ea,nesses
Gea>nesses4
%The attitude measured did not address the
same attitude ob3ect
J Gill you accept members of the =hinese race in
your establishment'$ !s. JGill you accept a young1
ell/dressed1 ell/spo>en1 pleasant1 self/confident1
ell/to/do =hinese couple accompanied by a
mature1 ell/dressed1 educated European
gentleman as guests in your establishment'$ -(3Ken
et al.1 18D00
#rinciple of compatibility -Cishbein : (K3en1 18D<0
?irth control pills study -Da!idson : Paccard1 18D80
(ospitality Study: Strengths
and +ea,nesses
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Gea>nesses4
% )mpact of situational constraints as not included in
"a#iere$s -18940 analysis
Did not consider strong social and situational factors in ser!ice
or>ers$ responses
*eluctance to express negati!e attitudes due to norms of tolerance and
politeness1 especially among ser!ice or>ers -norms of hospitality and
courtesy0
&ignificant procedural problem
(ssessed beha!iour and then attitudes1 rather than assessing
attitudes and then beha!iour
Doesn$t allo for a test of hether attitudes predict beha!iour
% Ethical considerations
Leither the =hinese couple or ser!ice pro!iders ere aare that
they ere participating in research
(ospitality Study: Strengths
and +ea,nesses
"re "ttitudes and "ction
Related)
Gic>er -18680 re!ie of 42 experimental
studies shoed that the a!erage correlation
beteen attitudes and beha!iours as !ery
lo -rQ.1<0
&ubse2uent studies and research ha!e argued
that the relationship beteen attitude and
beha!iours is not a simple one1 and other
factors need to be ta>en into account
Theory of planned beha!iour -(3Ken1 188104
"re "ttitudes and "ction
Related)
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Theory of planned beha!iour -(3Ken1 188104
Aost immediate determinant of beha!iour is a
person$s intention to engage in that beha!iour
)ntention is in turn determined by4
(ttitudes -person$s e!aluation of the target beha!iour0
&ub3ecti!e norms -person$s perception that beha!iour
ould be appro!e by others0
#ercei!ed beha!ioural control -person$s perception that
the beha!iour is under his/her control0
"re "ttitudes and "ction
Related)
&ubstantial body of research ha!e supported the
theory of planned beha!iour4
@=orrelations beteen beha!ioural attitudes and
intentions -a!erage r = .4< / .600
@=orrelations beteen sub3ecti!e norms and intentions
-a!erage r = .94 / .420
@=orrelations beteen percei!ed beha!ioural control
and intentions -a!erage r = .9< / .460
@)n combination1 all !ariables ere good predictors of
intentions -a!erage r Q .69 / .D10
@)ntentions are themsel!es good predictors of
beha!iours -a!erage r Q .<90
"re "ttitudes and "ction
Related)
&ome e!idence that the predicti!e !alue of
sub3ecti!e norms as small/inconse2uential
@&uggestions to remo!e norms from model of T#?
Aaybe the concept needs to be better
defined'
=ialdini et al. -18801 18810
@Lorms reflect hat significant others
a. ;alue -in3uncti!e norms0
b. Do themsel!es -descripti!e norms0
Re'ining the -heory o' Planned
eha#iour
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Re'ining the -heory o' Planned
eha#iour
=ialdini et al. -18801 18810
&ub3ecti!e norms in T#? corresponds to
concept of in3uncti!e norm
)n3uncti!e norms
@%ighlight potential social reards/punishments
Descripti!e norms
@%ighlight hat is normal/typical1 and hence li>ely
to be adapti!e
Ghite et al. -20080
Examined predictors of household recycling
(ttitudes -5fa!ourable/unfa!ourable71 5ise/
foolish70
#ercei!ed beha!ioural control -5%o much
control do you ha!e o!er hether you engage in
household recycling in the next fortnight7
Descripti!e norms -5%o many of the people
ho are important to you ould engage in
household recycling during the next fortnight70
Re'ining the -heory o' Planned
eha#iour
Ghite et al. -20080
&ocial in3uncti!e norms -5Do the people ho
are important to you appro!e/disappro!e of
household recycling70
#ersonal in3uncti!e norms -5) do not feel a
moral obligation to engage in household
recycling during the next fortnight70
Re'ining the -heory o' Planned
eha#iour
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Ghite et al. -20080
*esults
@(ttitudes1 percei!ed beha!ioural control1
descripti!e norms significantly predicti!e of
reported recycling beha!iours
@#ersonal1 but LOT social in3uncti!e norms
predicted recycling beha!iours
Re'ining the -heory o' Planned
eha#iour
Concluding 'rom the Current
E#idence
There is probably !alue to measuring attitudes
and beha!ioural intentions in lieu of actual
beha!iours
?ut important to bear in mind that the
relationship beteen attitudes and
beha!iours is not a straightforard one1 and
there are limitations to their predicti!e !alidity
$ptional Readings
(3Ken1 ).1 : Cishbein1 A. -18DD0. (ttitude/beha!iour
relations4 ( theoretical analysis and re!ie of
empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 841 888/
818.
(3Ken1 ). -18810. The theory of planned beha!iour.
Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision
Processes, 501 1D8/211.
=ialdini1 *.?.1 Ballgren1 =.(.1 : *eno1 *.*. -18810. (
focus theory of normati!e conduct. dvances in
!"#erimental $ocial Psychology, %41 201/294.