LaPiere - hospitality study

Question 1

Background - LaPiere

Answer 1

1. Sergeant in WW1
2. Believed attitudes were actions, “a social attitude is a behaviour pattern…designated social situations”

Question 2

Background - common assumption

Answer 2

1. Attitudes predict behaviour
2. LaPiere disagreed, using questionnaires rests on the unproven assumption of a simple link between the symbolic and non-symbolic response to an attitude object

Question 3

Background - different attitudes

Answer 3

1. Assumption: hotel policies tend to reflect public opinion of the majority as it is bad for business to offen the majority
2. Finding: more policies in UK excluded non-whites than in france
3. Criticism: policies are still verbal responses rather than attitudes as defined by LaPiere

Question 4

Background - US attitudes to chinese in 1930s

Answer 4

1. Chinese immigration restricted
2. Chinese are barred from land ownership
3. Intermarriage with other races such as chinese forbidden
4. Strong stereotypes against chinese immigrants

Question 5

The study

Answer 5

1. 1930-1932, LaPiere travelled extensively across the US with a young chinese couple
2. Visited 251 establishments - 67 hotels etc. and 184 restaurants
3. LaPiere was concerned about the group’s treatment but they were only refused service once at a “rather inferior auto-camp” and received “more than ordinary consideration” in 72/184 restaurants
4. LaPiere sent a questionnaire to the 250 establishments 6 months after it had been visited by the group - 128 responses, 51% response rate
5. He also received answers to his questionnaire from 123 establishments not visited by the group
6. “Will you accept members of the chinese race as guests in your establishment”
7. Result - 118 of establishments visited said no they wouldn’t accept, along with 113 not visited also saying no, only 1 for both categories said yes
8. Interpretation - “only a verbal reaction to an entirely symbolic situation can be secured by the questionnaire. It may indicate what the responder would actually do when confronted with the situation symbolised in the question, but there is no assurance that it will”
9. The survey answers reflected prejudiced attitudes of the time but not the actual observed behaviour

Question 6

Debate and controversy - generalisability

Answer 6

1. Research from 1980s to 2020s shows the opposite inconsistency of attitudes and behaviour
2. Prejudice - many white people say that they are not prejudiced against people from other ethnic groups
3. Discrimination - of other ethnic groups by white people is still very much evident

Question 7

debate and controversy - methods

Answer 7

1. Six month gap between observed actions and reported attitudes - attitudes may change over time but not this fast
2. Did attitude and action come from the same person
3. LaPiere’s presence - couple was served 31 times in LaPiere’s absence
4. Chinese couple didn’t conform to stereotype
5. Survey question and observed attitudes were different

Question 8

debate and controversy - conceptual issues

Answer 8

1. Did LaPiere really measure and attitude in his survey - potentially measured behavioural intention
2. Norms of politeness

Question 9

debate and controversy - ethics

Answer 9

Lack of informed consent by the chinese couple and by service providers

Question 10

Impact

Answer 10

1. Are attitudes related to action - lapiere’s study led to more research testing the attitude behaviour relationship, Wicker - average correlation between attitudes and behaviour is very low
2. Attitude behaviour relationship is not a simple one, other variables influence
3. Theory of reasoned action: outcome expectation x evaluation of outcome = attitudes, evaluation od behaviour x motivation = subjective norm, attitudes and norms = intentions = behaviour
4. theory of planned behaviour:
   attitude + subjective norm + perceived behavioural control

Question 11

impact - measuring attitudes

Answer 11

1. The principle of compatibility or correspondence - attitude and behaviour need to be measured at the same level of specificity or generality
2. Davidson and jaccard - analysis of the correlation between married women’s attitudes towards birth control and their actual use of oral contraceptives during the two years following the study
3. Privacy paradox - people are more likely to disclose private information on informal websites than on formal ones
4. Explicit vs implicit - explicit are under conscious control whereas implicit are outside of conscious awareness

Question 12

conclusion

Answer 12

1. LaPiere was disappointed by what he saw as the lack of impact of his research
2. His key message that we should not take anything about attitudes, behaviour or their relationship for granted endures and continues to shape the field today
3. Development of measures that capture attitudes more fully
4. Models that predict when attitudes predict behaviour and why
5. Emphasis on behavioural measures remains