SOCIAL Beliefs and Behaviour Flashcards
(35 cards)
What are the components of attitude?
Affective components (feelings/ emotions).
Cognitive components (beliefs, thoughts).
Behavioural components (actions, intentions).
What is synergistic relation?
Affect and cognition influence each other and gradually align.
What is an attitude?
Mental or neural state of readiness, exerting directive or dynamic influence on individuals response to all objects + situation.
Do attitudes predict behaviour?
La Piere, 1934
1/184 restaurants actually refused service to Chinese couple + La Piere. But 92% said wouldn’t accept Chinese customers when asked 6 months later.
What are some issues with La Piere study?
-difference in people who serve + would have answered questions.
-biased by fact Lapier was there, smartly dressed and white.
-big gap between time + questionnaire sent, attitudes + personnel may have changed.
When do attitudes predict behaviour?
Each attitude + behaviour has 5 elements.
Action-Actor-Context-Target-Time (AACTT) framework: Presseau et al, 2019.
->Correspondence between attitudes and behaviour will be greatest when both are measured at same degree of specificity.
Davidson + Jaccard used this to measure attitudes to birth control:
=Attitude measure: different correlations to behaviours in following 2yrs.
=Attitude towards birth control: small sized correlation. 0.08.
=Attitude towards birth control pills: medium-sized correlations. 0.32.
=Attitude towards using birth control: large-sized correlation. 0.58.
Detail Shiloh et al (2022) attitude measure?
Tested attitudes to vaccinations.
General attitudes toward vaccinations. .31
Specific attitudes towards getting the COVID-19 vaccination.
Attitudes more likely to be highly correlated to behaviour when more closely linked.
What decides attitude strength?
Accessible attitudes can be recalled from memory more easily.
Temporal stability: strong attitudes resistant to change, so stable over time.
What is the basis of attitudes?
Attitudes based on feelings are less likely to change over time.
Rocklage & Luttrell, 2021: given gift and either asked to describe it physically or in affective terms.
=If describe in affective terms less likely to have changed. More stable over time compared to when described in practical terms.
How is personal importance key to attitudes?
Attach personal importance to attitude causes crystallization of attitudes, effortful gathering and processing of relevant information, accumulation of large store of well-organized relevant information in LTM, etc.
Detail Holland et al’s study into attitudes towards Greenpeace?
1: Questionnaire about attitudes to Greenpeace, on 11-point scale. (1=very negative to 11=very positive). Then asked about attitude strength.
2: Behaviour: opportunity to donate money towards Greenpeace= found significance link between attitude and behaviour, but only if belief is strong.
What is the Theory of Planned behaviour?
Attitude-> Intention->Behaviour.
Behaviour intentions capture decision and strength of that decision.
Subjective norm= what important other people think of you performing the behaviour.
2 components:
1.Beliefs about whether important others approve or disapprove of your performing the behaviour- flatmates think we should recycle our waste plastic.
2.Motivation to comply- what my flatmates think is not important to me.
Outline Sheppard, Hartwick & Warshaw (1988):
Meta-analysis of 87 studies, around 12,000 ppt. Showed some things may be out of people’s personal control.
What is perceived control in the Theory of Planned Behaviour?
Perceived behavioural control= people perceptions of ability to perform given behaviour. Like self-efficacy. (Bandura, 1977).
Support for theory of planned behaviour.
Armitage & Conner (2001); meta-analysis of 185 studies.
-> intentions don’t always translate into behaviour. = intention-behaviour gap.
Evidence that PBC moderates relationship between intentions + behaviour.
Perceived control is the moderator variable between intention + behaviour.
What evidence is there that PBC moderates relationship between intentions + behaviour?
Webb + Sheeran- looked at effect of medium- to-large sized change in intentions on behaviour.
-> high pbc for 10 studies e.g. excersize testicular self-examination.
->low pbc for 10 studies e.g. contraceptive use.
Outline the support for theory of planned behaviour?
Armitage & Connor (2001): meta-analysis of 185 studies.
What are the criticism of TPB?
-sufficiency assumption: influence of other variables should be fully mediated by specified social- cognitive variables.
-is the account provided by TPB too rational? Do people really engage so rationally.
-prediction is not the same as explanations.
What was the experimental test used on TPB?
Sniehotta (2009):
2x2x2 factorial design:
-behavioural-belief-intervention: emphasised positive effects of regular physical activity on health, fitness, mood, stress and ability.
-normative-belief-intervention: emphasised most friends and family approve of involvement in physical activity which is safe, secure and healthy.
-control-belief-intervention: addressed four key barriers to ppt- cost, time, access, feelings of discomfort and embarrassment.
DV= changes in beliefs, attendance at university sports facilities over 2 months.
Summary of Theory of Planned Behaviour
Summary:
* The TPB proposes that:
1. Attitudes are associated with behaviour via their influence on people’s intentions.
2. It is important to consider normative and control beliefs, alongside attitudes.
* Evidence suggests that the TPB is useful for predicting people’s intentions and, to a lesser extent, their behaviour, but:
1. Does the TPB provide a sufficient account of behaviour?
2. Is the account too rational?
3. Prediction is not the same as explanation.
What is the sufficiency assumption?
Constructs and relationships included in TPB are sufficient for explaining people’s intentions and behaviours.
What are proximal determinants of behaviour?
Beliefs directly determining behaviour. More distant variables fit into proximal predictors such as attitudes.
Know we need to add a variable if a variable can predict over and above the variables already in there.
-Icek Ajzen (1991): theory of planned behaviour, in principle, open to inclusion of additional predictors if can be show that they capture significant proportion of variance in intention or behaviour after the theory’s current variable have been considered.
What variable should we consider?
Anticipated regret: ‘the various worries that beset a decision maker before any losses materialize’. Janis and Mann (1977).
-thinking about something you might do, will i regret it if I don’t do that.
Outline Richard et al research into anticipated regret?
Tested if anticipated regret would affect persons likelihood of using a condom with new sexual partner.
Anticipated regret correlated with behaviour that ppt predicted based on scenarios given. Subjective norms and perceived control also correlated but attitude did not.
Anticipated regret also correlated with subjective norms. More likely to regret it if think other people would not approve.
What is an injunctive norm?
Reflects what other think, not what they actually do.
