Attitudes are overall feelings about someone or something. But can they be used foretell behaviour? There are studies that showed that attitude plays an important part in predicting behaviour. Nevertheless, many other studies have found that attitude alone is not enough to predict behaviour. In this essay, it will be discussed to which degree the attitudes can predict behaviour as well as other factors that are vital in addition to attitude information in trying to foresee behaviour.
It can be argued that attitudes, especially the ones that are easily accessible, can be used to predict behaviour. “Accessible attitudes are those that can be recalled from memory more easily and can therefore be expressed more quickly” (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998 …show more content…
The factors such as the precision of the question, intention, control over the behaviour, social and subjective norms, all play a big part in determining whether the act will be performed or …show more content…
Ajzen and Fishbein assumed that how we behave is determined by asking if we would behave in a certain way or not. The important point is to design the questions to be extremely specific, rather than making them generalized. For example, LaPiere (1934) conducted a study by taking a Chinese couple around United States of America, in the era when there was prejudice against Asians, especially those who were foreign-born. He was investigating whether the Chinese couple would be served or would be rejected. Almost all of the places agreed to serve the couple. However, when he asked, a couple months later, the establishments they had been to whether they would agree to serve Chinese people most said that they would not. The problem with this study was that the question “Will you accept members of Chinese race at your establishment?” (LaPiere, 1934) was too general. Majority of the population has different attitudes depending on the situation. In LaPiere’s study the workers in the establishments might have had negative attitudes about the Chinese race in general, but this did not affect their behavior because their attitudes about this specific Chinese couple were different.
Another factor affecting behaviour is intentions. Intentions are quite important when it comes to predicting behaviour. In fact, they are far more influential that attitudes. For example, a psychology student who has a negative attitude toward cognitive psychology also has
It can be argued that attitudes, especially the ones that are easily accessible, can be used to predict behaviour. “Accessible attitudes are those that can be recalled from memory more easily and can therefore be expressed more quickly” (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998 …show more content…
The factors such as the precision of the question, intention, control over the behaviour, social and subjective norms, all play a big part in determining whether the act will be performed or …show more content…
Ajzen and Fishbein assumed that how we behave is determined by asking if we would behave in a certain way or not. The important point is to design the questions to be extremely specific, rather than making them generalized. For example, LaPiere (1934) conducted a study by taking a Chinese couple around United States of America, in the era when there was prejudice against Asians, especially those who were foreign-born. He was investigating whether the Chinese couple would be served or would be rejected. Almost all of the places agreed to serve the couple. However, when he asked, a couple months later, the establishments they had been to whether they would agree to serve Chinese people most said that they would not. The problem with this study was that the question “Will you accept members of Chinese race at your establishment?” (LaPiere, 1934) was too general. Majority of the population has different attitudes depending on the situation. In LaPiere’s study the workers in the establishments might have had negative attitudes about the Chinese race in general, but this did not affect their behavior because their attitudes about this specific Chinese couple were different.
Another factor affecting behaviour is intentions. Intentions are quite important when it comes to predicting behaviour. In fact, they are far more influential that attitudes. For example, a psychology student who has a negative attitude toward cognitive psychology also has