Theory and Research in Mass Communication by Perry David K

Author:Perry, David K.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781135644994
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Attitudes Are Behavior

Behaviorists tend to treat attitudes either as forms of behavior (e.g., Bandura, 1969) or as purely cognitive phenomena, without consequences for behavior. One way to treat an attitude as behavior is to equate it with an opinion or expressed attitude.

In Some Contexts

Other research stresses moderating variables. According to it, attitudes may be either largely irrelevant to behavior or strongly predictive depending on circumstances. For example, the extent to which a person has direct experience with an object, rather than encountering it indirectly (e.g., via the mass media), evidently increases predictability (Fazio & Roskos-Ewoldsen 1994). Advertising, for example, often concerns products or issues of more importance to persuaders than persuadees. According to the ELM, receivers may process such messages peripherally and exhibit low attitude-behavior correspondence.

The ELM concerns the processes of attitude formation and change. Beyond this, two influential theories specifically focus on the mechanisms by which attitudes guide behavior. The first of these – the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) – is perhaps as much a theory of strong attitudinal influence as a contingent model. The theory applies to instances in which action is deliberative, involving a calculation of its potential costs and benefits, and under a person’s volitional control. It also assumes that people carefully consider how others will view what they do. According to it, a person’s beliefs about the likely consequences of a behavior and his or her affective response to these perceived consequences contribute to the person’s attitude toward the behavior. In turn, both the attitude and his or her perceptions of social norms concerning the behavior affect the person’s behavioral intention. Finally, the behavioral intentions should influence behavior strongly. Therefore, attitudes may not influence behavior if they are contrary to social norms. To date, empirical work has provided reasonably strong support for the theory (see the discussion in Perloff, 1993).

The second theory is a functional process model proposed by Fazio and his colleagues (e.g., Fazio, Powell, & Herr, 1983). It does not assume that a person must actively think about an attitude if it is to affect behavior. “When someone sees a cockroach he or she probably does not consider the beliefs about how unsanitary cockroaches are, nor is he or she likely to reason out what other people think of smashing the cockroach” (Fazio & Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1994, p. 84). Instead, to guide behavior, an attitude must be accessible when a person encounters an object to which it pertains. Accessible attitudes tend to help people simplify and deal with their environment. If accessed, the attitude tends to cause a person to perceive the object selectively (see chap. 6) in ways consistent with the attitude. The perceptions will affect behavior. Thus, one should expect that the more readily one can recall an attitude from memory, the more impact it will have on the way a person behaves. Much research also supports this (e.g., Fazio, Powell, & Williams, 1989). For example, it suggests that advertising may work only if it contributes to attitudes that are both favorable and easily accessible if someone encounters the product.

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