Attitude and its influence and relation with thought and behaviour

What is attitude and What is its influence and relation with thought and behaviour? What is the difference between Attitude and behaviour? What is Reasoned Action Theory? Read further to know more.

We frequently assume that people behave in line with their attitudes. On the other hand, social psychologists have found that opinions and actual behaviour are not always precisely in line.

Although they are independent ideas, attitudes, and behaviour are strongly intertwined. Let us discuss attitude.

Attitude

The assessment of the numerous features of the world is how attitude is defined. An idea, an item, or an action may be evaluated. Strong attitudes, such as those regarding drinking behaviour, are possible.

Most people have strong opinions on whether or not to drink. In other cases, it might not be strong enough.

A belief system and the development of an attitude may go hand in hand. A generally persistent structure of beliefs, sentiments, and behavioural tendencies toward socially significant things, organizations, events, or symbols is what theorists refer to as an attitude.

Attitudes are “the most distinctive and fundamental notion in contemporary social psychology,” according to renowned psychologist Gordon Allport. The past and present of a person might influence their attitude.

Attitude and behaviour difference

• Behaviour is a social trait, whereas attitude is a personal trait. In other words, while attitude is encapsulated within the individual’s mind and cannot be quickly noticed by others, behaviour can be easily observed by others because it is external.
• Behaviour refers to what you do, whereas attitude pertains to how you feel. While behaviour largely focuses on actions, attitude is more concerned with the mind.
• Behaviour is a physical state, whereas attitude is a mental state. An individual’s attitude might have an impact on their behaviour. A person with the appropriate mindset might also act in the right way. Nevertheless, people occasionally behave in ways that are consistent with their attitudes, and other times they do not.
• A person’s attitude is their viewpoint on a particular subject. Behaviour is the way a person reacts to the pulls and impulses of their environment. This answer may be influenced by the person’s attitude.
• Though one’s attitude cannot be seen from the outside, it can be determined by one’s behaviour. One can be considered to have a sympathetic disposition toward the underprivileged.
• The person’s behaviour makes it obvious. Because of this, although attitude and behaviour are two separate ideas, they are connected in some ways.

Behaviour

• A social psychologist may be interested in forecasting a person’s behaviour based on their opinions in a variety of ways, ranging from the very particular (will the person attend church services this week?) to the very general (how many religious rites will the person do over the next month?).
• The best way to predict a particular behaviour is to ask a question that is equally specific to the action in question, the target of the action, the context in which the action is performed, and the time of the action (for example, “How do you feel about going to your friend’s wedding this Sunday?”).
• Before lead-free gasoline becoming required, a study indicated that questions regarding buying lead-free gasoline were more accurate predictors of actual lead-free gasoline purchases than other questions.
• On the other hand, the best indicator of a general pattern of behaviour is a measure of general attitude.
• In one study, a general measure of engaging in religious behaviour that was a composite measure of the numerous specific religious behaviours was used to predict the likelihood of engaging in a variety of specific religious behaviours (for example, praying before or after meals, giving money to a religious institution).

Some persons are more likely than others to exhibit consistency in their views and behaviours.

• In general, two categories of people have been taken into account:
• People who are conscious of and follow their inner feelings
• People who extensively rely on environmental cues to guide their behaviour.
• Compared to persons who rely on environmental cues, those who are conscious of their feelings exhibit more consistent attitudes and behaviours.
• Both internal emotions and environmental clues can affect how people behave.
• Nevertheless, a variety of personality traits have been created and successfully applied to ascertain if a person prefers to rely on one kind of cue over another.

In connection to behaviour with attitude, two prevalent theoretical stances are explained. These are the theory of deliberate action and the theory of planned behaviour, which is its theoretical offspring.

Reasoned Action Theory

A model for the anticipation of behavioural intention, including predictions of attitude and behaviours, is the theory of reasoned action. The ensuing distinction between behavioural intention and behaviour enables an explanation of the constraints on the influence of attitudes.

The Theory of Reasoned Action, developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen, opened the door to the study of attitude and behaviour (1980).

The idea “was largely borne out of dissatisfaction with traditional attitude behaviour research, much of which found weak relationships between attitude variables and performance of volitional behaviours”

Theory of Planned Behaviour

Typically, attitudes are not the only factor influencing behaviour. According to this theory of deliberate action, people are more likely to act rationally if they perceive the suggested behaviour as positive (attitude) and believe their significant others want them to do the behaviour (subjective norm).

This theory of planned behaviour states that behavioural intentions to engage in the behaviour or not have an impact on actual behaviour. These intents are then affected by:

• The individual’s perception of the behaviour’s benefits and drawbacks is referred to as their attitude toward the behaviour.
• The desire to behave in a way that people who are important to him believe he should behave is an example of subjective norms on behaviour.
• The degree to which the person thinks he can control whether he engages in the behaviour is known as perceived control over performance.

According to this hypothesis, intentions to engage in the target behaviour should be higher when attitudes and subjective norms are favorable toward it and perceived control over its execution is high.

Strong intentions should increase a person’s likelihood of engaging in the behaviour.

 Ways by which attitudes direct behaviour

There are two ways that attitudes might affect how people behave.

• The degree to which the behaviour is carefully planned ahead of time rather than being a spontaneous reaction to a person’s assessment of the current situation is the primary distinction between the two systems.
• The person may think carefully and reflect on a behavioural strategy before deciding how to act in the first mechanism. As a result, the individual may consciously reflect on the effects of his or her attitude.
• Before making a behavioural choice, a person will carefully consider all of the advantages and disadvantages when choosing a car or which institution to attend, for example.
• Alternatively, in the second mechanism, the person may not consciously think about his or her attitude, yet that attitude may nevertheless have an impact on how that person understands the current experience and, as a result, on behaviour.
• People rarely weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each flavour when choosing between chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Which flavour appears to be the best at any one time is instead determined by how that person feels about the other flavours.

The first kind of procedure is the foundation of the Theory of Reasoned Action. The latter is shown in the attitude-to-behaviour process model.

Model of the process between attitudes and behaviours

The theory of reasoned action postulates that an individual’s attitude and its consequences for a particular course of action direct behaviour through deliberate thought and conscious contemplation.

The process model, on the other hand, contends that attitudes can influence behaviour even in the absence of conscious thought and reflection.

For example, When someone encounters a cockroach, it’s doubtful that they will worry about how unhygienic they are or whether they should smash the bug in front of other people.

If humans did do such deep thought, the cockroach would disappear before anyone had a chance to decide how to respond.

Factors that affect the strength of an attitude

Researchers have found that under some circumstances, people are more likely to act by their attitudes:

• When someone’s attitudes are a product of their own experiences.
• When they are subject-matter authorities.
• When they anticipate a positive result.
• When the opinions are frequently spoken.
• When they have a chance to gain or lose as a result of the problem.

As behaviour changes, so can attitudes.

Many times, individuals will change their views to better match their behaviour.

Cognitive dissonance is a condition where a person suffers from psychological anguish as a result of opposing thoughts or beliefs. People may alter their attitudes to reflect their other ideas or real behaviours to ease this conflict.

Conclusion

In conclusion, theoretical models have demonstrated that attitudes are comprehensive assessments of stimuli that result from the favorability of a person’s effects, cognitions, and prior behaviours. Normal attitudes are either good or negative, but occasionally they can also be ambiguous.

Behaviours are influenced by attitude. When attitudes are measured with the same level of specificity as the desired behaviour, the relationship between attitudes and behaviour is the strongest.

Modern theories of attitude-behaviour relationships explain how attitudes predict behaviour when combined with other factors (such as social norms and perceived control) that have an impact on behaviour.

Additionally, these models describe how readily available attitudes automatically affect behaviour. According to traditional beliefs, people’s attitudes shift when they are motivated to do so by an influential message.

When people are motivated and capable of processing the reasoning, they are more susceptible to the message’s arguments. People may heavily rely on heuristic cues (such as source expertise) to identify their new attitudes when motivation and ability are low.

Article Written By: Atheena Fathima Riyas