Attitudes, Personality and Behavior (2nd Edition)

191 Pages·2005·1.4 MB·English

by  Icek Ajzen

S e c o n d E d i t i o n
ATTITUDES, PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOR
• Why do people say one thing and do another?
• Why do people behave inconsistently from one situation to another?
• How do people translate their beliefs and feelings into actions?
A T T I T U D E S ,
This thoroughly revised and updated edition describes why and how beliefs,
attitudes and personality traits influence human behavior. Building on the
strengths of the previous edition, it covers recent developments in existing
theories and details new theoretical approaches to the attitude-behavior
relationships. These novel developments provide insight into the predictability P E R S O N A L I T Y
– and unpredictability – of human behavior.
The book examines:
• Recent innovations in the assessment of attitudes and personality
• The implications of these inovations for prediction of behavior A N D B E H A V I O R
• Differences between spontaneous and reasoned processes
• The most recent research on the relations between intentions and
behavior
While the book is written primarily for students and researchers in social,
personality, and organizational psychology, it also has wide-reaching appeal
to students, researchers and professionals in the fields of health and social
welfare, marketing and consumer behavior.
Icek Ajzen is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, USA. He has published numerous empirical and
theoretical papers and is a fellow of the American Psychological Society
(APS) and a member of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
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S e c o n d
E d i t i o n A T T I T U D E S , P E R S O N A L I T Y A N D B E H AV I O R A j z e n
cover design: Kate Prentice
ATTITUDES,
PERSONALITY
AND BEHAVIOR
MAPPING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Series Editor: Tony Manstead
Current titles:
Icek Ajzen: Attitudes, Personality and Behavior (Second Edition)
Robert S. Baron and Norbert L. Kerr: Group Process, Group Decision,
Group Action (Second Edition)
Marilynn B. Brewer: Intergroup Relations (Second Edition)
Steve Duck: Relating to Others (Second Edition)
J. Richard Eiser: Social Judgement
Russell G. Geen: Human Aggression (Second Edition)
Howard Giles and Nikolas Coupland: Language: Contexts and
Consequences
Dean G. Pruitt and Peter J. Carnevale: Negotiation in Social Conflict
Wolfgang Stroebe: Social Psychology and Health (Second Edition)
John Turner: Social Influence
Leslie A. Zebrowitz: Social Perception
ATTITUDES, PERSONALITY
AND BEHAVIOR
SECOND EDITION
Icek Ajzen
OPEN UNIVERSITY PRESS
Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL
email:
To Rachela, Ron, and Jonathan
CONTENTS
Preface xi
ONE Attitudes and personality traits 1
From acts to dispositions 2
Inferring personality traits from behavior 2
Inferring attitudes from behavior 3
Attitudes versus traits 5
Explicit measures of attitudes and personality traits 6
Overcoming self-presentation biases 14
Implicit measures of attitudes and personality traits 16
From dispositions to actions 19
Dimensions of personality 19
A hierarchical model of attitude 20
Summary and conclusions 22
Notes 22
Suggestions for further reading 23
TWO Consistency in human affairs 24
Psychological foundations of consistency 25
Preference for consistency 25
Functional consistency 26
Inherent consistency 28
Empirical evidence 30
Behavioral consistency 31
Predictive validity 33
Implications 38
Summary and conclusions 39
Notes 39
Suggestions for further reading 40
viii CONTENTS
THREE From dispositions to actions 41
The moderating variables approach 41
Situational factors as moderators 42
Individual differences as moderators 45
Secondary characteristics of the disposition 48
The MODE model: an integrative theoretical framework 57
Strength of behavioral dispositions 58
Moderating variables and the question of consistency 63
Limitations of a moderating variables approach 64
Summary and conclusions 69
Notes 70
Suggestions for further reading 70
FOUR The principle of compatibility 71
The logic of aggregation 72
Consistency of behavioral aggregates 74
Predictive validity for behavioral aggregates 78
Aggregation and the question of consistency 80
Prediction of specific behavioral tendencies 83
The principle of compatibility 85
Personality traits and specific response tendencies 88
Routines and habits 88
Perceived behavioral control 91
Attitudes and specific response tendencies 94
Attitude toward a behavior 94
Summary and conclusions 96
Notes 97
Suggestions for further reading 98
FIVE From intentions to actions 99
The case of willful behavior 99
Predicting behavior from intention 100
The case of incomplete volitional control 107
Control factors 107
Perceived behavioral control 110
Spontaneous intentions 113
Summary and conclusions 115
Notes 115
Suggestions for further reading 116
SIX Explaining intentions and behavior 117
A theory of planned behavior 117
Predicting intentions 119
Predicting behavioral goals 120
The informational foundation of behavior 123
Background factors 134
Behavioral interventions 136
Theoretical considerations 136
Illustrations 137
Summary and conclusions 140
CONTENTS ix
Note 141
Suggestions for further reading 141
SEVEN Conclusion 142
Behavioral consistency 143
General dispositions and specific actions 144
Verbal and nonverbal responses 144
References 147
Author index 168
Subject index 174