Attitudes and the Prediction of Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature

Kraus, Stephen J.

doi:10.1177/0146167295211007

Cited by 1,370 publications

(966 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…Ajzen and Fishbein (1977) theorized and showed that attitude-behavior connections were strongest when the attitude was matched in specificity or generality to behavior. More recently, Kraus (1995) also found support for the compatibility principle in nonwork contexts, with meta-analytic correlations (r's) of .29 versus .62 under low and high compatibility, respectively.…”

Section: Connecting Attitudinal Predictors To Behavioral Criteria Thementioning

confidence: 86%

How Important are Job Attitudes? Meta-Analytic Comparisons of Integrative Behavioral Outcomes and Time Sequences

Harrison

Newman

Roth

2006

AMJ

1,021

900

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Drawing on the compatibility principle in attitude theory, we propose that overall job attitude (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) provides increasingly powerful prediction of more integrative behavioral criteria (focal performance, contextual performance, lateness, absence, and turnover combined). The principle was sustained by a combination of meta-analysis and structural equations showing better fit of unified versus diversified models of meta-analytic correlations between those criteria. Overall job attitude strongly predicted a higher-order behavioral construct, defined as desirable contributions made to one's work role (r ‫؍‬ .59). Time-lagged data also supported this unified, attitude-engagement model.Job attitudes and job performance are perhaps the two most central and enduring sets of constructs in individual-level organizational research. Yet, a longstanding debate persists about the nature and the strength of relationships between these fundamental predictors and criteria (Austin & Villanova, 1992;Brief, 1998;Johns, 1998;Judge, Thoreson, Bono, & Patton, 2001). An elemental question remains: How important are job attitudes for predicting and understanding job performance in particular, and work role-directed behaviors in general?Authors of early qualitative reviews concluded that only weak support existed for the relationship between one principal attitude, job satisfaction, and supervisor ratings or output measures of job performance (e.g., Brayfield & Crockett, 1955). A common inference in those reviews was that job attitudes were more strongly related to absence, turnover, and other forms of work role withdrawal than they were to in-role performance (e.g., Herzberg, Mausner, Peterson, & Capwell, 1957;Vroom, 1964). Subsequent quantitative reviews also failed to show job attitudes as having strong predictive utility. One meta-analysis reported a lackluster value (ˆϭ .17) as the best estimate of the correlation between satisfaction and performance (Iaffaldano & Muchinsky, 1985). Another review showed organizational commitment bore a weaker relationship to job performance (ˆϭ .14) than to at least one withdrawal behavior, turnover (ˆϭ Ϫ.28;Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). Consequently, the pendulum of causal potency has swung away from job attitudes (at least until recently; see Judge et al. [2001]). One widely held view is that attitudes are inconsistent or epiphenomenal forces in work behavior (e.g., Locke & Latham, 1990): they explain only 3-4 percent of performance variance and have little practical importance for managers.The current article subjects that view to empirical scrutiny via comprehensive and comparative tests. In doing so, we attempt to contribute to management knowledge in five ways. First, we investigate and more fully map the individual-level criterion space (i.e., a set of work behaviors valued by organizations [Austin & Villanova, 1992]) by bringing four original meta-analyses to the literature, estimating the connections between contextual performance and (1) lateness, (2) a...

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Section: Connecting Attitudinal Predictors To Behavioral Criteria Thementioning

confidence: 86%

How Important are Job Attitudes? Meta-Analytic Comparisons of Integrative Behavioral Outcomes and Time Sequences

Harrison

Newman

Roth

2006

AMJ

1,021

900

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, the exact relationship between the structural changes and development of the brain and behavioural changes has not been established. It has also been argued that students differ from nonstudents as they are more homogeneous (Calder et al, 1981;Greenberg, 1987;Kraus, 1995). This may result in stronger effect sizes of hypothesis tests than if nonstudents were involved, as there are fewer extraneous variables to be controlled.…”

Section: Use Of Appropriate Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potentially greater homogeneity of the student sample (Calder et al, 1981;Greenberg, 1987;Kraus, 1995;Peterson, 2001), familiarity with completing experiments and questionnaires, and desire to confirm the research hypotheses (Orne, 1962) was expected to lead to more significant results and greater observed effect sizes for students as compared to nonstudents. Furthermore, students' familiarity with completing surveys and elaborating on written responses, and hope to contribute towards science was expected to result in a greater level of detail in written responses than non students participating in gambling venues.…”

Section: Use Of Appropriate Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Appropriateness of Using Laboratories and Student Participants in Gambling Research

Gainsbury

Blaszczynski

2010

J Gambl Stud

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“…In a meta-analysis of eighty-eight attitude-behaviour studies Kraus (1995) found attitudes significantly and substantially predict future behaviour. However, the majority of studies investigating the relationship between attitudes and behaviour conclude that the direct correlations of attitudes and behaviour are not high (Bagozzi 1978;Bagozzi and Burnkraut 1979;Bruvold 1973;Schuman and Johnson 1976).…”

Section: The Effect Of Attitudes Social Norms and Perceived Behavioumentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding behaviour to inform water supply management in developed nations – A review of literature, conceptual model and research agenda

Hurlimann

Dolničar

Meyer

2009

Journal of Environmental Management

119

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Water is a scarce resource in many parts of the developed world. Two solutions are possible to address water scarcity: conservation of existing resources, or the further production of water from new sources e.g. through recycling of wastewater or desalination of seawater. However, the main hurdle to implementation of many of these solutions is often viewed as a lack of public willingness to adopt these alternative water behaviours. Research in this area is therefore crucial. Yet, and possibly due to the interdisciplinary nature of such research, there is currently no comprehensive overview of what has been done before. This study fills this gap by (1) choosing a general consumer behaviour perspective as a starting point, (2) developing a conceptual model of research required in the area of water-related public acceptance studies, (3) identifying eight key water-related behaviours which require future research attention, and (4) reviewing which areas of the conceptual model have been investigated in the past by conducting an extensive literature review of water-related social science research. The review established that the majority of work which has been conducted is located at the crossroads of personal characteristics and behavioural intentions. Significant gaps exist in relation to researching the adoption of a wide range of demand-side water behaviours. This indicates a dominance of supply-side solutions in social-research exploration. The review identifies a number of research needs including: the exploration of actual adoption of water-related behaviours (rather than behavioural intentions); and to widen the scope of water behaviour enquiry to include more demand-side solutions. Given the increasing scarcity of water in many areas of the world, addressing these identified gaps will be of significant importance. Thus our model informs the social-research agenda for water policy. The review established that the majority of work which has been conducted is located at the crossroads of personal characteristics and behavioural intentions. Significant gaps exist in relation to researching the adoption of a wide range of demand-side water behaviours. This indicates a dominance of supply-side solutions in social research exploration. The review identifies a number of research needs including: the exploration of actual adoption of water-related behaviours (rather than behavioural intentions); and to widen the scope of water behaviour enquiry to include more demand-side solutions.Given the increasing scarcity of water in many areas of the world, addressing these identified gaps will be of significant importance. Thus our model informs the social-research agenda for water policy.

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Attitudes and the Prediction of Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature

Cited by 1,370 publications

References 132 publications

How Important are Job Attitudes? Meta-Analytic Comparisons of Integrative Behavioral Outcomes and Time Sequences

How Important are Job Attitudes? Meta-Analytic Comparisons of Integrative Behavioral Outcomes and Time Sequences

The Appropriateness of Using Laboratories and Student Participants in Gambling Research

Understanding behaviour to inform water supply management in developed nations – A review of literature, conceptual model and research agenda

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