The Attitude–Behavior Relationship Revisited

Abstract

The attitude–behavior relationship is of great import to many areas of psychology. Indeed, psychologists across disciplines have published thousands of articles on the topic. The majority of this research implies that the attitude–behavior relationship is linear. However, observations from 4,101 participants on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and 321,876 online reviews demonstrate that this relationship is systematically nonlinear. Across diverse topics, measures, and contexts, as attitudes move from extremely negative to extremely positive, the corresponding shift in behavior tends to be relatively flat at first (as attitudes move from extremely to moderately negative), to steepen when attitudes cross neutral and shift from negative to positive, and to taper off again as attitudes move from moderately to extremely positive. This result can be explained on the basis of research on categorical perception. The present research suggests a fundamental pivot in how researchers construe, study, and assess the attitude–behavior relationship.

Understanding the intention-behavior gap: The role of intention strength

“…Such analyses assume the attitude-behavior relationship is linear, although an attitude strength perspective might suggest a cubic relationship with the greatest change in behavior apparent at the extremes. Some recent research has supported a cubic relationship between attitude extremity and behavior ( Bechler et al, 2021 ), although here the greatest change in behavior was apparent around the neutral point (these tests mainly focused on the attitude-intention relationship). Bassili (1996) makes the useful distinction between operative and meta-judgmental measures of strength.…”

Going Green Is Exhausting for Dark Personalities but Beneficial for the Light Ones: An Experience Sampling Study That Examines the Subjectivity of Pro-environmental Behavior

“…Since the relationship between attitude and behavior is complex ( Bechler et al, 2021 ) and the “attitude–behavior gap” ( Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002 , p. 246) suggests that concern about environmental problems does not necessarily mean that the corresponding behavior goes hand in hand, we used the ecological momentary assessment approach to further investigate the relationship between attitude, personality, and “green” behavior. This method minimizes recall biases and increases the ecological validity.…”

“…Environmental attitude focuses on general cognitive and affective components of environmental protection ( Bamberg, 2003 ). In general, the assumption that attitudes shape actual behavior is widely recognized in psychological research ( Bechler et al, 2021 ). Nevertheless, the exact circumstances under which attitudes shape behavior, and to what extent, are still being researched and the relationship between attitude and behavior appears to be complex ( Bechler et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In general, the assumption that attitudes shape actual behavior is widely recognized in psychological research ( Bechler et al, 2021 ). Nevertheless, the exact circumstances under which attitudes shape behavior, and to what extent, are still being researched and the relationship between attitude and behavior appears to be complex ( Bechler et al, 2021 ). For example, the “attitude–behavior gap” ( Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002 , p. 246) suggests that concern about environmental problems is not necessarily reflected in behavior.…”

Team Members and Patients’ Views on Cost-effectiveness of (Integrated) Clinical Pathway

“…Several systematic reviews have found positive effects for CPs [9], [10], [11], but little is yet known about the economic impact [1], [12]. In recent years, few studies have investigated the cost-effectiveness of ICPs, and in these studies, the patient groups and settings in which ICPs were used vary widely [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. Recently, Everink et al [2] conducted a cohort study over a 9-month period examining intervention costs, health-care costs, and costs to patients and their families.…”