Attitudebehaviour

Attitude-behavior refers to the relationship between people’s attitudes and their subsequent actions. Attitudes are evaluations of objects, people, or ideas, typically comprising affective, cognitive, and behavioral components. Behavior is observable action. The central question is when and why attitudes predict behavior.

Theories such as the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen) and the Theory of Reasoned Action posit that attitudes influence behavioral intentions, which in turn predict behavior. These models also include subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, reflecting social and practical constraints. The tri-component model explains attitude as a combination of affect, cognition, and behavior tendencies toward an object. Other research highlights that attitude strength, accessibility, and relevance affect predictive power.

The attitude-behavior gap describes situations where strong attitudes do not lead to consistent behavior. Contributing factors include social desirability, weak attitudes, habit, convenience, situational constraints, and measurement error. Automatic or spontaneous processes can override deliberative attitudes, especially in fast-paced contexts.

Measurement approaches include self-report scales, observational methods, and implicit measures like the Implicit Association Test. Researchers emphasize methodological alignment: the more closely a measure matches the behavior in question, the stronger the observed relation.

Applications span consumer behavior, health and risk communication, environmental actions, and political participation. Critics note that attitudes are only one of many drivers of behavior; situational factors and contextual cues often determine actual conduct.