Attitudes and attitude certainty guiding pro‐social behaviour as a function of perceived elaboration

Abstract

This research examined the effect of perceived elaboration on the relationship between attitudes and prosocial behaviour. Study 1 revealed that group fusion was more predictive of pro-group behaviour (donation to in-group members) when perceived elaboration was high rather than low. In Study 2, attitudes toward helping were more likely to guide prosocial behaviour (helping others in a learning task) for participants who reported higher levels of perceived elaboration. Studies 3 and 4 manipulated perceptions of elaboration, demonstrating that attitudes guided subsequent hiring decisions (Study 3) and an actual behavioural choice in a natural setting (Study 4), and that this link was stronger for those participants induced to believe that they engaged in high (vs. low) elaboration. Furthermore, Studies 2 and 4 revealed that the effects of perceived elaboration on attitude-behaviour correspondence were mediated by attitude certainty. The present research reveals that prosocial behaviour can be facilitated by taking into consideration meta-cognitive processes that accompany evaluation (perceived elaboration and attitude certainty).

Self-validation theory: An integrative framework for understanding when thoughts become consequential.

“…In another study (Horcajo et al, 2014), college students received a persuasive message that was high or low in personal relevance and this induction (linked to motivation to think about the proposal) moderated the impact of majority versus minority source status on validation processes. Finally, we note that just as people are more likely to use thought confidence to inform their judgments when thinking is high, so too are they more likely to use their attitude confidence to guide their behavior when thinking is high rather than low (Moreno et al, 2021).…”

“…More recent research has begun to examine how people sometimes develop greater certainty in the validity of their attitudes in the absence of any structural differences. For example, research has demonstrated that simply leading people to believe that their attitudes are based in morality (Luttrell, Petty, Briñol, & Wagner, 2016) or considerable thought (Barden & Petty, 2008; Moreno, Requero, et al, in press) can enhance attitude certainty and the subsequent impact of the attitude (see also Mello et al, 2020; Rucker et al, 2008). In these cases, perceived validity is also based on information directly relevant to the attitude itself rather than something incidental to the attitude.…”

Trait aggressiveness and aggressive behavior: The simultaneous influence of contextual variables.

“…For example, individuals scoring high (vs. low) in dimensions such as agency (McCulloch et al, 2012; Rucker et al, 2018), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1989), or internal locus of control (Jones, 1990) might be more likely to be guided by these trait dimensions when they are assigned to the agent rather than the victim role. Future research should examine to what extent being in the agent role increases the use and reliance on these trait dimensions and others beyond trait aggressiveness (e.g., improving reliance on prosocial dispositions, Moreno et al, 2021).…”

Ability or social responsibility? Highlighting the effects of precrisis attitudinal foundations and certainty in product harm crises

“…Attitude literature reveals several key antecedents to attitude certainty. For example, according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), a great amount of actual elaboration increases attitude certainty; a high level of perceived elaboration, even without any substantive basis to it, also increases one's conviction in his or her attitudes (Moreno et al, 2021). Additionally, attitude certainty increases when people accumulate more episodes of direct experiences with the attitude object (Tormala & Rucker, 2007), repeatedly express their attitude toward the object (Petrocelli et al, 2007), find their attitude in line with social consensus (Pullig et al, 2006), or perceive that the information supporting their attitude comes from a credible source (Rucker & Petty, 2007).…”