Behavior and attitude: Some people are more consistent than others1

Snyder, Mark; Tanke, Elizabeth Decker

doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1976.tb00135.x

Cited by 127 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Sample items are "I would probably make a good actor," "I guess I put on a show to impress or entertain people," "I have trouble changing my behavior to suit different people and different situations," and "I would not change my opinions (or the way I do things) in order to please someone else or win their favor"; see Snyder, 1974, p. 531, for a complete list of the 25 items. In research using this measure, all of the hypotheses stated above, and many others, have received empirical support (e.g., Ajzen, Timko, & White, 1982;Becherer & Richard, 1978;Caldwell & O'Reilly, 1982;Danheiser & Graziano, 1982;Ickes, Layden, & Barnes, 1978;Krauss, Geller, & Olson, 1976;Kulik & Taylor, 1981;Lippa, 1976Lippa, , 1978aLippa, , 1978bLippa & Mash, 1979;Lippa, Valdez, & Jolly, 1979;Lutsky, Woodworth, & Clayton, 1980;McCann & Hancock, 1983;Paulhus, 1982;Rarick, Soldow, & Geiser, 1976;Ross, McFarland, & Fletcher, 1981;Shaffer, Smith, & Tomarelli, 1982;Snyder, 1974;Snyder, Berscheid, & Glick, 1985;Snyder & Cantor, 1980;Snyder & Gangestad, 1982;Snyder, Gangestad, & Simpson, 1983;Snyder & Kendzierski, 1982a, 1982bSnyder & Monson, 1975;Snyder & Swann, 1976;Snyder & Tanke, 1976;Tunnell, 1980;Tybout & Scott, 1983;Zanna, Olson, & Fazio, 1980;Zuckerma...…”

Section: Conjecturing a Class Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

"To carve nature at its joints": On the existence of discrete classes in personality.

Gangestad¹,

Snyder²

1985

Psychological Review

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476

539

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In principle, units of personality may be of two varieties: dimensional variables, which involve continuously distributed differences in degree, and class variables, which involve discretely distributed differences in kind. There exists, however, a prevailing and rarely questioned assumption that the units of personality are continuous dimensions and an accompanying prejudice against class variables. We examine this prejudice, the arguments that generated it, and those that uphold it. We conclude that these arguments are applicable to class variables as they often have been explicated, in phenetic terms; by contrast, genetically explicated class variables are not vulnerable to these arguments. We propose criteria for conjecturing and present methods for corroborating the existence of class variables in personality. Specifically, we test a class model of a construct whose conceptual status makes it reasonable to evaluate whether or not the differences between individuals represented by this construct constitute discrete classes. Finally, we examine the implications for conceptualizing and investigating the nature and origins of personality.

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Section: Conjecturing a Class Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

"To carve nature at its joints": On the existence of discrete classes in personality.

Gangestad¹,

Snyder²

1985

Psychological Review

Self Cite

476

539

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“…It might, of course, also hold for stability in the specific attitude, but from our point of view, the latter effect merely reflects stability in the general set of attitudes and values. This hypothesis does not presume that attitudinal stability is a general characteristic of individuals, like self-monitoring (Snyder & Tanke, 1976) or responsibility denial (Schwartz, 1973) Approximately 3 months later (T2), the research assistants went to the dormitory rooms of a randomly selected subsample of the previous respondents. These students (Group 1, n = 153) were told that we were interested in "checking the effects of the last few months of university experience on their views," and they were urged to respond "as they now felt, regardless of their earlier answers."…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal instability as a moderator of the attitude–behavior relationship.

Schwartz¹

1978

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

100

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The effects of temporal instability in attitudes on the attitude-behavior relationship were examined in a study of volunteering to tutor blind children. A mailed appeal was received by 286 Israeli undergraduates who had completed a questionnaire either 3 months, 6 months, or both 3 and 6 months earlier, or not at all. Embedded in the questionnaire were attitude items on altruistic acts (including tutoring blind children) and on various controversial issues. The attitude-behavior correlation was higher over the shorter time interval (.47 vs. .13), and data from the group whose attitudes were measured twice indicated this was due to real change in individuals' attitudes. A specific attitude and its corresponding behavior correlated more strongly among those whose general set of altruistic attitudes showed high rather than low temporal stability (.47 vs.-.03), but stability of the specific attitude did not moderate this correlation. Characteristics of attitudes that might influence their stability are discussed, and it is shown that attitude stability is not a general trait.In 1931, Thurstone suggested that temporal instability in attitudes weakens the relation of attitudes to behavior. Although numerous theorists and researchers have reiterated this point over the years (e.g., Alwin, 1973;Fishbein, 1967;Schuman & Johnson, 1976;Schwartz & Tessler, 1972;Wicker, 1969), not a single published research study has directly examined whether real change in individuals' attitudes contributes to attitude-behavior discrepancies. The present study addresses this question from two vantage points. First, it compares the predictive validity of specific attitudes measured at different temporal removes from behavior. Second, it examines the relative predictability of behavior among groups that differ in the stability of their underlying general attitudes.Two studies concerned with other questions have mentioned data bearing on whether the The research reported here was supported by National Science Foundation Grant SOC72-05147. I am grateful to Esther Geva and Avi Gottlieb for their aid in conducting the study and to Thomas Heberlein, Gerald Harwell, Jane Piliavin, G. William Walster, and J. Stanley Black for their comments on an earlier draft.Requests for reprints should be sent to Shalom H. Schwartz, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. predictive validity of attitudes diminishes with the passage of time prior to behavior. Kelley and Mirer (1974) found that attitudes correctly predicted voting for an average of 85% of their sample in the presidential elections from 1952 to 1964. For respondents whose attitudes reflected conflict or indifference over the election, 28% of the variance in errors of prediction was explained by the number of days that intervened between the interview and the election. With each doubling of time, the error rate rose by 4 percentage points.This evidence foi the importance of change in attitudes cannot be generalized easily to other attitude-behavior settings, howev...

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“…Instead, these individuals tend to guide their behavioral choices on the basis of information from relevant inner sources, such as attitudes, feelings, and dispositions (Snyder & Tanke, 1976). As a result, low self-monitoring individuals typically display substantial correspondence between their private attitudes and their actual behavior in social contexts (Snyder & Swann, 1976;Zanna, Olson, & Fazio, 1980).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Appeals to image and claims about quality: Understanding the psychology of advertising.

Snyder¹,

DeBono²

1985

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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447

350

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In three investigations we examined the evaluative and behavioral reactions of high and low self-monitoring individuals to two advertising strategies: appeals to a product's image and claims about a product's quality. High self-monitoring individuals reacted more favorably to image-oriented advertisements, were willing to pay more for products if they were advertised with an image orientation, and were more willing to try a product if it was marketed with an image appeal. By contrast, low self-monitoring individuals reacted more favorably to product-quality-oriented ads, were willing to pay more for products if they were advertised with a quality orientation, and were more willing to try a product if it was marketed with a quality claim. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for advertising strategies, as well as theoretical implications of these findings for the nature of attitudes, are explored.

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Behavior and attitude: Some people are more consistent than others1

Cited by 127 publications

References 16 publications

"To carve nature at its joints": On the existence of discrete classes in personality.

"To carve nature at its joints": On the existence of discrete classes in personality.

Temporal instability as a moderator of the attitude–behavior relationship.

Appeals to image and claims about quality: Understanding the psychology of advertising.

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