Individual differences in attitudinal versus normative determination of behavior

Abstract

Previous research has identified certain dispositional variables that might moderate the relationship between attitudes and behaviors. Building on this work, the present study predicted that individuals who are both aware of their own attitudes (high in private self-consciousness) and unconcerned with the opinions of others (low in self-monitoring) would display high attitude-behavior correspondence. In contrast, individuals with other combinations of these traits were expected to display high norm-behavior correspondence. To test these predictions, attitudes, norms and behaviors relevant to spending time on school work were measured for 226 college students. The results showed clear support for the predicted personality differences in attitude-behavior and norm-behavior correspondences. In addition, other findings showed that attitudes and norms are distinct rather than redundant constructs. Alternative interpretations and theoretical implications of the findings were discussed.