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The study of human behavior and the role that attitudes play in its formation have long been an interesting task for scholars. Human beings display various behavioral patterns that some people refer to the context in which this or that pattern is practiced; others see free will as the moving force of behavior (Vohs & Schooler (2008). There are also opinions that rational choice makes people act in a certain way that they believe will be the most beneficial to them. However, social psychology finds out another interesting factor that influences behavior – it is attitude (Myers, 2008). Moreover, social psychology stresses the reciprocal relation between the two notions, i. e. attitude and behavior (Myers, 2008). In other words, the attitudes people have to dictate their behavioral patterns in some cases; in other situations, behaviors form people’s attitudes towards something.
In the light of the social psychology theory, attitudes and behaviors are reciprocally related. Thus, attitudes, under the condition that they are already formed, guide the behavior of a person in a certain direction. There are two basic directions that scholars like Vohs & Schooler (2008), Myers (2008), etc., single out; they are the attitudes related to the person’s perceptions and interpretations, and the attitudes forming the person’s intentions and opinions about their consequences. Concerning the first direction of attitude-guided behavior, it can be observed in daily life because people seldom commit actions towards which they have negative attitudes (Myers, 2008). If people, for instance, perceive crime as a negative phenomenon, their interpretations of this phenomenon do not allow them to behave in a criminal way. As for the second direction, intentions make people behave in a certain way (Psypress, 2009). For example, if a person intends to buy a car, he/she first act so that to get a driver’s license. Thus, attitudes definitely influence behaviors.
However, the reciprocal relation is also observed as behaviors influence people’s attitudes through two major processes – self-perception and cognitive dissonance (Psypress, 2009). Considering self-perception as one of the ways behavior influences attitudes, it is obvious that a person can change his/her attitude towards a behavioral pattern once he/she does it (Psypress, 2009). For instance, if a person is afraid of flying on planes, he/she might change this attitude after something makes him/her take a flight. Thus, an episodic behavior can completely change the attitude towards this behavior. Cognitive dissonance is a similar process but makes the person change his/her attitudes based on the understanding of the fact that their current behavior is either harmful or useless (Myers, 2008). Realizing the wrong type of behavior, the person changes his/her attitude towards it and tries to behave more responsibly, thus changing his/her attitude towards this behavior (Psypress, 2009).
Drawing from the above-presented considerations, attitudes and behaviors actually display reciprocal relation with reference to social psychology. Attitudes can form the behavioral patterns of people, while behaviors can, in their turn, change or modify the attitudes of people towards certain behavioral patterns. People change their attitude towards something they do and get negative results, as well as people, might change their behaviors in certain situations based on their perceptions or interpretations of the latter. Thus, attitudes and behaviors are reciprocally connected, which makes them equally relevant objects of study for social psychology.
References
- Myers, D. (2008). Social Psychology (9th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
- Psypress. (2009). Attitudes and Behavior Flowchart. Web.
- Vohs, K.D., Schooler, J.W. (2008). The Value of Believing in Free Will: Encouraging a Belief in Determinism Increases Cheating. Psychological Science, 19(1), 49-54.
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