Effects Of Behaviour On Attitudes

It's a fact that you can't tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations before they arise. ~ Zig Ziglar

While traditional theories argued that attitudes predict behaviours, modern research suggests that the reverse direction is more accurate: behaviour shapes attitudes. Several examples of this relationship have been studied, including the foot-in-the-door phenomenon, role-playing, and social movements.

1. The Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
A popular technique among old-fashioned door-to-door salesmen was to knock, get the homeowner to open the door slightly, and then wedge one's foot in the door in order to have a captive audience for at least the first appeal of the sales pitch. The rationale was that if you could get a 'foot in the door', you could get a sale.

Recent research suggests that this technique works psychologically for a variety of persuasive efforts. Specifically, if you want someone to grant you a favour, first make a smaller, related request. When the other person agrees, he or she will form an attitude in favour of granting you favours in general. Later, when you request your original favuour, although the behaviour may require more effort, he or she will be more likely to grant it than if you had asked for it "cold" or without any preparation. In a sense, your first, smaller request got your 'foot in the door' and later request was more assured.

The foot-in-the-door phenomenon is thought to involve a sequence in which a behaviour(the first favour) creates an attitude(willingness to grant favours) that leads to future behaviour(granting bigger favours).

2. Role-Playing
When actors play roles they take on a character's characteristics and motives. In the course of role-playing, they become sympathetic to the attitudes that underlie the character's actions.

Research has shown that subjects who played the part of lung-cancer patients were later more likely to quit smoking than those who had not played such roles. Apparently the behaviour that involved formation of an attitude stuck with the actors even when their roles were finished.

3. Social Movements
Civil rights legislation in the United States required employers and political leaders to treat minority groups fairly and without segregation or discrimination before these behaviours were supported by popular attitudes. Over time, it was theorized, treating poeple fairly would lead to an unprejudiced attitude. Thus social movements are thought to guide behaviour which themselves develop attitudes to further those movements.

A simple example of using social action to inculcate attitudes is having children recite prayers or the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Most young children do not understand the words of the memorized prose they are reciting. But the ritual behaviour, practiced faithfully(whether coerced or not), leads to attitudes that favour such behaviour in other situations and contexts.