Abstract
Temporal stability is assumed to be an important basis for attitudes being strong predictors of behaviour, but this notion has been little tested. The current research reports tests of temporal stability in moderating the attitude-behaviour relationship, specifically in relation to cognitive attitude (i.e., evaluation implied by cognitions about an attitude object) and affective attitude (i.e., evaluation implied by feelings about the attitude object). In three prospective studies (Study 1: physical activity, N = 909; Study 2: multiple health behaviours, N = 281; Study 3: smoking initiation, N = 3,371), temporal stability is shown to moderate the cognitive and affective attitudes to subsequent behaviour relationship in two-, three-, and four-wave designs utilizing between- (Studies 1 and 3) and within-participants (Study 2) analyses and controlling for past behaviour. Effects were more consistent for affective attitudes (when affective and cognitive attitudes were considered simultaneously and past behaviour controlled). Moderation effects were attenuated, but remained significant, in three- and four-wave compared with two-wave designs. The findings underline the role of temporal stability as an indicator of strength and confirm the relative importance of affective over cognitive (components of) attitudes for predicting behaviour.
Highlights
Temporal stability has received a fair degree of attention as a moderator of the intention–behaviour relationship (Conner, Norman, & Bell, 2002; Sheeran & Abraham, 2003), there are relatively few tests of temporal stability as a moderator of the attitude–behaviour relationship
Affective attitude and past behaviour were the strongest correlates of T2 behaviour, cognitive attitude and the two stability measures were significantly correlated with T2 behaviour
Testing the effects of cognitive attitude and affective attitude simultaneously (Table 2, steps C1, C2) indicated that only the influence of affective attitude on behaviour was significantly moderated by temporal stability and that this effect remained when controlling for past behaviour
Summary
Temporal stability (intentions) has received a fair degree of attention as a moderator of the intention–behaviour relationship (Conner, Norman, & Bell, 2002; Sheeran & Abraham, 2003), there are relatively few tests of temporal stability (attitude) as a moderator of the attitude–behaviour relationship. A four-wave study with attitude measured at T1, T2, and T3 and behaviour assessed at T4 can address all three weaknesses simultaneously Such a design can assess whether stability measures that do not overlap with the attitude measure in the attitude–behaviour relationship moderate this relationship (e.g., using stabilityT1–T2 as a moderator of attitudeT3–behaviourT4). We examine each of these designs and provide a first test of a four-wave approach that provides the methodologically most rigorous test of the presumed relation between attitude stability on the one hand and the attitude–behaviour link on the other hand Another focus of the current research is on assessing stability moderation effects separately for cognitive and affective attitudes. We assessed the effect of controlling for past behaviour on the stability moderation effects
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
