Personality Trait and Attitude: Individual Differences Concepts and the Prediction of Behavior
Ito, Kyoko
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/72125
Description
Title
Personality Trait and Attitude: Individual Differences Concepts and the Prediction of Behavior
Author(s)
Ito, Kyoko
Issue Date
1993
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Clore, G.,
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Social
Psychology, Personality
Abstract
Two studies were conducted on a general or global level of measurement (1) to examine a non-causal trait-attitude relationship by focusing on how people feel about the way they generally are; (2) to examine the potential links between intention, trait, habit, and subjective norm; and (3) to (in)validate the assumption that traits cannot contribute significantly to the prediction of behavior and intention, except as determinants of weights. In both studies, four categories of behavior were considered: submissiveness, neighborliness, aggression, and dominance.
In the first study, self-report measures of trait, global attitude, habit, and global intention were administered to 104 students. No two variables shared the same questionnaire items, hence a total lack of content correspondence between the variables. The average disattenuated correlation between trait and attitude,.26, suggests a weak tendency for people to feel favorable toward the way they think they are. As expected, trait was found to be highly associated with habit (.80). The trait-intention association was stronger than the attitude-intention association (.67 and.33, respectively).
In the second study, self-report measures of predictors (i.e., trait, global attitude, global intention, and subjective norm) were completed by 70 students, who also completed a behavior frequency inventory in the following six to eight days. Unlike the first study, the same questionnaire items were used to measure all variables, resulting in higher correlations. As in the first study, the average disattenuated trait-attitude relationship (.74) was found to be weaker than the trait-intention relationship (.98) or the attitude-intention relationship (.89). Overall, trait and intention were more strongly correlated with behavior than was attitude or subjective norm (.62 and.58 vs..16 and.18).
Although relatively strong relationships were found between trait and intention and between trait and behavior, factor analytic results of these variable suggested weak discriminant validity. Further data needs to be gathered using measures with higher discriminant validity in order to answer the question of whether the trait concept can add predictive value in Fishbein's model of attitude. The results from the two studies are presented in the form of a simple model.
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