Attitudes can often predict a person's behaviour but how can we explain the fact that sometimes they do not? Discuss with reference to relevant psychological evidence
When one behaves in a particular fashion towards an object, it is generally assumed that this is due to the attitude held towards it, whereas in fact this is not always the case. Psychologists such as Petty and Cacioppo (1996) suggest that attitudes are based upon our feelings about a certain object and whether we like or dislike it, thus reinforcing the traditional view. Eiser (1986) on the other hand explains how an attitude is what comes of external observational events. Thus the fact that overall an attitude is the predisposition of an individual to evaluate some symbol, or an object or aspect of the world, in a favourable or unfavourable manner means that their must be an explanation and evidence as to why an attitude cannot be simply regarded as a device used to account for our response to certain stimuli.......
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