Comments on: The Attitude-Behaviour Gap: Why We Say One Thing But Do The Opposite

By: Alain Prieto

Alain Prieto — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:56:15 +0000

Hi everyone. I've found this forum seeking for answers to a big fault I had today. Read your testimonies with great attention. You wouldn't believe mine, but I was very angry to my accountant because of her unappropiate way to treat me: never telling me the state of things, never giving me back a call (she called once in two and a half years), never sending me an e-mail. So I was about to do a second taxes paperwork (by going to the tax office myself) these days and she told me two weeks ago that she wasn't going to search for my papers until May. So I was mad at her, but didn't took any measures. Later on I've told this to my girlfriend who is a really practical and direct person, and suggested me to call her and ask for my papers at once! And even avoid to pay her any money, 'cause she wasn't doing things right. Besides I thought it was all paid but with a sightly doubt. So I did and surprinsingly (friday 24) she told me "no problem, be here at sunday" So today I went there, had my papers back and about to get away from there, instead of just leaving, I ask her If there wasn't any money I owe to her (I don't know why I did it) and I gave her 300 pesos more, after having in mind I wasn't going to give her not a single peso! I couldn't believe my lack of self control, my naive action, and worst of all, a broken promise to my girl. I feel awful, a stupid person (which I think I'm not) trying to find out what happen to me, trying to get back in time or something. After putting myself toghether, after a little calm down, I realize I can't do none of those things, but how can I forgive myself?, and more importantly, how can I learn from this for good?. Thanks if you read this. It really happened, hopefully for the last time. Alain.

By: Parepidemos

Parepidemos — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:52:00 +0000

Logan, that's an excellent example... of this issue, and of Jeremy's ending to this post.

Consider that "attitudes" can be defined as those inner feelings which ought to motivate our actions, and "behaviours" defined as those outward visible actions. Seen in this light, many things contribute simultaneously to this gap: personality, circadian rhythms, culture, degrees of relationship, stereotype matching (or breaking), hormonal cycle or state of health, all sorts of other circumstances.

Practically speaking, I want to address the attitude/behavior gap in myself first of all. Not the ones I understand already, like culture and personality and relationship-complexity (transactional analysis, for starters! that might prove helpful for you, Bianca). I want to understand better why, when I both want and need to be doing other work, I am adding a comment to this topic... that's the mysterious part of the whole puzzle, for me.

Just one example of it, anyway.
;-)

By: Logan Longbourne

Logan Longbourne — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:56:00 +0000

I saw this very thing today. My boss sent a sternly-worded letter to a client demanding he pay a bill. Later when we visited the client to collect the cheque, the client (a tall, blond, well-spoken man) angrily vented, and my boss (a shorter Indian man) meekly apologized. As soon as we were out of the building, he was furious with himself for slipping into what he saw as a colonial cultural pattern of behavior. Despite characterizing his role as positively as I could, his shame in the dissonance would not be allayed. His self-image had been tarnished; the attitude-behavior gap could not have been clearer.

By: mofaux

mofaux — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:13:00 +0000

There is a Harvard study into implicit attitudes that is running at the moment and it's free to participate.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

There are a whole bunch of different tests here from attitudes on overweight people to countries, race, gender etc.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:04:00 +0000

@fouccault123. We are living contradictions and that has been show both in older studies and many new ones reveal details about the dusty ones, and sometimes expands on them. A study being dusty doesn't have much to do with its usefulness. I recommend Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate by Susan Haack for you. I take it from your name that you might see psychology as just another narrative among many, with no more claim to the truth than any of the others.

By: Bianca

Bianca — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:16:00 +0000

My landlord is using false allegations with only intention to hurt, e.g. telling I am dragging mud to house (my stilettos are usually $400 and up, so keep wondering if I want a mud). Oh did I mention that this guy had a big muddy dog that goes in and out of the house unleashed?
Or on other occasion when he said I do not recycle and he was crossing his chest as if I committed a crime. The joke was on him when it was reveled that he drives SUV, throws tenants fridges on the curve - and does not recycle. I did challenge this jerk on it - and won in court. I suggest you challenge all that 'nice' people and call them in their face jerks. Do you really want to be in a bad company?

By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author)

Jeremy (PsyBlog author) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:06:00 +0000

Mikal & Herzleid, I know what you mean but I'm afraid there's no neat ending to this article because there are no neat answers in attitude-behaviour research. Perhaps I'll come back to this subject in a future post...

By: Herzleid

Herzleid — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:30:00 +0000

I feel like Mikal - where's the rest of it? That was one of the biggest anticlimaxes I've had in a long while...

I don't think it's very strange though, that we say one thing and do another. Usually to promote a better image, or a preferred or desired image about ourselves (to a point where we deceive ourselves).

By: Mikal

Mikal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:57:00 +0000

Ouch, I feel let down. The text reads like an intro to a great article, but it just stops with a "uh, yeah, something strange is certainly going on, but we don't know the details".

By: Oddrie

Oddrie — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:52:00 +0000

I read the "Attitude-Behavior Gap" test results with interest but I must say that the people chosen to respond should have included a broader slice of the American populace. Why couldn't a person who is NOT in the resturant or hotel biz have just as telling a response? The question could be simply changed to If you ARE in the hotel or restaurant business or if imagined you were, would you serve those who appeared Chinese or whatever? That, to me, would produce a far more accurate result. Especially if the survey was totally anonymous and included a space to write why or why not they would or would not be served.Choosing only those in service industries muddies the result from the get go. IMHO. But I am not educated in that area. I am an RN,BSN who minored in Psych and I worked mostly in psychiatric units.