Back
 OJMP  Vol.3 No.5 , October 2014
The Role of Attitude Strength in Predicting Organ Donation Behaviour by Implicit and Explicit Attitude Measures
Gundula Hübner1,2*, Anja Mohs1, Lars Eric Petersen1
Show more
Abstract: Explicit attitude measures seem to be rather poor predictors of organ donation behaviour. This study examined whether implicit attitude measures acted as better predictors. Special attention was paid to the moderating role played by attitude strength in predicting deliberate donation behaviour. In this study (N = 78), explicit and implicit measures of attitudes towards organ donation, as well as behavioural commitment, were assessed. Implicit associations were measured by an Implicit Association Test; five constructs assessed self-reported—understood as reflected—attitude strength. The explicit attitude measure appeared to be the best single predictor of whether the participant ended up taking an organ donor card. More importantly, test results demonstrated the moderating role of attitude strength. In the case of low attitude strength, the likelihood of taking a donor card increased with an increasing positive implicit association. In contrast, increasing strength was associated with a weaker link between card taking and the implicit attitude measure. The results are discussed in light of the power of implicit associations to predict more deliberate behaviours.
Keywords: Health Attitudes and Behaviour, Implicit and Explicit Attitude Measures, Organ Donation
Cite this paper: Hübner, G. , Mohs, A. and Petersen, L. (2014) The Role of Attitude Strength in Predicting Organ Donation Behaviour by Implicit and Explicit Attitude Measures. Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 3, 355-363. doi: 10.4236/ojmp.2014.35037.
References

[1]   Moloney, G. and Walker, I. (2002) Talking about Transplants: Social Representations and the Dialectical, Dilemmatic Nature of Organ Donation and Transplantation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 299-320.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/014466602760060264

[2]   Van den Berg, H., Manstead, A.S.R., van der Pligt, J. and Wigboldus, D.H.J. (2005) The Role of Affect in Attitudes toward Organ Donation and Donor-Relevant Decisions. Psychology & Health, 20, 789-802.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14768320500161786

[3]   Greenwald, A.G., Banaji, M.R., Rudman, L.A., Farnham, S.D., Nosek, B.A. and Mellott, D.S. (2002) A Unified Theory of Implicit Attitudes, Stereotypes, Self-Esteem, and Self-Concept. Psychological Review, 102, 4-27.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.4

[4]   Greenberg, J., Solomon, S. and Pyszczynski, T. (1997) Terror Management Theory of Self-Esteem and Social Behaviour: Empirical Assessments and Conceptual Refinements. In: Zanna, M.P., Ed., Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 29, Academic Press, New York, 61-139.

[5]   Greenwald, A.G., McGhee, D.E. and Schwartz, J.L.K. (1998) Measuring Individual Differences in Implicit Cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464-1480.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464

[6]   Greenwald, A.G. and Nosek, B.A. (2001) Health of the Implicit Association Test at Age 3. Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie, 48, 85-93.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1026//0949-3946.48.2.85

[7]   Nosek, B.A., Greenwald, A.G. and Banaji, M.R. (2007) The Implicit Association Test at Age 7: A Methodological and Conceptual Review. In: Bargh, J.A., Ed., Automatic Processes in Social Thinking and Behaviour, Psychology Press, New York, 265-292.

[8]   Marsh, K.L., Johnson, B.T. and Scott-Sheldon, L.A.J. (2001) Heart versus Reason in Condom Use: Implicit versus Explicit Attitudinal Predictors of Sexual Behaviour. Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie, 48, 161-175.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1026//0949-3946.48.2.161

[9]   Schnabel, K., Banse, R. and Asendorpf, J. (2006) Assessment of Implicit Personality Self-Concept Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT): Concurrent Assessment of Anxiousness and Angriness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 373-396.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/014466605X49159

[10]   Greenwald, A.G., Poehlman, T.A., Uhlmann, E. and Banaji, M.R. (2009) Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: III. Meta-Analysis of Predictive Validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 17-41.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015575

[11]   Dovidio, J.F., Kawakami, K. and Gaertner, S.L. (2002) Implicit and Explicit Prejudice and Interracial Interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 62-68.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.62

[12]   Friese, M., Bluemke, M. and Wanke, M. (2007) Predicting Voting Behaviour with Implicit Attitude Measures. The 2002 German Parliamentary Election. Experimental Psychology, 54, 247-255.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169.54.4.247

[13]   Karpinski, A. and Hilton, J.L. (2001) Attitudes and the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774-778.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.5.774

[14]   Perugini, M. (2005) Predictive Models of Implicit and Explicit Attitudes. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 29-45.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/014466604X23491

[15]   Perugini, M. and Prestwich, A. (2007) The Gatekeeper: Individual Differences Are Key in the Chain from Perception to Behaviour. European Journal of Personality, 21, 303-317.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.633

[16]   Hofmann, W., Gschwendner, T., Nosek, B.A. and Schmitt, M. (2005) What Moderates Implicit—Explicit Consistency? European Review of Social Psychology, 16, 335-390.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10463280500443228

[17]   Krosnick, J.A. and Petty, R.E. (1995) Attitude Strength: Antecedents and Consequences. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah.

[18]   Bassili, J.N. (2008) Attitude Strength. In: Crano, W.D. and Prislin, R., Eds., Attitudes and Attitude Change, Psychology Press, New York, 237-234.

[19]   Visser, P.S., Krosnick, J.A. and Simmons, P.J. (2003) Distinguishing the Cognitive and Behavioural Consequences of Attitude Importance and Certainty: A New Approach to Testing the Common-Factor Hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 118-141.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1031(02)00522-X

[20]   Conner, M., Perugini, M., O’Gorman, Ayres, K. and Prestwich, A. (2007) Relations between Implicit and Explicit Measures of Attitudes and Measures of Behavior: Evidence of Moderation by Individual Difference Variables. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 1727-1740.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167207309194

[21]   Nosek, B.A. (2005) Moderators of the Relationship between Implicit and Explicit Evaluation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134, 565-584.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.134.4.565

[22]   Fazio, R.H. (1995) Attitudes as Object-Evaluation Associations: Determinants, Consequences, and Correlates of Attitude Accessibility. In: Petty, R.E. and Krosnick, J.A., Eds., Attitude Strength: Antecedents and Consequences, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, 247-283.

[23]   Greenwald, A.G. and Banaji, M.R. (1995) Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102, 4-27.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.4

[24]   Strack, F. and Deutsch, R. (2005) Reflective and Impulsive Determinants of Social Behaviour. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 220-247.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0803_1

[25]   Petty, R.E., Haugtvedt, C.P. and Smith, S.M. (1995) Elaboration as a Determinant of Attitude Strength: Creating Attitudes That Are Persistent, Resistant, and Predictive of Behaviour. In: Petty, R.E. and Krosnick, J.A., Eds., Attitude Strength: Antecedents and Consequences, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, 93-130.

[26]   Rudman, L.A. (2004) Sources of Implicit Attitudes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 79-82.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00279.x

[27]   Clore, G.L., Gasper, K. and Garwin, E. (2001) Affect as Information. In: Forgas, J.P., Ed., Handbook of Affect and Social Cognition, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, 121-144.

[28]   Egloff, B., Schwerdtfeger, A. and Schmuckle, S.C. (2005) Temporal Stability of the Implicit Association Test-Anxiety. Journal of Personality Assessment, 84, 82-88.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa8401_14

[29]   Greenwald, A.G., Nosek, B.A. and Banaji, M.R. (2003) Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: I. An Improved Scoring Algorithm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 197-216.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.197

[30]   Aiken, L.S. and West, S.G. (1991) Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Sage, Newbury Park.

[31]   Jaccard, J. (2004) Interaction Effects in Logistic Regression. Sage, Thousand Oaks.

[32]   Petty, R.E. and Cacioppo, J.T. (1986) The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. In: Berkowitz, L., Ed., Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 19, Academic Press, New York, 123-205.

[33]   Olson, M.A. and Fazio, R.H. (2004) Reducing the Influence of Extrapersonal Associations on the Implicit Association Test: Personalizing the IAT. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 653-667.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.86.5.653

[34]   Fiedler, K., Messner, C. and Bluemke, M. (2006) Unresolved Problems with the “I”, the “A” and the “T”: A Logical and Psychometric Critique of the Implicit Association Test (IAT). European Review of Social Psychology, 17, 74-147.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10463280600681248

[35]   Rothermund, K. and Wentura, D. (2001) Figure-Ground Asymmetries in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie, 48, 94-106.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1026//0949-3946.48.2.94

 
 
Top