Abstract
The degree of agreement between responses to attitude questionnaires and responses in situations in which the content of the questionnaires is relevant is examined for the study of attitudes in general and for the study of environmental attitudes in particular. The observed low positive correlations of attitude and behaviour suggest that the notion that it is first necessary to change attitudes before one can change behaviour must be reevaluated. A review of the recent say-do correspondence literature is followed by a comparison of attitude-behaviour studies with say-do correspondence studies. A more empirical approach is urged for the future of environmental research which offers a unique arena for the study of attitude-behaviour congruence.
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This paper is reprinted with the kind permission of the New Zealand Psychological Society Inc. It was first published in the New Zealand Psychologist (1980, 9, 1–8) when the author was a Visiting Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Waikato.
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Lloyd, K.E. Do As I Say, Not As I Do. BEHAV ANALYST 17, 131–139 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392658
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392658