Not Practicing What You Preach Hock Chapter 10: Not Practicing What You Preach

Background Social Psychology: the study of interaction (how people treat each other) It gave way to new insights, research, and controversy After LaPiere’s study, it was recognized that people’s attitudes about a person or object do not always reflect how they will behave toward that person or object in a given situation.

Richard LaPiere Most work produced during 1930s—this study done in 1934 He was a Stanford psychologist He focused on the study of social attitudes, specifically, the correspondence between attitudes and behaviors

Before LaPiere Previous studies had used questionnaires and assumed behaviors would match the responses LaPiere believed the idea of correspondence between symbolic behavior and real behavior was wrong and too simple.

Social Attitudes of the 1930s It is very important to note that: Racial and ethnic discrimination existed It was very widespread, blatant, and socially accepted

The Beginning… LaPiere traveled with a young Chinese couple They stayed at the best hotel in a small town and were politely accommodated Two months later he called the hotel and asked if they would accommodate an “important Chinese gentleman” The answer, which led to LaPiere’s study, was:

Method The experiment took place in two parts: Actual behavior Assessment of related symbolic attitudes (questionnaire response)

Real Behavior Phase LaPiere traveled with the Chinese couple across the US and up and down the Pacific coast He observed the attitudes of bellboys, elevator operators, hotel clerks, and waitresses The couple did not know he was making observations

Symbolic Behavior Phase He mailed questionnaires to all the places visited, and other places in the same areas that were not visited There was a 6 month interval between the visit and the mailing Only 51% of the visited establishments responded

What Happened During Their Travels? Of the 251 hotels and restaurants they patronized, only ONE denied them service. Most experiences involved average or above-average treatment. Sometimes treatment was altered due to curiosity about the couple.

LaPiere’s Ratings of Service Received at Lodgings Blue = Above expected Plum = Good but curious Yellow = Normal Green = Racially hesitant Purple = Embarrassing Peach = Not accepted

LaPiere’s Ratings of Service Received at Restaurants and Cafes Blue = Above expected Plum = Good but curious Yellow = Normal Green = Racially hesitant Purple = Embarrassing Peach = Not accepted

Six Months Later… The responses to a mailed questionnaire with the question: “Will you accept members of the Chinese race as guests in your establishment?” were as follows:

Questionnaire Results and Comparison The results of the questionnaire—what people SAY they would do—seem to have little to no impact on how they ACTUALLY behave. While 90-94% of those surveyed—lodging or restaurant, visited or not visited—gave unequivocal NO’s as to whether they would allow Chinese people in their establishment… 91-97% of those establishments visited gave average or above-average service!!!

Discussion Questionnaires are not a valid method to assess a person’s true attitude They are useful to determine people’s hypothetical attitudes Field study is a valid method to measure human behavior in actual social situations Questionnaires are valid when measuring symbolic beliefs i.e. Existence of God

Warnings To Other Researchers 1. Questionnaires are: Cheap Easy to use Give quantitative results Objective 2. The study of human behavior is: Time consuming Mentally challenging Dependant on observer skills Gives qualitative results

3. It is important to judge something as worthy of investigation and to pursue it rather than waste valuable time and effort researching irrelevant hypotheses.

Criticisms of LaPiere’s Study A simple yes/no questionnaire is not a valid measurement of a person’s attitude regarding a group of people. Only half of the places visited responded to the questionnaire. After six months, it was possible that the person responding to the letter was not the person who met the travelers.

Research Prompted by the Study Psychologists worked to determine why attitude assessment fails to predict behavior. There are many competing attitudes. People may behave in ways that are contrary to their attitudes because they have no other choice. Social pressure and desire to avoid embarrassment can influence behavior.

Behavioral Scientists Get Involved They wanted to know under which conditions would attitude measurements reliably predict behavior. They came up with five different indicators:

Strength of the attitude The stronger you feel about something, the more likely you are to behave accordingly. The opposite is also true. Stability of the attitude Attitudes that are stable over time better predict behavior than those that change. Relevance of the attitude to behavior Attitude predicts behavior better if the attitude relates exactly to the behavior of interest

Salience of the attitude The more salient the attitude, the more likely it is to predict behavior. Situational pressure External pressure is so strong that internal attitude has little effect on behavior.

Continuing LaPiere’s Research in the Present Testing the effects of psychic readings on people’s belief in paranormal or extrasensory phenomena: More than 300 subjects were surveyed about personal experience with psychics. Nearly 1/3 reported they had attended at least one psychic reading Most respondents were impressed with the psychic and found the information to be accurate, specific, and personally valuable. BUT, very few made significant changes in their behaviors or attitudes based on the psychic’s prediction

NIMBY?!?!?! It’s a new word related to attitude-behavior research. Stands for: Not In My Back Yard

What it means is that when an issue receives widespread support, many people agree that the project will serve the public good, but once affected personally they become opposed to it.

Conclusion As time has passed and research methods have become more refined… There is no longer a question of whether attitude predicts behavior It has been narrowed to exactly how and when they do so The beginning of research of the attitude-behavior connection began with LaPiere 70 years ago!

Questions 1. How do the behavioral scientists’ conclusions (concerning strength, stability, relevance, salience of attitude, and situational pressure) explain LaPiere’s findings?

2. How could the questionnaire method be further enhanced for it to be an accurate tool to study human behavior? 3. What would a questionnaire be able to measure accurately besides religious beliefs?

4. Do you feel this was a well-done study? Why or why not? 5. What could LaPiere have done differently for the results of the study to be more significant?