Bases of Power, Facilitation Effects, and Attitudes and Behavior: Direct, Indirect, and Interactive Determinants of Drug Use

Within the attitude-behavior literature, considerable disagreement exists as to when groups and institutions will influence attitudes, when they will influence behavior independently of attitudes, and when they will influence behavior by interacting with attitudes. By drawing on research on the bases of power, this paper attempts to specify the conditions that create each type of effect. Traditional classifications of the bases of power, however, cannot explain interactions. Attitude-behavior research suggests that interactions result from facilitation power. Facilitation power in part consists of the ability to influence behavior by providing social cooperation or by altering environmental circumstances. National survey data are used to examine how the bases of power available to schools, religious institutions, and peers influence drug use. The results generally support the hypotheses relating types of power to types of effects.