Attitude-behaviour relations: The role of in-group norms and mode of behavioural decision-making

Two experiments provided support for the central hypothesis ‐ derived from social identity self‐categorization theories ‐ that attitudes would be most likely to predict behaviour when they were supported by a congruent in‐group norm. In the first experiment, norm congruency and mode of behavioural decision‐making (spontaneous or deliberative) were orthogonally manipulated in a between‐subjects study of career choice in psychology. Participants exposed to an attitudinally congruent in‐group norm towards their preferred career choice were more likely to display attitude‐behaviour consistency than those exposed to an attitudinally inconsistent group norm, an effect that was evident under both spontaneous and deliberative decision‐making conditions. Using a mockjury paradigm, Expt 2 replicated and extended the first experiment by including a manipulation of in‐group salience. As predicted, participants exposed to an incongruent norm displayed greater attitude‐behaviour inconsistency than those exposed to a congruent norm. Contrary to predictions, this effect did not vary as a function of group salience, nor did the effects of group norms for high and low salience participants vary as a function of mode of behavioural decision‐making. However, there was evidence that perceived identification with the group moderated the influence of norms on attitude‐behaviour consistency.