Work

From beliefs to behavior: Clarifying the roles of attitudes and context

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: . Tormala and Rucker emphasize attitudes as proximal determinants of behavior, underscoring the importance of attitude strength and measurement compatibility. Critcher and Galak propose a contextual continuum of decision making that situates belief influence within unprompted, opportunity-based, and prompted behavioral contexts, illustrating how contextual factors shape the recruitment of beliefs for specific actions. In this response, we clarify the relations among beliefs, attitudes, and context; address the misconception that our model overemphasizes inferential reasoning; and extend the framework to integrate evaluative and contextual determinants of behavior. This synthesis offers a comprehensive account in which attitudes function as inferential products of belief processing, while contexts determine when and how these processes are activated.

Source: Journal of Consumer Psychology

DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.70012

Authors: Hogeun Lee, Dolores Albarracín

Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Language: English

Topic: Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Subfield: General Decision Sciences

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,570

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, National Institute of Mental Health