Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · 1996 · 432 citations · 24 references
Behavioral Decision MakingSocial PsychologyIndividual DifferencesSocial InfluenceSelf-monitoringSocial SciencesPsychologyAttitude TheoryBiasMinority StudiesUnique VarianceConformitySocial IdentityCognitive ScienceBehavioral SciencesApplied Social PsychologyCollective SelfSocial CognitionBehavior CharacteristicSocial BehaviorMinority InfluenceSociologySocial NormWithin-subjects AnalysesArtsSubjective NormsNormative Issue
Intentions to perform most behaviors are primarily driven by attitudes, with subjective norms contributing a small but significant portion of unique variance. The study tests whether the influence of subjective norms can be largely attributed to individual differences in susceptibility to normative control. Participants reported intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms for 30 behaviors, and both between‑subject and within‑subject analyses were conducted. Within‑subject analyses showed that some individuals are more under normative control, and excluding these norm‑controlled subjects removed the previously significant norm effects while strengthening attitudinal effects; this individual difference also correlated with collective self‑concept strength.
Intentions to perform most behaviors are more controlled by attitudes than by subjective norms. Yet subjective norms typically account for a significant, albeit small, proportion of unique variance in intentions. To explore the hypothesis that this effect can be explained largely by individual differences in the degree to which some people are apt to be more under normative control, subjects were asked to indicate their intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms toward performing 30 behaviors. Between-subjects and within-subjects analyses were performed. The within-subjects analyses revealed important differences in whether subjects are under attitudinal or normative control across the behaviors. Further, when "normatively controlled" subjects were excluded from the sample, the significant effects of subjective norms on intentions that were obtained in previous between-subjects analyses were eliminated, and the attitudinal effects were augmented. Finally, this individual difference was associated with the strength of the collective self;
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