Campbell's Paradigm

Campbell's Paradigm 

A teleological not a causal 

(environmental) attitude-behavior link 

Florian G. Kaiser 

Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg 

Presentation at the British Psychological Society Seminar 

"The Psychology of Sustainability" at the University of Surrey, January 27, 2011

Students 

Katarzyna Byrka 

Antal Haans 

Jacqueline Frick 

Hannah Scheuthle 

Nina Roczen 

Adrian Brügger 

Karin Smolders 

Britta Oerke 

Terry Hartig 

Wes Schultz 

Mark Wilson 

Gary Evans 

Cees Midden 

Jaime Berenguer 

Anders Biel 

Heinz Gutscher 

Colleagues 

Acknowledgment 

Renate Cervinka 

Franz Bogner 

Gundula Hübner 

Carmen Tanner 

Urs Fuhrer 

Einar Strumse 

Victor Corral- 

Verdugo und einige mehr

Today's Presentation 

• Attitudes: Definition & Measurement 

– once: key concept to psychologically explain behavior 

– still: central in applied research - environmental psychology 

• Misconceptions w/in the Behavior-Explanation Paradigm 

– #1: complex multifactorial behavior models 

…within a heterogeneous set of behavioral classes 

– #2: limited behavior relevance – even a gap 

– #3: moderated attitude-behavior relationship 

– #4: "evaluative inconsistency" 

• Campbell's Paradigm: Alternative Set of Axiomatic Beliefs 

– recollection of an atypical notion of what attitudes are 

– message: attitude & behavior - not two but one 

• Specifically: Environmental Attitude & Behavior

A Typical Response to the Campbell Paradigm 

This [the Campbell paradigm] does not work, however 

If we treat attitudes as behaviors, we cannot address one of the central 

questions of attitude research, including environmental attitudes: What 

is the nature of the relationship, if any, between attitudes and behavior? 

To equate the two, causes this central question to evaporate… and 

repudiates decades of research tradition within the study of attitudes

(1) 

object/entity: 

(2) 

Definition & Measurement of Attitudes 

A PSYCHOLOGICAL TENDENCY that is expressed by evaluating 

a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor 

attitude 

behavior 

Alice Eagly & Shelly Chaiken (1993) 

verbal behavior 



"actual" behavior 

Evaluative statements e.g.: 

I would prefer, if no [...] 

came to live in my 

neighborhood. 

I felt somewhat anxious, if I 

danced with a [...] in public. 

STRENGTH OF AN ASSOCIATION 

between an evaluation and an object 

Russell Fazio (2008)

Behavior-Explanation 

Paradigm: Separation of… 

attitude 

attitude 

THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR 

Icek Ajzen (1991) 

HEALTH ACTION PROCESS APPROACH 

Ralf Schwarzer (2008) 

behavior 

behavior 

attitude 1 

attitude 2 

attitude 3 

attitude 

behavior 

THEORY OF TRYING 

Richard P. Bagozzi & 

Paul R. Warshaw (1990) 

behavior 

PROTOTYPE/WILLINGNESS MODEL 

Frederick X. Gibbons, Meg Gerard, 

Hart Blanton, & Daniel W. Russell (1998)

attitude 

THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR 

Icek Ajzen (1991) 

behavior 

Behavior-Explanation 

in Environmental Psychology 

attitude 

…often with rather limited explanatory 29% power 

attitude behavior 

VALUE-BELIEF-NORM THEORIE 

Paul Stern (2000) 

Multifactorial, more or less complex behavior models 

22 Studien 

29 unabhängige Stichproben 

175 < N < 8516 

META-THEORETICAL SYNTHESIS 

Sebastian Bamberg & Guido Möser (2007) 

behavior 

…even distinct for various pro-environmental behaviors

Explaining Pro-Environmental Behavior 

within the Theory of Planned Behavior 

CONSISTENCY 

ON THE SPECIFIC LEVEL 

N = 895; age: 46.4; 54.7% females 

WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED? 

Icek Ajzen & Martin Fishbein (2005) 

LITERAL CONSISTENCY - NO GAP 

CONSISTENCY 

ON THE GENERAL LEVEL 

.35 

.60 

.08 ns 

η 2 = 91% 

.94 

Kaiser & Gutscher (2003) Kaiser, Schultz, & Scheuthle (2007) 

- 

incompatible model 

η 2 = 88% 

N = 787; age: 46.2; 58.0% females

Psychology the Science of Behavior: 

All or Only Special Kinds of Behavior? 

Gluttony (psychological factor) CANNOT account 

for wearing hats (observable behavior), 

but for holding hams (intentional behavior) 

Mental concepts can only but be relevant for intentional behavior 

Werner Greve (2001)

Overt Behavior & Intentional Behavior 

"bike riding" 

Intentional, Goal-Directed Behavior 

competitive behavior 

health behavior 

pro-environmental behavior 

Observable, Overt Behavior 

aggressive behavior 

antisocial behavior 

deviant behavior 

hyperactive behavior 

transportation behavior 

consumption behavior 

Intention, personal Goal 

wining/participating in a competition 

reinforcing one's health 

protecting the environmental

The Technical Challenge: 

Axiomatic Link Between Intention and Behavior 

Ultimately, psychology cannot attain better 

than predicting intentions 

Psychological models, thus, must stop with intention 

? 

Werner Greve (2001)

The Technical Challenge: 

Axiomatic Link Between Intention and Behavior 

Ultimately, psychology cannot attain better 

than predicting intentions 

Psychological models, thus, must stop with intention 

Werner Greve (2001) 

…because we, in psychology, cannot measure intentional behavior 

w/o inquiring intentions

Measuring Intentional Behavior 

w/o Inquiring Intentions 

• Assumption: Pro-Environmental Intentions 

� …show directly in people's pro-environmental actions 

� …necessarily in multiple such behaviors 

owning solar panels 

active environmentalism 

commuting by bike 

refraining from car use 

no convenience food 

taking showers not baths 

recycling glass




• The more Determined, the… 

� …more and the more difficult… 



difficult 

A 

B 

easy 







recycling glass






• Engagement in a Difficult Act,… 

� demands easier activities as well 


difficult 

easy 

X 


√ 



recycling glass






• Engagement in a Difficult Act,… 

� demands easier activities as well 

• "Intentional Behavior" 

– a class of behaviors 

(not single acts) 

– transitively ordered class 

(if A>B and B>C then A>C) 



low high 

Intention 

difficult 

A 

B 

C 

easy

Predicting Intentional Pro-Environmental Behavior 

w/in the Theory of Planned Behavior 

.35 

.60 

.08 ns 

η 2 =91% 

- 

.94 

η 2 =88% 

• Good News for the Measure 

− intentions show in our behavior 

measure (GEB) …nearly perfectly 

− possible to measure "intentional 

behavior" w/o inquiring intentions 

• "General Ecological Behavior" 

…homogenous, ordered class 

− multiple successful model tests 

EJPA, PAID, JEP, JASP

Predicting Intentional Pro-Environmental Behavior 

w/in the Theory of Planned Behavior 

.35 

.60 

.08 ns 

η 2 =91% 

- 

.94 

A ≈ A 

behavioral 

intention 

≈ 

η 2 =88% 

intentional 

behavior 

• Good News for the Measure 

− intentions show in our behavior 

measure (GEB) …nearly perfectly 

− possible to measure "intentional 

behavior" w/o inquiring intentions 

• "General Ecological Behavior" 

…homogenous, ordered class 

− multiple successful model tests 

EJPA, PAID, JEP, JASP 

• Bad News for Explanation 

− a trivial (i.e., a tautological) 

behavior explanation 

− intention = intentional behavior

Recollection of an Atypical Attitude Definition 

…and of Some Old but Fundamental Ideas 

An INFERRED PROPERTY… [that] is equated with the 

probability of recurrence of behavior forms of a given type or direction 

Attitude 

Behavioral Difficulty 

Melvin L. DeFleur & Frank R. Westie (1963) 

TRANSITIVE ORDER OF BEHAVIORS DEFINITION OF INCONSISTENCY 

Behavioral 

Class 

high low 

…attitudes need challenge to show 

difficult 

easy 

Donald T. Campbell (1963)

ln 

1 

pni 

- p 

ni 

= 

The Campbell Paradigm 

Example: Environmental Attitude 

• Environmental Attitude is Equated w/ the Probabilities… 

…of the behaviors directed at environmental protection 

• Likelihood of Engaging in Pro-Environmental Behavior… 

…is an unmoderated function of one's environmental attitude 

…and of the specific behavioral difficulty (i.e., compound of all costs) 

• Behavioral Means to Realize a Personal Protection Goal 

• Relation Mathematically Captured w/ Rasch Model 

θ - 

n 

δ 

i 

p ni: probability of person n to engage 

in behavior i 

θ n: Person n's general attitude level 

δ i: costs of behavior i (its difficulty)

ln 

1 

pni 

- p 

ni 

= 










θ - 

n 

δ 

i 


in behavior i 



ln 

1 

pni 

- p 

ni 

= 










θ - 

n 

δ 

i 


in behavior i 



ln 

1 

pni 

- p 

ni 

= 










θ - 

n 

δ 

i 


in behavior i 



Implication: Unmoderated Efficacy of Attitudes 

p (behavior) 

behavior = (attitude + behavioral difficulty) 

attitude 

extremely positive 

positive 

negative 

extremely negative 

low behavioral difficulty high

attitude-behavior relationship 

0 

100 

90 

80 

Unmoderated Efficacy of Attitudes 

Depicted Differently… 

70 

60 

50 

r (attitude-behavior) = const. 

independent of the behavioral difficulty 

40 

30 20 10 0 



Status-Quo Environmental Attitude Research: 

Moderated Efficacy of Attitudes 

0 

100 

optimal conditions hypothesis 

90 

80 

challenge hypothesis 

70 

60 

r (attitude-behavior | behavioral difficulty) 

low-cost hypothesis 

50 

40 

30 20 10 0 


0 

100 

90 

80 

Schultz & Oskamp (1996) 

70 

Diekmann & Preisendörfer (1998) 

60 

Moderated Efficacy of Attitudes 

r (attitude-behavior | behavioral difficulty) 

Stern et al. (1995) 

50 

40 

30 20 10 0 

attitude-behavior relationship Status-Quo Environmental Attitude Research: 


5 studies 

N = 3338; age: 46.5; 54.2% females 


.8 

.6 

.4 

.2 

The Empirical Test: 

41 Attitude-Behavior Pairs 

0 

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 

behavioral difficulty 

Kaiser & Schultz (2007)


.8 

.6 

.4 

.2 

attitude 

The Empirical Test: 

41 Attitude-Behavior Pairs 

behavior 

0.54 

0 

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 

behavioral difficulty 

p = .95 p = .05

Environmental Attitudes… 

Universally Effective Irrespective of the Behavior 

� Conclusions about the Attitude-Behavior Relationship? 

� Environmental Attitudes are Unconditionally 

(i.e., Universally) Behavior-Relevant 

…Irrespective of how Demanding a Behavior (Difficult) 

…as Implied by the Rasch Model 

ln 

1 

pni 

- p 

ni 

= 

θ - 

� …Which Leads to the Following Definition of Attitudes 

(within the Campbell Paradigm)… 

n 

δ 

i

p 

ni 

θ n = ln + 

1- 

pni 

Redefinition of Environmental Attitude 

(2) 

δ 

i 

(1) 

environmental attitude 

a specific difficulty-based transitive 

order of behaviors of a given class 

high 

A 

B 

low 

…recurrence probabilities of 

behaviors of a given class 

.12 

.23 

.59 

.67 

.86 

.94 

.99 







recycling glass 

.05 

.16 

.39 

.47 

.75 

.87 

.93 

the higher…, the more probable...

Implications of Campbell's Paradigm 

• Axiomatic Attitude-Behavior Relationship 

� equating attitudes with behaviors (engagement probabilities) 

� mathematical formalization: Rasch model 

• Individual Attitude Simultaneously… 

…mental, latent, psychological entity (i.e., trait, propensity) and 

…material, objective reality as transitively ordered behavioral class 

� one not two categories (Gilbert Ryle, "Concept of Mind" 1949) 

…category mistake: mind does NOT inhabit and govern body 

• Understandable as Teleological Not Causal Relationship 

� as behavioral means to realize a personal protection goal 

…irrespective of whether one is aware of the goal or not 

• Non-trivial Consequence: "Evaluative Consistency" 

� general attitude's relevance for specific behavior 

� specific behavior's relevance for general attitude

EVALUATIVE INCONSISTENCY 

Russia-devotee 

RUS decoration 


Evaluative Consistency - A Challenge 

for Behavior-Explanation Paradigm 

Johnny Weir... The 21 year-old American figure skater [is] a great 

admirer of ... Russia ...; Weir is a Russia-devotee. 

At home in Newark, New Jersey, he owns a DVD about Russian culture 

and history. He learns Russian and during practice in Turin, Italy, he 

wears a sweater with the CCCP logo imprinted. His training's bag is 

tagged with a RUS sticker. 

(Gijs van Oosten (Eindhovens Dagblad, Feb. 17, 2006, p. 18); translation and 

emphases fgk)

EVALUATIVE INCONSISTENCY 

Russia-devotee 

RUS decoration 


Causal Direction - Another Challenge 

for Behavior-Explanation Paradigm 

Daryl J. Bem (1967) 

Self-Perception Theory 

Johnny Weir... The 21 year-old American figure skater [is] a great 

admirer of ... Russia ...; Weir is a Russia-devotee. 

At home in Newark, New Jersey, he owns a DVD about Russian culture 

and history. He learns Russian and during practice in Turin, Italy, he 

wears a sweater with the CCCP logo imprinted. His training's bag is 

tagged with a RUS sticker. 

(Gijs van Oosten (Eindhovens Dagblad, Feb. 17, 2006, p. 18); translation and 

emphases fgk)

General Attitude's Relevance 

for Specific Behavior 

low high 

n = 38 n = 29 n = 36 n = 28 

type of resource (points/energy) 

n = 131 / n = 502 / N = 1746; 

age: 54.9; 39.7% females 

general 


high 

low 

Kaiser, Byrka, & Hartig (2010)

n = 38 n = 29 n = 36 n = 28 




line of social justice 

general 


high 

low

n = 38 n = 29 n = 36 n = 28 




line of social justice 

general 


high 

low

general environmental attitude 

non-vegetarians 

n = 45 n = 50 n = 60 n = 67 

vegetarians 

Specific Behavior's Relevance 

for General Attitude 

N = 222; age: 39.3; 89.3% females 


measured within 

Campbell's Paradigm (i.e., GEB) 

BASE RATE VEGETARIANS 4-7% 


measured traditionally 

w/ evaluative statements (NEP) 

Kaiser, Byrka, & Hartig (2010)

Reviving Campbell's Paradigm 

for Attitude Research 

• The Campbell Paradigm: Equating Attitude w/ Behavior 

� attitudes transitively ordered classes of behavior 

…real as recurrence probabilities of behavior of a given class 

� attitudes as behavioral means to realize a personal goal 

…latent as a teleological not a causal attitude-behavior link 

• Campbell's in Place of Behavior-Explanation Paradigm 

…at least within environmental-attitude research possible 

� challenge to how many see the attitude-behavior relationship 

• Some Advantages of Paradigm Change 

� unconditional behavior relevance of attitudes 

� evaluative consistency (explicit link between general & specific) 

� simple, two-factorial behavioral models: B = f (Attitude, Situation) 

…practical use of models depends on their simplicity

It's not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. 

It's because we dare not venture that they are difficult. 

Questions? 

Paper is available upon request 

Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

Florian G. Kaiser 

Otto-von-Guericke University 

Institute of Psychology 

P.O. Box 4120 

D-39016 Magdeburg - Germany 

fon: +49 391 671 8470 

email: florian.kaiser@ovgu.de 

web: www.ipsy.ovgu.de/en/fgk.html

Campbell's Paradigm

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