Attitude-behavior relations: social identity and group membership

This chapter begins with a review of previous perspectives and research on the role of social norms in attitude-behavior relations. The authors then discuss limitations of this previous research and describe how the impact of social norms on attitude-behavior relations can be reconceptualized on the basis of social identity theory and self-categorization theory. It concludes with a discussion of the results of a number of recent studies--conducted in both field and laboratory settings--that support the perspective that attitude-behavior consistency is strengthened if a person's attitudes are supported by a congruent ingroup norm