On inferring one's attitudes from one's behavior: Some delimiting conditions.

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Abstract
Determined conditions under which people infer their attitudes directly from their behavior. 72 female undergraduates were given false physiological feedback which was either consistent or inconsistent with a prior attitude. In addition, Ss either expected or did not expect the attitude to have important consequences for their future behavior. When attitudes were reassessed, type of feedback was only weakly related to use of feedback as a basis for one's attitude. However, it was clear that Ss used the feedback as a basis for their attitude only when they expected no future consequences to result from their attitudes. When future consequences were anticipated, Ss engaged in a critical, time consuming reevaluation of their attitudes in which feedback played a minimal role. It is concluded that the process outlined by D. J. Bem's (1972) self-perception theory is most likely to operate when the attitudinal issues are relatively unimportant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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