Acting on One's Attitudes: The Role of a History of Choosing Situations

Three investigations examined the contributions of a history of choosing attitudinally relevant situations to attitude-behavior relations. Study I showed that differing histories of choosing attitudinally relevant situations were predictive of differing degrees of willingness to engage in an attitudinally consistent behavior for low self-monitors but not for high self-monitors. Study 2 showed that manipulated frequency of attitude expression increased attitude accessibility for low, but not for high, self-monitors. Study 3 showed that histories of choosing attitudinally relevant situations were predictive of attitude accessibility for low self-monitors but not for high self-monitors. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.