Verbal Attitudes and Behavior: A Paradigm for the Study of Message Transmission and Transformation

Under what conditions will attitudes be predictive of behavior? What types of behavior can be predicted from a knowledge of attitudinal structure? These problems have been central to the social sciences since the first attempts to measure attitudes. In this article we have a fresh approach to these issues in an original formulation of systematic theory about social action. The point of view is sociological rather than motivational and complements the psychological approach of most of the articles in this issue. Primary emphasis is given, however, to whether the affect or feeling base of the attitude derives from the verbal expression of the attitude or from various related acts.