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Attitudes vs. Behaviors

2:13 with Tomer Sharon and Hope Armstrong

In most cases, there’s a very big difference between what people say they need and what they actually need. This difference can be described in terms of attitude and behavior.

New Terms:

  • Attitude: Attitude is how people think they behave. It signals what people want.
  • Behavior: Behavior is how people actually behave. It signals what people need.

Further Reading:

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    The difference can be described in terms of attitude and behavior, too. 0:00
    Attitude is how people think they behave, 0:05
    while behavior is how people actually behave. 0:08
    Attitude signals what people want, while behavior signals what they need. 0:11
    This difference has been studied by social psychologists since the beginning of 0:16
    the 20th century. 0:20
    Results were so unbelievable that researchers have been repeating 0:22
    these studies over and over, only to get the same exact outcome. 0:27
    Here are two examples. 0:32
    In a study conducted in 1937 by Stephen Corey, 0:33
    students were asked about their attitude towards cheating. 0:36
    In other words, Corey wanted to know what students said about their behavior. 0:41
    A few weeks later, the same students were given the opportunity to cheat. 0:46
    Following a certain exam, they were asked to grade their own performance. 0:50
    There was close to zero correlation between their attitude towards cheating 0:55
    and actual cheating. 0:59
    What they said about their behavior was very different than their actual behavior. 1:00
    Now you might think that research from 1937 is not valued nowadays. 1:06
    You might think that human behavior changes over time. 1:11
    The funny thing about human behavior is that it doesn't change much. 1:16
    In a study reported by the BBC News, 1:20
    a UK-wide study was led by Ron Cutler in 2012. 1:23
    The researchers asked people coming out of public bathrooms located in gas stations 1:28
    whether or not they had washed their hands after finishing their business. 1:33
    99% of the interviewees said that they did indeed wash their hands. 1:38
    However, according to electronic recording devices, 1:42
    only 32% of men and 64% of women actually did wash their hands. 1:46
    While there are many possible explanations for this difference, 1:51
    the fact of the matter is that it was proven again that there is a very big 1:56
    inconsistency between what people say they do and what they actually do. 2:00
    This important difference between what people want and 2:05
    what they need is key to understand when you work on developing a new product. 2:08

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