Abstract

Beliefs are often the cognitive bases of attitudes. Although attitudes can sometimes be based on positive or negative feelings alone (Schwarz & Clore, 1996; Strack, Martin, & Stepper, 1988), they are more often based on estimates of the likelihood that the stimulus has certain desirable or undesirable attributes or that a behavior will have desirable or undesirable consequences (Fishbein, 1963; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Beliefs about the consequences of a behavior can influence perceptions of its desirability and decisions to engage in it (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2005; Ajzen, Fishbein, Lohmann, & Albarracín, this volume). Thus, the fact that beliefs are intimately connected to attitudes and behavior is incontrovertible.