ABSTRACT
A great deal of research in social psychology and in related disciplines has examined ways in which attitudes are organized or structured. This work has defined attitude structure in a variety of different ways. Some researchers have looked at the structure of single attitudes, hypothesizing three structural components: cognitive, affective, and conative (Breckler, 1984; Insko & Schopler, 1967; Kothandapani, 1971; Ostrom, 1969; Rosenberg, 1960; Rosenberg & Hovland, 1960). Assessments of individual differences in attitude structure in this tradition have focused on differences between individuals or differences within individuals between attitudes in the consistency of these three attitude components (e.g., Chaiken & Baldwin, 1981; Chaiken & Yates, 1985; Millar & Tesser, 1986). Another approach to attitude structure has focused on relationships between attitudes toward different attitude objects, focusing on the degree to which these attitudes are consistent with each other (e.g., Abelson & Rosenberg, 1958; Festinger, 1957; Heider, 1958; Newcomb, 1968; Osgood & Tannenbaum, 1955). Thus, in this second case, attitude structure has been defined by reference to constellations of attitudes rather than by reference to components of a single attitude.
