The termattitude refers to a predisposition to evaluate some object in a favorable or unfavorable manner. This predisposition cannot be directly observed and is inferred from individuals' responses to the attitude object. Different strategies of attitude measurement draw on different classes of responses and each strategy comes with distinct (dis)advantages. Attitudes are most commonly assessed through direct questions (e.g., ‘Do you favor or oppose…?’). Respondents' answers to such questions, however, are highly context dependent and poorly related to behavior. Observational measures draw on individuals' overt behaviors, such as approaching or avoiding the object, but are relatively insensitive because an individual's behavior can be influenced by many variables other than their attitude towards the object. Other attitude measures draw on covert responses, which may be outside of the individual's awareness, such as minute facial expressions. The advantages and disadvantages of these different measurement strategies are discussed and their frequent lack of convergence is highlighted.
