An international contingent of scholars gathered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, APPC, in May for a two-day conference on the role of attitudes in policy, science communication, education, and other fields. Margareta Friman, Professor in Psychology at CTF, participated at the conference and contributed with her research on attitudes in the transportation field.
Their work will be presented in a second edition of “The Handbook of Attitudes,” updating and expanding upon the original 2005 publication. The new edition of the handbook will include two volumes, one focusing on the theoretical side of attitudes and one on the real-world applications of attitudes research, including new work on the role of attitudes in such diverse fields as cancer, HIV, dieting behavior, advertising, accounting, violence, environmental issues, science communication, and migration.
- In our book chapter on attitudes in the transportation field, we underline the importance of a theoretically based approach to clarify the roles of attitude towards travel, both in research on choice of travel options, satisfaction with travel, and interventions targeting reduced private car use. New or extended theories should integrate factors such as habit, situational constraints, and social influences. It is also important to view travel and changes in travel as ingredients of an adaptation process extended in time instead of focusing on a single behavioral choice at a specific point in time, says Professor Margareta Friman.
The Attitudes Conference was organized by researchers at the University of Illinois, University of Connecticut, along with APPC director. On the first day of the conference, authors briefed the group on their individual research, while the second day was devoted to discussion of overarching themes and an agenda for future research.
