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Two Pieces of the Same Puzzle? Script‐Based Car Choice Habits Between the Influence of Socialization and Past Behavior 1
Author(s) -
KLÖCKNER CHRISTIAN A.,
MATTHIES ELLEN
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00817.x
Subject(s) - socialization , psychology , construct (python library) , habit , license , social psychology , mode (computer interface) , developmental psychology , computer science , programming language , operating system
This paper presents 2 online studies that were conducted on students' travel‐mode choice to determine the theoretical status of a script‐based habit construct. Study 1 ( N = 3,755) showed that habits mediate the influence of 3 aspects of travel‐mode socialization: (a) frequency of parents' use of public transportation; (b) experiencing acquisition of driver's license as initiation to adulthood; and (c) multi‐mobility of peer group. Study 2 ( N = 430) demonstrated in a cross‐lagged panel design that car choice habits are directly influenced only by past behavior and not by personal norms or perceived behavioral control. Taken together, both studies suggest that habits do include socialization influences, but that these influences must be mediated through the intermediate step of past behavior.