DEVELOPMENTAL-TRENDS OF DELINQUENT ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS - REPLICATIONS AND SYNTHESIS ACROSS DOMAINS, TIME, AND SAMPLES

Inconsistent findings of attitude-behavior relations are commonly attr ibuted to uncontrolled domain, time, or situational factors. Without i ntegrative work, studies accounting for these factors may further comp licate research by introducing potentially numerous ''third variables' ' and render a coherent understanding of the attitude-behavior relatio nship even more difficult to achieve. In this paper, a developmental p erspective is taken and the attitude-behavior relationship in delinque ncy is examined using three modes of investigation: multivariate patte rns of attitude-behavior associations, their mutual predictability, an d their developmental trajectories. Three grade cohorts of public scho ol boys (n = 1517 of the first, seventh, and tenth grades, initially) were followed over a period of 4 years, with an average age span of 7- 16 years. Correspondence analyses suggested that adolescent boys with a tolerant attitude toward theft or violence were more deviant than th ose who had actual behavior of theft or violence. Stronger attitude ef fect on subsequent behavior, relative to behavior effect on subsequent attitudes, was found among boys aged 10-12 years. While mean scores o f tolerant attitudes to serious theft and violence increased linearly with their behavior counterparts between 6 and 17 years of age, ages 1 1 and 14 were two turning points at which most delinquent attitudes an d behaviors escalated at a higher speed. In general, delinquent attitu des and behaviors were related to each other in various patterns, and age was a defining factor that provided much of the explanation for th e inconsistencies in research findings.