Mode Model

Key Concepts

Before describing the model, it is important to clarify some concepts. Attitude means any positive or negative association that one has with a given object, which can be anything—a person, political issue, food, and so on. According to the MODE model, one's attitude toward an object, say, one's mother, is an association in memory between the attitude object (mother), and one's evaluation of it (positive or negative). Thus, for many objects in one's memory, there is an evaluation directly linked to it. Importantly, the strength of this association can vary. For some attitude objects, there is a very weak link between the object and its evaluation. This would be the case for someone who, for example, has weak attitudes toward various brands of dish detergent. On the other hand, sometimes the link in memory between an object and its evaluation is very strong, as when someone has a strong positive attitude toward his or her mother. Sometimes the link between an object and its evaluation is so strong that merely seeing the object automatically activates the attitude. If seeing a picture of your mother immediately produces warm, positive feelings, then your attitude toward your mother is automatically activated.

Direct Influences of Attitudes on Behavior

The MODE model argues that attitudes, particularly strong attitudes, are functional—they steer people toward positive things and away from negative things. The MODE model argues that strong attitudes—those that are automatically activated—are more likely to guide behavior. Thus, one way that attitudes and behavior can relate is in a relatively direct fashion. For example, your attitude toward your mother might be automatically activated when you see a picture of her, which then prompts you to pick up the phone and call her. Similarly, if you have a strong attitude toward chocolate, the mere sight of a piece of chocolate might immediately prompt you to pick it up and eat it. In both of these cases, attitude-relevant behavior flows directly from your strong attitude. This direct, attitude-to-behavior route is one of the two ways that the MODE model argues attitudes relate to behavior.

As suggested in the opening paragraph, however, sometimes people's attitudes—even strong ones—don't directly guide their behavior. You might, for example, decide to wait until later to call your mother, and you might remind yourself that you're trying to eat more healthfully and resist devouring that chocolate. The MODE model also describes the conditions under which strong, automatically activated attitudes do not guide behavior. As the MODE acronym implies, two factors—motivation and opportunity—must be present to break the direct attitude-to-behavior link. Each factor will be explained.

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