The missing link: On strengthening the relationship between values and attitudes

Three experiments that test whether the activation of values may result in a change in the relationship between the activated value and connected attitudes are discussed. Participants were primed with the value universalism and subsequently asked for their attitude toward organically grown food. Our results strongly suggest that values are more likely to significantly influence attitudes when the relevant value is activated and the link between the activated value and attitude is activated as well. However, merely activating a specific value is not sufficient to instigate a significant change in the relationship between a value and its related attitudes.