Impacts of the built environment and travel behaviour on attitudes

Theories underpinning the reverse causality hypothesis

Journal article (2019)

Authors

G.P. van Wee Transport and Logistics - TPM
Jonas De Vos University College London, Universiteit Gent
C. Maat Transport and Planning - CEG
Research Group
Transport and Logistics (TPM) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2019 G.P. van Wee, Jonas De Vos, C. Maat
DOI
help_outline
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2019.102540
Built environment Travel behaviour Attitudes Research agenda Cognitive dissonance theory Learning theories
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2019

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Technology, Policy and Management

Department

Engineering, Systems and Services

Research Group

Transport and Logistics

Abstract

The importance of attitudes in the relationship between travel behaviour (TB) and the built environment (BE) has been the subject of debate in the literature for about two decades. In line with the Theory of Planned Behaviour, attitudes – which affect behaviour – are generally assumed to be constant. However, it is plausible that attitudes can change, both directly, or indirectly, through the impact of the built environment on travel behaviour, a process which is referred to as reverse causality (RC). Based on literature from social psychology, this paper provides a conceptual model for the explanation of attitude changes. It also reviews the literature in the area of BE and TB concluding that two explanations dominate: a change in attitudes due to new experiences which can be underpinned by learning theories, and a change in attitudes due to mismatches between attitudes and behaviour which can be explained by cognitive dissonance theories. The literature also suggests a few additional explanations, while we also suggest explanations not provided in travel behaviour literature. Finally, we present an agenda for future research.