Time-Dependent Structural Equations Modeling: A Methodology for Analyzing the Dynamic Attitude-Behavior Relationship

The attitude-behavior relationship is expressed as a set of time-dependent structural equations whose endogenous variables are measures of attitudes (continuous) and behavior (binary). The dynamic aspect of the structure is incorporated in three ways: the equations have a lagged endogenous variable (allowing for a lapse of time between cause and effect), the error terms are assumed to be serially correlated (accounting for predispositions which are not captured by the measured variables), and the coefficients are allowed to vary across time (since relationships may differ in importance at various stages in the process). A consistent estimation procedure is described, combining elements of two-stage least squares, generalized least squares, and probit estimation techniques.