Page 43 - How_Children_Learn_To_Hate_Their_Parents

Under Certain Circumstances, Attitude Does Predict Behavior:
Interestingly, further research into the attitude-behavior question showed that under specific conditions, attitudes do predict behavior, and that the common sense prediction between predicting behavior from attitude does exist, under the right circumstances. The mechanisms by which this connection operates suggests that children who refuse visitation do so because their attitudes are reinforced or “helped” by outside influences.
In general, there are three conditions where attitudes predict behavior. These conditions are (1) when other influences on the attitude are minimized; (2) when the attitude is relevant to the observed behavior and; (3) when the attitude is strong or “potent” (Meyers, 1996).
These caveats might very well apply directly to the child who is taught to hate a parent through the direct and indirect urgings of an alienating parent. In particular they apply to circumstances where a parent “hogs” time with children, therefore minimizing other influences on the child (i.e., the influence of the other parent); and when a child is allowed to practice or rehearse reasons for not wanting to visit with a parent, like they do when they engage in weekly therapy session where the therapist patiently listens to the child complain about visiting a rejected parent.
Most importantly, if contact with a parent is denied, the only influence on the child is the influence of the preferred parent, who does all of the things the child prefers even if with the best caregiving intentions. So, if you are the rejected parent who believes your child will eventually "come around" after a period of not seeing you. Or if you are a child advocate or therapist who
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