Interactions of consumption situations and brand attitudes.

Variables corresponding to individual consumption situations were used with an aggregated attitude-toward-the-object variable to predict 182 Ss' brand behavioral intentions. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the influence of the situations compared with the influence of the attitude measure to explain the formation of behavioral intentions. An attempt was made to assess the Situation * Attitude Toward the Object interaction, using a multiplicative interaction variable. The inclusion of the situational variable significantly increased the variance explained in behavioral intentions across situations and brands. In general, the interaction variable also improved overall explanatory power. Approximately 50% of all interaction terms were significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting and understanding mothers' infant-feeding intentions and behavior: Testing the theory of reasoned action.

Examined the applicability of M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen's (1980) theory of reasoned action to the prediction and understanding of how primiparous and multiparous mothers intended to feed their infants and how they actually fed them during the 6 wks following delivery. 123 primiparous and 127 multiparous mothers aged 16–40 yrs served as Ss. Measures of attitudes to behavior, subjective norms, and behavioral intentions were taken during the last trimester of pregnancy. Behavior was assessed by self-report 6 wks postpartum. In most respects, findings support the theory. However, attitudes to behavior made an independent and significant contribution to the prediction of infant-feeding behavior, and the previous behavior of multiparous Ss explained a significant proportion of variation in their intentions. The relative importance of the attitudinal and normative components of the model tended to vary according to whether the Ss had direct experience of the criterion behavior. Further analysis revealed that Ss who breast-fed during the 6 wks postpartum differed from those who bottle-fed on a number of behavioral beliefs, outcome evaluations, and normative beliefs and on 1 measure of motivation to comply. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intention to commit driving violations: An application of the theory of planned behavior.

Assessed the ability of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to account for drivers' intentions to commit 4 specific driving violations: drinking and driving, speeding, close following, and overtaking in risky circumstances. A stratified sample of drivers (N?=?881) was surveyed with a questionnaire constructed to measure attitudes toward behaviors, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions, the key constructs in TPB. Results showed that the addition of perceived behavioral control led to significant increments in the amount of explained variance in intentions, thereby supporting the theory. The relation between subjective norms and behavioral intentions was consistently stronger than that between attitudes toward behaviors and behavioral intentions. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) differentiated demographic subgroups of drivers in terms of behavioral beliefs, outcome evaluations, normative beliefs, motivation to comply, and control beliefs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variables that moderate the attitude–behavior relation: Results of a longitudinal survey.

Hypothesized several factors that moderate the attitude–behavior relation: (a) the behavioral sequence that must be successfully completed prior to the occurrence of the behavior, (b) the time interval between the measurement of attitudes and behavior, (c) attitude change, (d) the respondent's educational level, and (e) the degree of correspondence between attitudinal and behavioral variables. The behaviors investigated were having a child and using oral contraceptives. A stratified random sample of 244 married women in a midwestern urban area was studied during a 3-wave, 2-yr longitudinal study. Selection of attitudinal and belief measures was guided by the M. Fishbein (1967) model of behavior intentions. Consistent with the hypotheses, the relations between behavior and both intention and the model's attitudinal and normative components were substantially attenuated by (a) events in the behavioral sequence not under the volitional control of the actor, (b) an increase in the time interval between the measurement of attitudes and behavior from 1 to 2 yrs, and (c) changes in the model's attitudinal and normative components during the 1st yr. The respondent's educational level did not affect attitude–behavior consistency. The attitude–behavior correlation increased significantly as the degree of correspondence between the 2 variables increased. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A connectionist implementation of the theory of planned behavior: Association of beliefs with exercise intention.

The theory of planned behavior suggests attitudes are a product of salient beliefs. This study examined whether aggregating salient beliefs was plausible within a more biologically centered information-processing environment. A neural network was used to examine associations among beliefs relating to exercise intention. Data on intentions and behavioral, normative, and control beliefs from 114 respondents were used to train (by error backpropagation) a neural network to associate beliefs with intention. The R2 between the network's estimated and self-reported intention was .66. The network's representation comprised 6 belief profiles associated with high, moderate, or low behavioral intention. The neural network accommodated complex relationships among beliefs and belief-intention associations and indicated how high-level constructs such as attitudes may be viewed as the best fit (compromise state) between aroused beliefs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theories of reasoned action and planned behavior as models of condom use: A meta-analysis.

To examine how well the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior predict condom use, the authors synthesized 96 data sets (N?=?22,594) containing associations between the models' key variables. Consistent with the theory of reasoned action's predictions, (a) condom use was related to intentions (weighted mean r.?=?.45), (b) intentions were based on attitudes (r.?=?.58) and subjective norms (r.?=?.39), and (c) attitudes were associated with behavioral beliefs (r.?=?.56) and norms were associated with normative beliefs (r.?=?.46). Consistent with the theory of planned behavior's predictions, perceived behavioral control was related to condom use intentions (r.?=?.45) and condom use (r.?=?.25), but in contrast to the theory, it did not contribute significantly to condom use. The strength of these associations, however, was influenced by the consideration of past behavior. Implications of these results for HIV prevention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Greek adolescents’ intentions to smoke: A focus on normative processes.

Objective: To examine the effects of normative influences on adolescent smoking in Greece, a country with weak social norms against smoking and relatively ineffective tobacco control policies. Design: A cross-sectional survey methodology was employed, and a representative sample of Greek high school students was recruited (N = 1,920, M age = 14 years). Main Outcome Measures: Normative beliefs, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, self-esteem, and intentions to smoke. Results: Multiple-regression and mediation analyses were conducted. The effects of public smoking on intentions to smoke were mediated by beliefs of perceived prevalence of smoking among peers, subjective norms, and situational temptations. Self-esteem significantly moderated the effects of subjective norms on intentions to smoke. Conclusions: Prosmoking norms in one’s environment become internalized into biased normative beliefs about smoking, and increase susceptibility to smoke under social pressure. The effect of subjective norms on intentions to smoke was stronger among adolescents with low self-esteem, suggesting that self-esteem may act as a vulnerability factor in the process of smoking initiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persuasive communications to change actions: An analysis of behavioral and cognitive impact in HIV prevention.

This meta-analysis examined the validity of various theoretical assumptions about cognitive and behavioral change following a communication recommending condom use. The synthesis comprised 82 treatment and 29 control groups included in 46 longitudinal reports with measures of perceived severity and susceptibility, attitudes and expectancies, norms, perceptions of control, intentions, knowledge, behavioral skills, or condom use. Results indicated that across the sample of studies, communications taught recipients about facts related to HIV and also induced favorable attitudes and expectancies, greater control perceptions, and stronger intentions to use condoms in the future. Moreover, messages that presented attitudinal information and modeled behavioral skills led to increased condom use. Results are discussed in the context of theories of human behavior and change and in reference to HIV-prevention interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seeking medical care for a breast cancer symptom: Determinants of intentions to engage in prompt or delay behavior.

Examined the cognitive structures underlying women's intentions to seek medical care for a breast cancer symptom. 134 women imagined that they had discovered a change in their breast and chose between 2 alternatives based on I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein's (1980) theory of reasoned action: immediately calling the doctor (prompt behavior) or monitoring the breast change on one's own (delay behavior). Results show that intentions to delay were positively associated with favorable attitudes toward delay (FATDs) and with perceived social pressure to delay. The attitudinal factor was more influential than the social factor in determining intentions. Underlying FATDs were beliefs that delay would result in maintaining control and avoiding disruption, without negative health outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Condom Use Among High-Risk Adolescents: Testing the Influence of Alcohol Use on the Relationship of Cognitive Correlates of Behavior.

The goal of this study was the exploration of distal effects of alcohol use on condom use. Criminally involved adolescents completed an initial measure of attitudes, beliefs, and prior behavior. Of the 300 who completed the initial measurement, 267 (89%) completed a behavioral assessment 6 months later. Analyses validated a theoretical model of condom use intentions and indicated that intentions and attitudes measured at baseline were significant predictors of condom use behavior 6 months later. Neither alcohol use nor alcohol problems moderated relationships among model variables or the influence of intentions and attitudes on behavior. The findings do not support a distal role for alcohol use in altering the cognitive correlates of condom use intentions and behavior among high-risk adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of social distributions.

Examined the accuracy of individuals' beliefs about the distributions of attitudinal and behavioral dimensions in 2 experiments with 350 undergraduates. It is noted that accurate representation of the distribution of social attitudes and behaviors can guide effective social behavior and is often essential for correct inferences. In Exps I and II, the actual attitudes and behaviors of Ss were measured, and their beliefs were assessed by asking Ss to estimate the distribution of 100 students on these dimensions. The accuracy of Ss' perceptions of the means, standard deviations, and distribution shapes were examined. Results indicate that Ss showed a number of systematic biases, including overestimation of dispersion and overestimation of the means of behavioral distributions and a false consensus bias, but their overall accuracy was evident. Findings are discussed in terms of biases in the perception, accuracy, and construction of social distributions. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extending overjustification: The effect of perceived reward-giver intention on response to rewards.

The perceived intention model incorporates a new moderator, beliefs about reward-giver intention, into the overjustification paradigm. In 2 simulated shopping studies featuring products paired with promotional rewards, consumers who believed the marketer was promotion focused (reward used to encourage purchase) reported lower purchase intentions and brand attitudes for promoted products after promotion, whereas,consumers who believed the marketer was reward focused (promotion used to distribute the reward) showed no attitude change. Promotion-focus beliefs lowered attitudes by heightening the contingency between the promotion and purchase and thereby increasing the perceived causal role of the reward. This effect was contingent on initial behavior—postpromotion attitude change occurred for consumers who actively engaged in product decisions but not for consumers who passively observed the choice sets. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting contraceptive behavior from attitudes: A comparison of within- versus across-subjects procedures.

Within- vs across-Ss procedures for predicting behavior from attitudes were contrasted. Each procedure required a comparison among attitudes to generate a prediction; the comparison was either among the same attitudes held by different people (across Ss) or among different attitudes held by the same person (within Ss). It was hypothesized that the within-S model would provide a more adequate explanation of behavior from attitudinal constructs and, hence, more accurate prediction of behavior from attitudes than the across-Ss model. 349 married couples were administered a questionnaire containing measures of 3 attitudinal components—affect, cognition, and conation—toward each of 4 contraceptive methods—oral contraceptives, intrauterine device, diaphragm, and condom. Contraceptive behavior was assessed 1 yr later. In support of the hypothesis, the within-S predictions bore a significantly stronger relation to the behavioral criteria than did the across-Ss predictions. This effect was consistent for each of the 3 components of attitude, for the prediction of behavior and behavioral intention, for male and female Ss, and for a variety of contraceptive behaviors. In addition, both the within- and the across-Ss analyses demonstrated a clear rank ordering in the predictive validity of the 3 attitudinal components: Conation was a better predictor of behavior than was the affect, which, in turn, was better than cognition. (2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action as applied to moral behavior: A confirmatory analysis.

Conducted a confirmatory test of I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein's (1980) theory of reasoned action as applied to the realm of moral behavior, using structural equation modeling. Ss were 1,056 male and female athletes (aged 10–18 yrs [M?=?14.5]). Ss completed a questionnaire that contained 2 hypothetical situations related to moral behavior in sports. For each situation, Ss completed scales assessing all components of the model. A modified version of the theory provided a significant improvement over the Ajzen and Fishbein model. This model retained the basic relationships postulated by the theory and added correlations between the attitudinal and normative structures and a causal path from normative beliefs to attitudes. This model was very robust, holding for the 2 situations. Implications for the construct validity of the theory of reasoned action and its application for moral behavior are drawn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting adolescent eating and activity behaviors: The role of social norms and personal agency.

Guided by the theory of planned behavior, this 2-week longitudinal study examined health behaviors in a sample of 279 adolescents. Social norms and perceived behavioral control (PBC) were tested as predictors of self-reported intentions and behaviors in 2 domains, eating and physical activity. Differentiating, as opposed to aggregating, parent and peer norms provided unique information. For PBC, the authors distinguished global causality beliefs from self-related agency beliefs and intraself (effort, ability) from extraself (parents, teachers) means. Intraself agency beliefs strongly predicted healthy intentions, whereas intraself causality beliefs had a negative influence. Patterns differed somewhat across behaviors and gender. Results highlight theoretical issues and provide potential targets for research on health promotion programs for youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hiring the disabled: An attempt to influence behavioral intentions through a media presentation.

Tested whether a media presentation could influence the stated willingness of 199 health professionals (average age 28.1 yrs) to hire wheelchair-confined workers for jobs in hospital settings. Beliefs of these health professionals regarding the consequences of hiring such workers were identified during interviews with a small pilot sample (e.g., disabled workers cannot physically perform the work). The slide/tape presentation focused on these beliefs, marshaling evidence to refute them, and showing wheelchair-confined hospital workers competently doing their jobs. The results of scores of attitudinal, behavioral intention, and behavioral measures show that those Ss who saw the slide/tape presentation indicated more favorable behavioral intentions to hire both wheelchair-confined workers and workers with double amputations than did Ss who saw no presentation. The groups did not differ in their stated intentions to hire persons with cerebral palsy. A companion study conducted with 99 vocational rehabilitation counselors (average age 28.9 yrs), using a similar slide/tape presentation, yielded similar results. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examination of cognitive variables relevant to sunbathing

This study examined cognitions relevant to sunbathing decision-making in college-aged subjects. Using Jaccard's (1981) theory of alternative behavior as a guiding model, 263 subjects were recruited from psychology classes and administered questionnaires assessing their sunbathing behavioural tendencies, attitudes toward sunbathing, attitudes toward reasonable behavioral alternatives to sunbathing, and cognitive variables underlying these attitudinal variables. The fits of models predicting sunbathing attitudes and sunbathing behavioural tendencies (evaluated using covariate structural equations modeling techniques; LIS-REL VIII) were good for all models tested. In contrast to previous work, the results of this study support the notion that young people will make their decisions regarding sunbathing based on the behavioral alternatives available to them (i.e., generally the one that they prefer most). Furthermore, the multivariate approach used clearly delineates the specific cognitive beliefs and orientations that might be targeted to change these attitudes. The relevance of these findings to skin cancer prevention interventions is discussed.     

Today I'll use a condom, but who knows about tomorrow: A daily process study of variability in predictors of condom use.

Objective: Most models of health behavior change applied to condom use behavior have focused on individual differences in theoretical constructs to explain condom use or nonuse, while ignoring the possibility that day-to-day within-person changes in these constructs may contribute to understanding behavior. The goal of the present study was to investigate day-to-day variability in condom use attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions and assess the utility of this variability in predicting the likelihood of condom use each day. Design: A 30-day Web-based structured daily diary was used to collect daily reports of sexual behaviors and data on theoretical predictors of condom use behavior from sexually active college students (N = 116). Main Outcome Measures: The authors investigated whether condom use attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions vary day to day; whether this within-person variability predicts condom use behavior; and whether negative affective states explain this variability. Results and Conclusions: Within-person variability was found for each of the constructs. Within-person day-to-day changes in behavioral intentions and attitudes predicted the instances in which an individual used a condom and daily negative affect partially explained within-person day-to-day changes in behavioral intentions and self-efficacy. Implications for models of health behavior change and for behavior change interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial predictors of delay of first sexual intercourse by adolescents.

This investigation predicted adolescents' delay of intercourse onset from attitudes, social norms, and self-efficacy about refraining from sexual intercourse. Age, gender, ethnicity, and parental education were also examined as predictors and moderators of the relationships among the 3 psychosocial determinants and onset. The participants (N?=?827), part of a cohort initially surveyed in the 9th grade, reported at baseline that they had never engaged in intercourse. The multivariable proportional hazards regression model suggested that adolescents with more positive attitudinal and normative beliefs, as well as those with a parent who graduated from college, were less likely to engage in intercourse in the follow-up period (up to approximately 2 years). Interventions that include an objective to delay onset may benefit from addressing psychosocial determinants, especially attitudes and norms about sexual intercourse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)