Theory of planned behavior

The theory of planned behavior was developed in the 1980s by the social psychologist Icek Ajzen as a refinement of the theory of reasoned action developed by Ajzen and Martin Fishbein in the 1970s. Both are cognitive theories that try to predict and understand the relationship between human behavior and motivation; the key refinement in the theory of planned behavior was the addition of the component of perceived behavioral control. The Theory of Planned Behavior has been widely adopted by researchers studying health behavior, but has been applied to other social behaviors as well, and also in fields such as public relations and advertising.

Overview

The theory of planned behavior is based on the principle that people use information and reasoning to guide their behavior. It uses three sets of variables to predict an individual’s behavioral intention, which is then used to predict his or her actual behavior. The relative weight of each variable can vary, depending on the behavior and the population, but in general, more positive attitudes, greater perceived control, and stronger intention to perform a behavior are positively related to actually performing the behavior.

In the theory of planned behavior, behavioral beliefs are the subjective beliefs of an individual that a given behavior will produce the expected outcome. Behavioral beliefs directly influence attitudes toward the behavior, meaning the degree of positive or negative value an individual places on the behavior, and also interact with normative beliefs and control beliefs.

Normative beliefs are the behavioral expectations held by groups or individuals important to the individual, such as friends, family, and coworkers. Normative beliefs have a direct influence on the individual’s subjective norm, which is the social pressure perceived by the individual to perform a behavior or not, and also influence control beliefs and behavioral beliefs.

Control beliefs are factors that may impede or facilitate an individual performing a behavior, and the perceived power of these behaviors directly influences the individual’s perceived behavioral control, which is the individual’s belief that he or she can perform a behavior. Control beliefs also influence normative beliefs and behavioral beliefs. Perceived behavioral control also moderates the influence of intention in predicting behavior; particularly with regard to behaviors that are difficult to execute, an individual must have volitional control over a behavior in order for the intention to perform the behavior to result in actually performing the behavior.

Actual behavioral control, the true extent to which an individual has the prerequisites (e.g., skills, resources) to perform a behavior, is sometimes included in the model as well, in which case it influences perceived behavioral control and behavior, but more often perceived behavioral control acts as a proxy for actual behavioral control. The theory of planned behavior has been used successfully to predict many human behaviors, including political activism, blood donation, sport participation, and choice of travel mode. It has been most commonly applied, however, in the field of health behavior, where it has assisted researchers in explaining behaviors such as condom use, dental hygiene, dietary choices, exercise, compliance with medical advice, alcohol consumption, and smoking.

Bibliography

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Manning, Mark, and B. Ann Bettencourt. “Depression and Medication Adherence among Breast Cancer Survivors: Bridging the Gap with the Theory of Planned Behavior.” Psychology & Health 26.9 (2011): 1173–87. Print.

McEachan, Rosemary Robin Charlotte, Mark Conner, Natalie Jayne Taylor, and Rebecca Jane Lawton. “Prospective Prediction of Health-Related Behaviours with the Theory of Planned Behaviour: A Meta-Analysis.” Health Psychology Review 5.2 (2011): 97–144. Print.

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