About
170
Publications
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240,336
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
May 1996 - present
Position
- Workshop Leader
Description
- I conduct workshops on the theory of planned behavior, and use of structural equation modeling with the TPB. The workshops are organized by various institutions around the world. Contact me if you would like to organize a TPB workshop.
January 1974 - present
Position
- Consultant
Description
- I offer consultation on research and other projects related to attitudes, behavior change, and use of the theory of planned behavior. Contact me if you are interested.
September 1971 - May 2012
Publications
Publications (170)
Social networking sites have become a predominant means of communication across the globe. Activities on these sites generate massive amounts of personal information and raise concerns about its potential abuse. Means designed to protect the user’s privacy and prevent exploitation of confidential data often go unused. In this study, we draw on the...
Successful campaigns to combat the COVID-19 pandemic depend, in part, on people's willingness to be vaccinated. It is therefore critical to understand the factors that determine people's vaccination intentions. We applied a reasoned action approach - the theory of planned behavior - to explore these factors. We used data from an online survey of ad...
Objective. According to the theory of planned behavior, individuals are more likely to act on their behavioral intentions, and report intentions aligned with their attitudes and subjective norm, when their perceived behavioral control (PBC) is high. We tested these predictions meta-analytically by estimating the moderating effect of PBC on the atti...
Objective:
This study applied the theory of reasoned goal pursuit (TRGP) in predicting physical activity among Australian undergraduate students, providing the first empirical test of the model.Methods: The research comprised an elicitation study (N = 25; MAge= 25.76, SDAge= 11.33, 20 female, 5 male) to identify readily accessible procurement and...
Investigators frequently rely on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework to explain and predict human behavior in a variety of behavioral domains. Much of this research has focused on predicting behavioral intentions from attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, typically by examining the additive effects...
The present contribution advances the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a parsimonious conceptual framework for predicting, explaining, and changing individual choice of travel mode. Meta-analytic syntheses of empirical research provide support for the theory across a wide array of behavioral domains. When applied to travel mode choice, the theor...
In many countries farmers face pressure to adopt practices to promote sustainability and resilience while ensuring efficient business management to produce food and other agricultural products at reasonable cost. Given a policy context in which voluntary action is preferred over government regulation, understanding farmers' motivation to embrace re...
Recent events, such as failed constitutional referenda, low voting turnout in the European Union parliamentary elections, and the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom call for a better understanding of people’s voting behavior in relation to the EU. The current study is the first attempt to use the theory of planned behavior to explore the...
Research with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) has typically treated attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) as independent predictors of intention (INT). However, theoretically, PBC moderates the effects of ATT and SN on intention. In three studies dealing with different behaviors (voting, reducing househol...
This editorial gives a brief introduction to the articles included in the thematic section of Europe's Journal of Psychology, which is devoted to selected recent advances and applications of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The five contributions address two thematic streams: (1) adjustments and extensions of the original theory and (2) applic...
The theory of planned behavior (TPB—Ajzen, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1991, 50, 179–211; Ajzen, Handbook of theories of social psychology, 2012, 1, 438–459) has been widely applied to the prediction and change of behavior, including behavior related to the use of technology. This article provides a brief description of th...
In two remote regions in the Caucasus (Georgia), the tourism sector gains importance as a source of income. Based on the theory of planned behaviour ( Ajzen, 1991 ), a structural equation model was applied to explore the factors that determine the intentions of private households to enhance their activities in the tourism sector. The strongest infl...
The theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991, 2012), used widely for the prediction and modification of human actions, is behavior centered. According to the TPB, behavioral intentions, the immediate precursors of behavior, are determined by attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm with respect to the behavior, and perceived control over t...
This study examined Bolivian women’s decisions to stay with or leave their violent partners. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used as the theoretical framework. One hundred thirty-four women were assessed 3 times over 6 months. The TPB constructs were measured at T1 and T2; relationship status was assessed at T3. At T2, attitudes about stay...
The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is a prominent framework for predicting and explaining behavior in a variety of domains. The theory is also increasingly being used as a framework for conducting behavior change interventions. In this meta-analysis, we identified 82 papers reporting results of 123 interventions in a variety of disciplines. Our a...
Willful acts are familiar experiences in daily life. Having pancakes for breakfast , making a doctor's appointment, and watching the evening news on television are perceived as volitional behaviors, the result of deliberate decisions or intentions. Consistent with this intuition, many contemporary models in social psychology incorporate the assumpt...
This study relied on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to identify the beliefs that influence young people’s pro-environmental behavior. High-school students completed a questionnaire regarding the performance of pro-environmental behaviors early in the school year and reported on their behavior toward the end of the year. In addition to the sta...
This chapter lays the theoretical and methodological foundation for the book, Reproductive decision-making in a macro-micro perspective. It introduces the issues addressed in the book and the European Commission Seventh Framework funded collaborative research project, REPRO, on which it is based. A brief overview of the recent trend toward low fert...
The decision to have a child is influenced by many contextual factors. We consider country of residence, sex, partnership status, age, and the number of children a person already has (parity) and use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to show that these factors influence child-bearing decisions indirectly by their effects on one or more of the th...
Consumer attitudes and behavior: the theory of planned behavior applied to food consumption decisions The author compares the multi-attribute and subjective expected utility (SEU) models popular in research on consumer behavior to the approach offered by the theory of planed behavior (TPB). Unlike the multi-attribute and SEU models, the TPB relies...
OBJECTIVE
To discuss issues and concerns in the application of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to the decision to have a child.
METHOD
We review the basic structure of the TPB, its principles, and its assumptions as they apply to fertility decisions. Among other issues we consider attitudes, subjective norms, and perceptions of control as ante...
Theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables and anticipated affect were assessed in relation to drinking and avoiding alcohol and in relation to eating and avoiding fast food. It was shown that previously reported residual effects of anticipated affect in the prediction of intentions are obtained only when the TPB variables are assessed with respect...
(From the chapter) In this brief discussion of values, attitudes, and behavior I have tried to show that latent dispositions can be usefully defined at various levels of generality. We must, however, recognize the reality of a bandwidth-fidelity tradeoff. General attitudes and values can help explain a broad range of behaviors, but they account for...
We compared negative and positive ads in the context of a fictitious election. Participants read a strong or weak message supporting one candidate (positive ad) or derogating the opposition candidate (negative ad). The strong positive message had a greater impact on attitudes toward the candidates than the weak positive message, but message strengt...
The reasoned action approach that Martin Fishbein pioneered has emerged as the dominant conceptual framework for predicting, explaining, and changing human social behavior. The most popular model in this tradition, the theory of planned behavior, has generated a great deal of empirical research supporting the premises of this approach. It has been...
This chapter begins by discussing personality traits and attitudes, two broad internal dispositions, and their relations to behavior. Such dispositions influence general patterns of behavior, and their ability to predict individual behaviors is moderated by their strength or accessibility. This discussion is followed by a distinction between explic...
This chapter describes the theory of planned behavior (TPB), a prominent reasoned action model, its conceptual foundation, its intellectual history, and the research it has generated. From its roots in propositional control and expectancy theory, the TPB emerged as a major framework for understanding, predicting, and changing human social behavior....
In their critique of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a model for human fertility, Morgan and Bachrach (2011) raise a number of concerns that reflect fundamental misconceptions regarding the nature of the theory and its objectives. Their points of criticism demand a response not only because they are misguided and misleading but also becaus...
In this article the author takes issue with the recurrent reliance on job satisfaction to explain job-related effort and performance. The disappointing findings in this tradition are explained by lack of compatibility between job satisfaction – a very broad attitude – and the more specific effort and performance criteria. Moreover, attempts to appl...
The seven articles in this issue, and the accompanying meta-analysis in Health Psychology Review [McEachan, R.R.C., Conner, M., Taylor, N., & Lawton, R.J. (2011). Prospective prediction of health-related behaviors with the theory of planned behavior: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5, 97-144], illustrate the wide application of the theor...
The results of the present research question the common assumption that being well informed is a prerequisite for effective action to produce desired outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 79), environmental knowledge had no effect on energy conservation, and in Study 2 (N = 79), alcohol knowledge was unrelated to drinking behavior. Such disappointing correlati...
The present study focused on the intentions of employers to reach out toward qualified workers with disabilities as part of their hiring pool recruitment activity. An employer survey was developed in accord with the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 2005). According to the tenets of the model, it was hypothesized that through multiple regression,...
(From the chapter) In this chapter, I have tried to show that the theory of planned behavior is a useful
conceptual framework for understanding the antecedents of behavior in different domains, to
design interventions, and to evaluate an intervention’s effectiveness. According to the theory,
behavior follows reasonably from the information or belie...
As part of the planning process for a larger survey study to examine factors affecting employers' intention to hire and hiring of people with disabilities, a series of three semi-structured focus groups were held with key hiring decision makers, such as Human Resources directors, Chief Operating Officers (COOs), or Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) o...
Many veterans return from combat experiencing a variety of mental health concerns. Previous research has documented a stigma associated with seeking treatment that interferes with the decision to seek treatment. This study, conceptualized using the theory of planned behavior, assessed beliefs about mental health treatment in order to understand men...
This book describes the reasoned action approach, an integrative framework for the prediction and change of human social behavior. it provides an up-to-date review of relevant research, discusses critical issues related to the reasoned action framework, and provides methodological and conceptual tools for the prediction and explanation of social be...
Implementation intentions are said to transfer control over goal-directed behavior to situational cues, thereby automating initiation of the behavior (Gollwitzer, 1999). Alternatively, implementation intentions may be effective because they create commitment to the intended behavior. In an empirical study, implementation intentions regarding a simp...
This article examines the multiplicative combination of belief strength by outcome evaluation in the expectancy–value model of attitudes. Because linear transformation of a belief strength measure results in a nonlinear transformation of its product with outcome evaluation, use of unipolar or bipolar scoring must be empirically justified. Also, the...
(From the chapter) Two major paradigms have provided much of the impetus for the study of consumer behavior. Choices among alternative brands, products, or services are in many ways no different from other kinds of decisions, and the methods of behavioral decision theory have thus proven valuable to the study of consumer behavior. Multiattribute de...
This study assessed beliefs about mental health treatment in a group of soldiers newly returning from the war in Iraq.
Participants were 20 National Guard soldiers who had served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soldiers who in phone interviews screened positive for a mental disorder were asked about advantages and disadvantages of seeking treatment, wh...
Human behavior is at the centre of much research in the health domain because of its potential contribution to the myriad of medical conditions that afflict people every day. The detrimental health effects of cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and so forth are well documented. These lifestyle behaviours inc...
http://www.amazon.com/Prediction-Change-Health-Behavior-Applying/dp/080586282X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398279449&sr=8-1&keywords=Prediction+and+Change+of+Health+Behavior%3A+Applying+the+reasoned+action+approach
Sets of 16 beliefs about the consequences of each of 6 leisure activities were selected in a pilot study by means of free elicitation. The beliefs varied in salience (salient vs. nonsalient), valence (positive vs. negative), and type (instrumental vs. effective). In the main study, 69 college students expressed their agreements with each belief, ev...
According to the theory of planned behavior, human action is guided by three kinds of considerations: beliefs about the likely outcomes of the behavior and the evaluations of these outcomes (behavioral beliefs), beliefs about the normative expectations of others and motivation to comply with these expectations (normative beliefs), and beliefs about...
about the likely outcomes of the behavior and the evaluations of these outcomes (behavioral beliefs), beliefs about the normative expectations of others and motivation to comply with these expectations (normative beliefs), and beliefs about the presence of factors that may facilitate or impede performance of the behavior and the perceived power of...
Hobbis and Sutton (this issue) suggest that Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) techniques can be used in interventions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Although this suggestion has merit, CBT is only one of many applicable methods for producing belief and behavior change. Moreover, CBT's primary purpose is to help people carry out inten...
An experiment was designed to account for intention-behavior discrepancies by applying the theory of planned behavior to contingent valuation. College students (N = 160) voted in hypothetical and real payment referenda to contribute $8 to a scholarship fund. Overestimates of willingness to pay in the hypothetical referendum could not be attributed...
In her critique of social cognition or reasoned action models, J. Ogden (see record 2003-05896-016) claimed that such models are not falsifiable and thus cannot be tested, that the postulated relations among model components are true by definition, and that questionnaires used to test the models may create rather than assess cognitions and thus inf...
Over-estimation of willingness to pay in contingent markets has been attributed largely to hypothetical bias. One promising approach for avoiding hypothetical bias is to tell respondents enough about such bias that they self-correct for it. A script designed for this purpose by Cummings and Taylor was used in hypothetical referenda that differed in...
Relying on the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), a longitudinal study investigated the effects of an intervention-introduction of a prepaid bus ticket-on increased bus use among college students. In this context, the logic of the proposition that past behavior is the best predictor of later behavior was also examined. The intervention was f...
Relying on the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), a longitudinal study investigated the effects of an intervention-introduction of a prepaid bus ticket-on increased bus use among college students. In this context, the logic of the proposition that past behavior is the best predictor of later behavior was also examined. The intervention was f...
A longitudinal study explored high school completion among African Americans. Male and female high school students aged 14 to 17 (N = 166) completed a theory of planned behavior (I. Ajzen, 1991) questionnaire early in their 2nd year. Intentions to complete the year were accurately predicted from attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral...
Conceptual and methodological ambiguities surrounding the concept of perceived behavioral
control are clarified. It is shown that perceived control over performance of a behavior,
though comprised of separable components that reflect beliefs about self-efficacy and
about controllability, can nevertheless be considered a unitary latent variable in a...
The frequency with which a behavior has been performed in the past is found to account
for variance in later behavior independent of intentions. This is often taken
as evidence for habituation of behavior and as complementing the reasoned mode
of operation assumed by such models as the theory of planned behavior. In this article,
I question the ide...
A mail survey (n = 395) assessed perceived benefits of outdoor recreation activities.
Based on the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), the study revealed that hunters,
wildlife viewers, and other outdoor recreationists differ greatly in terms of their beliefs
about the outcomes of these behaviors, and in terms of their attitudes, subjective n...
Using a mail survey (n = 395) of outdoor recreationists, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) was applied to the prediction and explanation of hunting. In a series of hierarchical regression analyses, it was found that hunting intentions, but not perceptions of behavioral control, contributed to the prediction of self-reported hunting frequ...
This survey of attitude theory and research published between 1996 and 1999 covers the conceptualization of attitude, attitude formation and activation, attitude structure and function, and the attitude-behavior relation. Research regarding the expectancy-value model of attitude is considered, as are the roles of accessible beliefs and affective ve...
An experiment tested the effects of fairness on willingness to pay (WTP) for public goods. Treatments varied the amount requested (high vs. low), the fairness of the requested contribution (high vs. low), and the beneficiary (self vs. other) or cause of the needed change (internal vs. external). Irrespective of fairness type (beneficiary or cause),...
The chapter re-examines, in light of recent developments, the reasoned action perspective inherent in the expectancy-value model of attitude and in the theory of planned behavior. According to this perspective, people's attitudes follow spontaneously and consistently from beliefs accessible in memory and then guide corresponding behavior. The numbe...
Theoretical models popular in the health domain differ in level of generality. Some were developed to deal with any human social behavior and then applied to health psychology, others were specifically designed to deal with health-related issues. Content-specific theories, such as the health-belief model and the perceptual-cognitive approach, outli...
The authors report the results of a nationwide survey of young people in Germany which applied the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991) to condom use for purposes of birth control and with new sexual partners (to prevent AIDS). A hierarchical model, in which the 2 functions of condom use were treated as separate 2nd-order factors, was fou...
Results of a longitudinal study of factors determining the use of condoms with new sexual partners in a representive sample of 650 German youths are reported. Variables derived from the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991) were obtained in two waves separated by one year, and the data were submitted to structural equation analyses. Consis...
The authors report a longitudinal study of factors determining use of condoms with new sexual partners in a representative sample of 650 German youth. Measures derived from the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985) were obtained in 2 waves separated by 1 year. Consistent with the theory, intentions to use condoms could be predicted from attitude...
A laboratory experiment examined the potential for information bias in contingent valuation (CV). Consistent with the view that information about a public or private good can function as a persuasive communication, willingness to pay (WTP) was found to increase with the quality of arguments used to describe the good, especially under conditions of...
discusses the directive influences of attitudes and intentions on behavior / [suggest] that attitudes and behavioral intentions are good predictors of behavior, as long as the principle of compatibility (i.e., the notion that attitudes, intentions, and behaviors should be measured at the same level of generality or specificity) is respected / holds...
The role of beliefs in attitude formation and the impact of commitment to an attitude on its predictive validity were studied in the context of anti-abortion attitudes. Undergraduates (N= 152), identified as pro-choice or pro-life, expressed their beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and restriction preferences with respect to making abortion illegal. I...