~THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR~

Beliefs
Behavioral Beliefs (beliefs about the likely consequences of a behavior and the evaluation of the consequences Attitude toward the behavior (the specific attitude toward a behavior, favorable or unfavorable)

Normative Beliefs (beliefs about the expectations of other people and the motivation to comply with these expectations)

Subjective norms (beliefs about how other people will view a behavior; social pressure)

Behavioral Intention

Behavior

Control Beliefs (beliefs about the existence of factors that may help or hinder the performance of a behavior and the perceived power of these factors)

Perceived behavioral control (ease with which people believe they can perform the behavior)

Actual behavior control

Predicting the use of birth-control pills; An example

Beliefs
Behavioral Beliefs (beliefs about the likely consequences of a behavior and the evaluation of the possible outcomes My taking the pill regularly will reduce my chances of becoming pregnant: Extremely unlikely _____________________ Extremely Likely Reducing my chances of becoming pregnant is: Extremely bad _______________________ Extremely good

Normative Beliefs (beliefs about the expectations of other people and the motivation to comply with these expectations)

My close friends believe that I should __________________________________ I should not

take birth control pills.

On average, I really care what my close friends thinks I should do. Not at all _________________________________ Very much

Control Beliefs (beliefs about the existence of factors that may help or hinder the performance of a behavior and the perceived power of these factors)

I forget to do some very important activities. Very rarely _______________________________ Very often My forgetfulness would make it very difficult for me to remember to take birth control pills Definitely not true _______________________ Definitely true

Attitude toward the behavior (the specific attitude toward a behavior, favorable or unfavorable)

For me, taking birth control pills regularly is: Extremely valuable_______________________ Worthless

Subjective norms (beliefs about how other people will view a behavior; social pressure)

Most of my close friends are using birth control pills Definitely untrue _______________________ Definitely true

Perceived behavioral control (ease with which people believe they can perform the behavior)

For me to be able to take a birth control pill on a regular basis would be: Impossible ___________________ Possible

B ~ BI = w1AB + w2 SN + w3 PC

 I plan on taking birth control pills regularly

Behavioral Intention

Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely true I will make every effort to take birth control pills regularly Definitely not true ______________________ Definitely true Behavior

Regularly taking birth control pills or not

~ Some Shortcomings the Theory of Planned Behavior ~

Role of past behavior and habits Focus on the prediction of individual behavior; what about the role of others (e.g., cooperation), obtaining resources not possessed by an individual Assumption that people engage in elaborate cognitions before behaving Role of self-identity and/or moral obligations

Attitude Inoculation
Small (weak) doses of arguments against ones position

Larger, stronger arguments given later

Less likely to change ones attitudes (more able to fight off the stronger attack; received an inoculation earlier)

Advertising --- Product Placement

Quite frequent (e.g., greater than 40 products displayed in the move Iron Man)

Why can this approach work?

Defenses are down (do not recognize our attitudes are being manipulated) Failure to generate counterarguments

Reactance Theory
Persuasion messages, if too strong, can lead to a boomerang effect Why? Belief than our freedom is being threatened DO NOT write on these walls under any circumstances** Versus PLEASE DONT write on these walls ** Significantly more graffiti writing on walls with the stern message