Beliefs and Attitudes in a Gubernatorial Primary: Some Limitations on the Fishbein Model1

In order to investigate hypothesized limitations on a portion of the Fishbein expectancy-value model, a three wave panel survey was conducted during the 1978 Texas Democratic gubernatorial primary. The survey elicited respondents' beliefs about the candidates, attitudes toward the candidates, and commitment to the candidates. Analyses revealed that the correlations between evaluative beliefs about candidates (Σe_ib_i) and global attitudes toward them (Ao) were affected to varying degrees by three factors extraneous to Fishbein's model. There was evidence that belief-attitude correspondence was affected by (1) respondent education and income, (2) degree of commitment to the candidates, and (3) familiarity with the candidates (salience).     

Understanding seat-belt use: A test of Bentler and Speckart's extension of the ‘theory of reasoned action’

It is shown that Fishbein's ‘theory of reasoned action’ can be used to explain people's intentions to wear seat belts. As Bentler and Speckart (1979) have proposed, a self-report measure of past behaviour is shown to significantly improve the model's power; this extended Fishbein model being capable of accounting for the majority of the effects that extraneous variables, which are known to influence seat-belt use, have upon a person's behavioural intentions. In addition, it is shown that the model's motivation to comply term is, as Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) have proposed, a unipolar rather than a bi-polar construct, but that even when this construct is scored as unipolar, it does not significantly add to the model's predictive power.     

Resolving the theory of planned behaviour's ‘expectancy-value muddle’ using dimensional salience

The theory of planned behaviour is one of the most widely used models of decision-making in the health literature. Unfortunately, the primary method for assessing the theory's belief-based expectancy-value models results in statistically uninterpretable findings, giving rise to what has become known as the ‘expectancy-value muddle’. Moreover, existing methods for resolving this muddle are associated with various conceptual or practical limitations. This study addresses these issues by identifying and evaluating a parsimonious method for resolving the expectancy-value muddle. Three hundred and nine Australian residents aged 18–24 years rated the expectancy and value of 18 beliefs about posthumous organ donation. Participants also nominated their five most salient beliefs using a dimensional salience approach. Salient beliefs were perceived as being more likely to eventuate than non-salient beliefs, indicating that salient beliefs could be used to signify the expectancy component. The expectancy-value term was therefore represented by summing the value ratings of salient beliefs, an approach that predicted attitude (adjusted R ²?=?0.21) and intention (adjusted R ²?=?0.21). These findings suggest that the dimensional salience approach is a useful method for overcoming the expectancy-value muddle in applied research settings.     

Changing Contraceptive Usage Intentions: A Test of the Fishbein Model of Intention1

The Fishbein model of intention suggests that intention may change as a consequence of change in either a related attitudinal or normative component. This hypothesis was tested on intention to use contraceptives. Users and nonusers of contraceptives were exposed to a message designed to change contraceptive-usage attitude, to a message directed toward changing the normative beliefs associated with using contraceptives, or to a no-message control. The messages advocated one of three contraceptive techniques: (a) males were advised to use condoms, (b) males were advised to rely on their partner's use of oral contraceptives, or (c) females were advised to use oral contraceptives. Contraceptive-usage intention changed only in the two conditions where the model's requirements for change were present. Thus, the pattern of change agreed with Fishbein's suggestions and provided moderate support for the intention model and its application to intention change in health care settings.     

A Test and Expansion of the Fishbein Model on Religious Attitudes and Behavior in Thailand

Fishbein's reasoned action model of relationships among attitude, subjec- tive norm, intention, and behavior (Azjen & Fishbein, 1980) was tested on a sample of 110 Thai teachers' college students. The behavior investigated was the culturally well-established religious behavior of merit making during Buddhist Lent. The addition of two components to the model was also examined through (a) previous experience with the behavior and (b) a moral or valuative dimension of attitude. Correlational analysis supported the reasoned action model with the inclusion of affective and valuative components to attitude. Sequential multiple-regression analyses showed that subjective norms did not contribute unique variance to the prediction of intention, but previous experience with the behavior and the affective component of attitude both did.     

Stimulating the demand for dental care: An application of Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action

Ajzen and Fishbein's attitude-behaviour model was applied to the problem of stimulating the demand for dental care, Subjects were 329 members of Amsterdam health insurance companies. They had not received regular dental treatment and/or a certificate of dental fitness for at least two and a half years. Applying for treatment and acquiring a dental certificate were the behavioural measures. The effectiveness of the communication based on Ajzen and Fishbein's model was compared with the effectiveness of messages based on the Health-Belief model and the notion that knowledge of Rights and Obligations is a prerequisite for seeking dental care. Results lend support to the validity of the Ajzen and Fishbein model. Relationships between the components of the model are moderate to strong, both before and after subjects were exposed to the message. The message proved effective in changing beliefs about seeking dental treatment. Ajzen and Fishbein's claim that their approach has exclusive merits, however, was refuted. A differential effectiveness of the three messages was absent. In all, 47.4 per cent applied for treatment. No control subjects applied. Fifteen months later 70 per cent of the applicants had obtained a dental certificate. Contrary to our expectations, a condition of no-message application-form- only proved equally effective as the message conditions.     

Resolving the theory of planned behaviour's 'expectancy-value muddle' using dimensional salience

The theory of planned behaviour is one of the most widely used models of decision-making in the health literature. Unfortunately, the primary method for assessing the theory's belief-based expectancy-value models results in statistically uninterpretable findings, giving rise to what has become known as the 'expectancy-value muddle'. Moreover, existing methods for resolving this muddle are associated with various conceptual or practical limitations. This study addresses these issues by identifying and evaluating a parsimonious method for resolving the expectancy-value muddle. Three hundred and nine Australian residents aged 18-24 years rated the expectancy and value of 18 beliefs about posthumous organ donation. Participants also nominated their five most salient beliefs using a dimensional salience approach. Salient beliefs were perceived as being more likely to eventuate than non-salient beliefs, indicating that salient beliefs could be used to signify the expectancy component. The expectancy-value term was therefore represented by summing the value ratings of salient beliefs, an approach that predicted attitude (adjusted R2?=?0.21) and intention (adjusted R2?=?0.21). These findings suggest that the dimensional salience approach is a useful method for overcoming the expectancy-value muddle in applied research settings.     

Choice Sets and Choice Intentions

Abstract

Researchers have widely accepted the argument that the Fishbein model generally predicts better if the intention measure corresponds to the predicted behavior with respect to target, action, context, and time frame. Although the model is routinely applied in situations involving choice among multiple alternatives, researchers frequently overlook the need to measure intentions so that they correspond to the multiple target behaviors that constitute the subject'S salient choice set. The present study was designed to demonstrate the effect of choice set on the measurement of behavioral intentions of American students. The data support the argument that Fishbein'S intention measure is quite sensitive to the choice set involved, perhaps one reason why intention measures sometimes fail to predict behavior accurately.     

Children's Decisions About Substance Use: An Application and Extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action1

This research examines the applicability of Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action (TRA) to intentions to use cigarettes and alcohol among 5th- and 6th-grade students. It also addresses the question of unidimensionality of outcome beliefs and referent norms. Results suggest that the TRA model describes children's decision making well, although the ability of income and race to add to prediction, net of the effects of attitude and perceived norm, are contrary to the theory's prediction. In addition, we find support for multidimensional components of both attitude and norm for both behaviors.     

Autobiographical memory distributions for negative self-images: Memories are organised around negative as well as positive aspects of identity

The relationship between developmental experiences, and an individual's emerging beliefs about themselves and the world, is central to many forms of psychotherapy. People suffering from a variety of mental health problems have been shown to use negative memories when defining the self; however, little is known about how these negative memories might be organised and relate to negative self-images. In two online studies with middle-aged (N = 18; study 1) and young (N = 56; study 2) adults, we found that participants' negative self-images (e.g., I am a failure) were associated with sets of autobiographical memories that formed clustered distributions around times of self-formation, in much the same pattern as for positive self-images (e.g., I am talented). This novel result shows that highly organised sets of salient memories may be responsible for perpetuating negative beliefs about the self. Implications for therapy are discussed.     

Exploring the role of personal normative beliefs in the theory of reasoned action: The problem of discriminating between alternative path models

In the 1967 version of Fishbein's model of the attitude-behaviour relationship a distinction was drawn between personal and social normative beliefs. Personal normative beliefs were later removed from the model on the grounds that they act as an alternative measure of behavioural intention. It is argued that the existing literature does not support this hypothesis and data is presented which indicates that personal normative beliefs are not an alternative measure of behavioural intention. It is argued that personal normative beliefs can be reconceptualized as measuring a person's ideal behavioural intention; a variable which mediates the relationship between attitudes, subjective norms and intentions, Evidence is presented which supports this hypothesis, but it is further demonstrated that an alternative model can be fitted to the present data. It is argued that it is impossible to discriminate between these alternative models on the basis of path analytic techniques, and the implications that this finding has for attitude research are discussed.     

Eliciting salient beliefs in research on the theory of planned behaviour: The effect of question wording

The authors of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and its extension, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) recommend that researchers who use these theories to investigate the determinants of a given behaviour should first conduct an elicitation study to identify the modal salient beliefs in the target population. In spite of the importance accorded to salient beliefs by the TRA/TPB, the elicitation stage has received little research attention. This paper reports a detailed analysis of beliefs about “being more physically active in the next 12 months.” A general population sample of 213 adults completed a questionnaire while attending a research centre for a series of tests. The findings showed that the beliefs that were elicited by questions designed to prompt affective outcomes (like or enjoy, dislike or hate) differed systematically from those that were elicited by the traditional questions designed to prompt instrumental out-comes (advantages and disadvantages). Whether this resulted in different final sets of modal salient beliefs was found to depend on the particular decision rule that was employed. An alternative decision rule is proposed, based on maximizing the degree of overlap between the modal set and the full set of salient beliefs generated by the sample. The index of overlap can be used to gauge the adequacy of using a modal set of a given size to represent the salient beliefs of the whole sample. In the current dataset, the optimal modal set for “advantages and disadvantages” was associated with only 26 percent overlap with the salient beliefs of the whole sample, which was judged to be insufficient. In such cases, a better strategy may be to ask participants to generate and rate their own beliefs.     

Eliciting salient beliefs in research on the theory of planned behaviour: The effect of question wording

The authors of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and its extension, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) recommend that researchers who use these theories to investigate the determinants of a given behaviour should first conduct an elicitation study to identify the modal salient beliefs in the target population. In spite of the importance accorded to salient beliefs by the TRA/TPB, the elicitation stage has received little research attention. This paper reports a detailed analysis of beliefs about “being more physically active in the next 12 months.” A general population sample of 213 adults completed a questionnaire while attending a research centre for a series of tests. The findings showed that the beliefs that were elicited by questions designed to prompt affective outcomes (like or enjoy, dislike or hate) differed systematically from those that were elicited by the traditional questions designed to prompt instrumental out-comes (advantages and disadvantages). Whether this resulted in different final sets of modal salient beliefs was found to depend on the particular decision rule that was employed. An alternative decision rule is proposed, based on maximizing the degree of overlap between the modal set and the full set of salient beliefs generated by the sample. The index of overlap can be used to gauge the adequacy of using a modal set of a given size to represent the salient beliefs of the whole sample. In the current dataset, the optimal modal set for “advantages and disadvantages” was associated with only 26 percent overlap with the salient beliefs of the whole sample, which was judged to be insufficient. In such cases, a better strategy may be to ask participants to generate and rate their own beliefs.     

Salient Consequences,Cultural Values,and Childbearing Intentions1

In this study of childbearing intentions, 163 young married women were interviewed using measures derived from Fishbein's behavioral intentions model. Unlike most research testing Fishbein's theory, in which fixed alternative modal belief measures have been employed, in the present study open-ended measures of consequence salience were used. The finding that different consequences of childbearing are salient for those who intend versus those who do not intcnd to have a child raises questions about earlier research using fixed alternative methods. In contrast with the results of earlier studies, intender/non-intender differences in the evaluation of childbearing outcomes were also found. Statistically significant correlations between childbearing intention and religiosity, sex-role traditionalism, and affluence values were reduced to a statistically non-significant level when the model's attitudinal and normative predictors were controlled by partial correlation. Analyses of indirect effects indicate that religiosity and sex-role traditionalism were largely mediated through the motivation to comply with husband's childbearing preference.     

Predicting Undergraduate Condom Use with the Fishbein and Ajzen and the Triandis Attitude-Behavior Models: Implications for Public Health Interventions1

The present study used two social-psychological theories of attitude-behavior relationships to investigate condom use by college undergraduates. One purpose of the present research is to provide information for public health practitioners to better design theory-based interventions to reduce the incidence of STD's by increasing the use of condoms. Another purpose is to compare the relative usefulness of two attitude-behavior models in predicting condom use. The Fishbein and Ajzen theory of reasoned action (Ajzen, 1988; Fishbein & Ajzen. 1980) was compared with a version of Triandis' theory of attitude-behavior relations (Triandis, 1977). Of major interest was whether variables in this version of the Triandis model increased the explanatory power of the Fishbein and Ajzen model in the prediction of condom use intention and behavior. In addition, specific outcome beliefs and normative beliefs held by subjects were used to predict condom use. One hundred and ninety college undergraduates were given a questionnaire designed to measure the components of the two models. Three months after completing the questionnaire, subjects were contacted by phone to record the subject's frequency of condom use (if the subject reported having had intercourse) during the 3-month period between initial assessment and follow-up. In the prediction of intention to use a condom, results indicate that one variable from the Triandis model, personal normative beliefs, increases the explanatory power offered by the expectancy value and normative belief components of the Fishbein and Ajzen model. In the prediction of reported condom use during the 3-month follow-up period, two variables from the Triandis model—perceived susceptibility and AIDS fear—significantly increased the predictive power of the Fishbein and Ajzen model. Based on these results, the authors propose an alternative model to explain undergraduate condom use. The implications of these findings for public health interventions to encourage the use of condoms is discussed.     

Salience of Anti-Abortion Beliefs and Commitment to an Attitudinal Position: On the Strength,Structure, and Predictive Validity of Anti-Abortion Attitudes1

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. In addition, they indicated their commitment to their positions and their willingness to distribute a pro- or anti-abortion petition. Salient beliefs—identified in a pilot study—were found to predict attitudes, intentions, restriction preferences, and petition choice significantly better than nonsalient beliefs. Salient beliefs also discriminated significantly between pro-choice and pro-life respondents, providing useful information about the cognitive underpinnings of anti-abortion attitudes. In addition, accuracy of predictions increased significantly with commitment, even when attitude extremity was statistically controlled. These findings support the summation theory of attitude (Fishbein, 1963) and demonstrate the importance of attitude strength in determining the structure and predictive validity of attitudes.     

Cross-Cultural Testing of Three Social Cognitive Theories: An Application to Condom Use1

The aim of this study was to test the cross-cultural validity of Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action, Ajzen's theory of planned behavior, and Triandis' theory of interpersonal behavior and to apply them to understanding the intention to use a condom with a new partner in three ethnocultural communities: Latin American, English-speaking Caribbean, and South Asian. All respondents were recruited from multiple ethnocultural-venues using predetermined sampling frames and quotas for each community. The results indicated that the three theories have cross-cultural validity, but the theories of Ajzen and Triandis performed better than the theory of Fishbein and Ajzen. It is recommended that role beliefs and moral norm (personal normative belief) be added to Ajzen's model to maximize its predictive and explanatory ability.     

Predicting Cigarette Use: The Need to Incorporate Measures of Salience in the Theory of Reasoned Action1,2

It is shown that incorporating a measure of belief salience in the theory of reasoned action improves both the model's predictive and explanatory power. It is demonstrated that the sum of the five evaluative-beliefs which are most salient for each person is more predictive of a semantic differential measure of that person's attitude than is the sum of the remaining nonsalient evaluative beliefs. In addition, it is shown that the perceived utilities of smoking are differentially salient for smokers and nonsmokers. It is argued that latitude of rejection, centrality, and certainty can be used as measures of the degree of definition of a person's attitudes and subjective norms. It is consequently predicted that these variables will be correlated and that attitudes and subjective norms which are well defined will be more highly predictive of a person's intention and behavior. While some support was found for these hypotheses, it is argued that the present results suggest that the relationship between these variables may be more complicated than was initially hypothesized.     

Culturally Congruent Mentoring: Predicting Asian American Student Participation Using the Theory of Reasoned Action1

Predictors of Asian American first‐year college students’ intention to participate in a culturally congruent mentoring program was empirically documented using Ajzen and Fishbein's (1980) theory of reasoned action (TRA). Intention to participate was predicted by the belief that participation eases transition to college. Also, attitude toward participation was positively related to students’ beliefs that participation will strengthen ethnic identity and combat model‐minority myth. With 78% of students who intended to participate, results suggest that Asian American college students need programming that addresses issues as first‐year college students and those related to their cultural experience. The use of the TRA to better understand issues related to peer mentoring is illuminated. Wider implications for implementing culturally congruent mentoring programs in educational settings are discussed.     

Proximal and Distal Predictors of Homophobia: Framing the Multivariate Roots of Outgroup Rejection1

A proximal-distal theoretical framework was developed to examine the multivariate roots of homophobia. Using data from a sample of 288 undergraduates who had participated in a computer-assisted panel study over a three-year period, the effects on homophobia of distal and proximal family factors (e. g., parental education and family environment), distal and proximal individual factors (e. g., personality constructs and current beliefs), and proximal individual-situational factors (e. g., acquaintance with homosexuals) were tested in regression analyses. Both analyses employing sets of variables varying in proximity to the homophobic attitude and hierarchical regression employing variables contributing significantly in each set supported the proposed framework. All sets predicted significantly when regressed separately on homophobia; the sets containing the distal factors contributed most weakly, and the sets containing the proximal factors contributed most strongly. In hierarchical regression analysis, this pattern maintained such that the incremental increase in r² decreased with the addition of each more distal set, with the most distal factors failing to contribute significantly to the prediction. The importance of study findings for attitude change efforts is discussed.