Condom use among US students: the importance of confidence in normative and attitudinal perceptions

The author performed a study among U.S. undergraduates to test an earlier conclusion (D. Trafimow, 1994) that confidence in the correctness of one's perceptions of normative pressure to use a condom influences the correspondence between those perceptions and the intentions actually to perform the behavior. Consistent with previous findings (Trafimow), the participants' perceptions of normative pressure strongly predicted their intentions to use condoms only under conditions of extreme normative confidence. Otherwise, their attitudes were better predictors of their intentions to use condoms. In addition, 2 other variables (attitudinal confidence and perceived behavioral control) were found to be unimportant predictors of intentions. Results of a 2nd study suggest that behaviors performed by sexual partners and knowing the sexual partners affected the participants' normative confidence.     

The relationship between viewing US-produced television programs and intentions to drink alcohol among a group of Norwegian adolescents

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of exposure to US-produced television programs and family rules prohibiting alcohol use on the development of normative beliefs, expectancies, and intentions to drink alcohol in the next 12 months among a group of Norwegian adolescents who reported that they had not previously consumed alcohol. Data were collected via a survey administered to 622 eighth and ninth graders enrolled at ten junior highs in southeastern Norway. To examine these relationships we tested the fit of a structural equation model which was based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1988). Data from the non-drinkers (n= 392, 63% of the respondents) were used. To control for the influence of peer drinking on behavioral intentions, our model was tested under two group conditions: (1) those subjects reporting that they have no friends who drink alcohol and (2) those subjects reporting that they have one or more friends who drink. The findings indicate that the influence of TV exposure was a significant predictor (directly) of normative beliefs, expectancies (indirectly) and intentions to drink (both directly and indirectly) only for those subjects who reported having no friends who drink. For the group with non-drinking friends, family rules constrain intentions only indirectly by influencing normative beliefs. For those with friends who drink, however, family rules have a direct (inverse) effect on intentions. It is concluded that exposure to US-produced television programs functions as a limited knowledge source only for those subjects who had little or no personal experience with alcohol while the presence of family rules have limited impact on behavioral intentions.     

Condom Use Among U.S. Students: The Importance of Confidence in Normative and Attitudinal Perceptions

Abstract

The author performed a study among U.S. undergraduates to test an earlier conclusion (D. Trafimow, 1994) that confidence in the correctness of one's perceptions of normative pressure to use a condom influences the correspondence between those perceptions and the intentions actually to perform the behavior. Consistent with previous findings (Trafimow), the participants' perceptions of normative pressure strongly predicted their intentions to use condoms only under conditions of extreme normative confidence. Otherwise, their attitudes were better predictors of their intentions to use condoms. In addition, 2 other variables (attitudinal confidence and perceived behavioral control) were found to be unimportant predictors of intentions. Results of a 2nd study suggest that behaviors performed by sexual partners and knowing the sexual partners affected the participants' normative confidence.     

Are Past Normative Behaviors Predictive of Future Behavioral Intentions?

We acknowledge the limitations in measures of moral reasoning and pursue an alternative technique by investigating past behaviors as they relate to present behavioral intentions. Our purpose is to evaluate the merits of patterned normative behavior for predicting present and future, morally relevant outcomes. Participants (N = 177) completed a policy capturing experimental design responding to questions that orthogonally varied the situational nature of the decision context. Results indicate that past normative behaviors are significantly and directly related to ethical behavioral intentions. Moreover, they moderate the relationships between situational factors and intended outcomes as well as moral reasoning and intended outcomes.     

To Have–or Not to Have–Another Child: Family Planning Attitudes,Intentions, and Behavior1

Two hundred eighty-two respondents, representing 141 married couples with either one child (N= 71 couples) or two children (N= 70 couples), were interviewed about their considerations and intentions regarding whether or not to have another child. Reports of their actual subsequent family planning behavior were obtained 12 months later via a mailed questionnaire. The data was gathered and analyzed according to Fishbein's attitude-behavior model which stipulates that the individual's actual behavior is a function of one's behavioral intention. This intention, in turn, is determined by two multiple factors: (a) the individual's beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior multiplied by his/her evaluation of those consequences, and (b) one's normative beliefs multiplied by one's motivation to comply with the perceived norms. The results provided substantial support for the model; both behavioral intention and actual behavior were successfully predicted from the attitudinal and normative components of the model. It was also shown that the behavioral intention mediates the relationship between the model's attitudinal and normative components and actual behavior.     

An Examination of the Individual‐Difference Approach to the Role of Norms in the Theory of Reasoned Action1

The relationship between subjective norm and behavioral intentions is the weakest link of the theory of reasoned action. Numerous approaches have addressed this issue, including the assertion that the weak contribution is a result of a small number of individuals who are under normative control. The present research examines this individual‐difference approach in the domain of health behaviors. Respondents were 287 students who rated their intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms in relation to 32 health behaviors and 5 substance‐use behaviors. Regression analyses, between subjects and within subjects, demonstrated that both behaviors and people can be under attitudinal or normative control. Support for an individual‐difference approach was less conclusive when findings were examined separately for specific health behaviors.     

Life structure decisions: Factors related to career-marriage priorities in college youth

The present research conceptualizes life structure, or the pattern of life, as the ordering of priorities among competing alternatives. Intentions to emphasize career, marriage, or both were investigated for college students. Variations in these intentions were seen as resulting from differences in two classes of variables: (a) the perceived consequences of emphasizing the alternative; and (b) perceived normative pressures. A subjective probability model of the relationship between beliefs and behavioral intentions was used as a framework for determining the importance of these factors. The considerations identified as most likely to have a direct impact on life structure dealt primarily with interpersonal relations, particularly marriage and family. In general, the data suggested that the subjective probability model may be useful for further understanding of life structure decisions.     

Combined effects of the three commitment components on focal and discretionary behaviors: A test of Meyer and Herscovitch’s propositions

The purpose of this study was to test theoretical propositions advanced by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) concerning the interactive effects of affective, normative, and continuance commitment on focal (staying intentions) and discretionary (citizenship) behavior. Study measures were gathered from a sample of 545 hospital employees. Several a priori predictions regarding commitment profile differences were confirmed. Significant three-way interactions were found for both staying intentions and citizenship behavior. The pattern of relations for both behavioral criteria partially confirmed the hypotheses, but also provided evidence of possible “context effects” whereby the meaning and implications of the commitment components varies as a function of the other components. These effects were most notable for normative commitment and may offer new insight into the nature of this construct. Implications for commitment theory and its application were discussed.     

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

The present study examines the applicability of Fishbein and Ajzen's 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 these infants during the 6 weeks following delivery. 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 weeks postpartum. In most respects the findings supported the theory of reasoned action. However, attitudes to behavior were found to make an independent and significant contribution to the prediction of infant-feeding behavior, and the previous behavior of multiparous mothers explained an independent and significant proportion of variation in their behavioral intentions. The relative importance of the attitudinal and normative components of the theoretical model tended to vary according to whether the mothers had direct experience of the criterion behavior. Further analysis revealed that mothers who breast-fed during the 6-week postpartum period differed from those who bottle-fed exclusively during this period on a number of behavioral beliefs, outcome evaluations, and normative beliefs, and on one measure of motivation to comply. The implications of these findings for the theory of reasoned action are discussed.     

Predicting turnover intentions and turnover behavior: A multivariate analysis

This study assesses the relative influence of personal, attitudinal, and behavioral variables on behavioral intentions and voluntary turnover among nonsupervisory plant workers. Results show that personal variables have little direct effect on turnover; rather, their influence on turnover is channeled through their effects on behavioral intentions. Felt stress, organizational commitment, and behavioral intentions are found to be the strongest predictors of voluntary job termination. Weak support is found for absenteeism as a precursor of eventual turnover.     

Relationships Between Conscientiousness Sub-Factors and Constructive and Destructive Behavioral Intentions

This study examined the relationship between Conscientiousness, its sub-factors of Achievement and Dependability, and constructive and destructive behavioral intentions. In a sample of 270 undergraduate students, scores on personality measures were correlated with constructive and destructive behavioral tendencies as measured by responses to scenario situations. Results indicated that both Achievement and Dependability were negatively related to destructive behavioral intentions. As hypothesized, the relationship between Achievement and constructive behavioral intentions was significantly higher than the relationship between Dependability and constructive behavioral intentions. Contributions, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A Fishbein-Ajzen model of intention to work following childbirth

This research identifies factors which influence college women's intention to work during the first 3 years following childbirth. It uses a model, derived from M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen (1975, Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior, Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley) as modified by P. M. Bentler and G. Speckart (1979, Psychological Review, 86, 452–464), which proposes that intentions are a function of own work experience, vicarious experience with a working mother, subjective normative pressure, and attitudes. Data collected via a mailed questionnaire from 202 white women and analyzed using maximum likelihood estimation of structural equation parameters supported the fit of the model. Attitudes had the strongest influence on intentions.     

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.     

Parental influence on youth propensity to join the military

The purpose of this research was to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in a model of youths’ career choice intentions and parents’ recommendation intentions. Specifically, a TPB model was developed for youth-parent dyads and tested with SEM to examine parental influence on youth intentions as well as behavior. Results indicated that a modified TPB model is useful for describing how youth and parent beliefs translate into enlistment intentions and pre-enlistment behavior. The strongest impact parents appeared to have on their children was through efficacy beliefs, followed by the link between parents’ attitudes and youths’ normative beliefs. Implications for recruitment and outreach efforts are discussed.     

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.     

Factors influencing car use for commuting and the intention to reduce it: A question of self-interest or morality?

Car use for commuting contributes to various environmental and traffic problems, such as pollution and congestion. Policies aimed at reducing commuter car use will be more effective when they target important determinants of car use and willingness to reduce it. This study examined whether variables reflecting self-interest (from the theory of planned behavior [Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Action control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11–39). Berlin: Springer]) and variables reflecting moral considerations (from the norm-activation model [Schwartz, S. H. (1977). Normative influences on altruism. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.). Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 221–279). New York: Academic Press]) were able to explain self-reported car use for commuting and intentions to reduce it in a sample of Canadian office workers. Car use for commuting was mostly explained by variables related to individual outcomes (perceived behavioral control and attitudes) whereas the intention to reduce car use was mostly explained by variables related to morality (personal norms). The study also found that perceived behavioral control moderated the relation between personal norms and behavioral intentions: stronger personal norms were associated with stronger behavioral intentions, but only when perceived behavioral control was low. Some issues evoked by these results are discussed.     

Predicting Intentions to Use a Condom From Perceptions of Normative Pressure and Confidence in Those Perceptions1

Two experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that confidence in the correctness of one's perceptions of normative pressure to use a condom influences the correspondence between those perceptions and intentions to actually perform the behavior. In Study 1, confidence in perceptions of normative influence was manipulated in an experimental paradigm using hypothetical scenarios. In Study 2, confidence in subjects' a]ctual perceptions was measured. Results from both experiments indicate that the correspondence between perceptions of normative influence and intentions was greatest when subjects were confident that their perceptions of normative influence were correct.     

THE RELATION BETWEEN BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS AND BELIEFS: A PROBABILISTIC MODEL1

Based on mathematical probability theory, a model of the relationship between beliefs and behavioral intention was proposed and tested. In Experiment 1, subjects indicated their beliefs about the consequences of smoking cigarettes as well as their intention to smoke cigarettes. When combined according to the proposed model the average correlation between predicted and obtained behavioral intention was .78 (p<.01). In Experiment 2, implications of the model for changing behavioral intentions were examined. Subjects were presented a hypothetical election campaign between two candidates. Intentions to vote for a given candidate were measured prior to and after presentation of information about some of the candidates' political views. Using the proposed model of intention, the predicted and observed changes in voting intentions were correlated .72 (p<.01). Implications of the model for theories of social behavior and persuasion were discussed.