TRA) And Planned Behavior Research Articles

Measuring a cross-sectional sample of students’ intentions to engage with science and modelling associations according to two theoretical perspectives

ABSTRACT Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRAPB) have both guided studies seeking to explain students’ intentions and decisions related to future science engagement. The purpose of this study was to simultaneously validate measures for these two social psychological models and closely examine these constructs and their associations. Students were sampled in two groups, across grades 5 through 10, from rural schools in the United States (N = 538). Each group was administered two sets of measures, and each set of measures was associated with a theoretical model, and included corresponding sub-scales suitable for self-report. Respondents also supplied information about a common set of predictor variables based on a review of the literature. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the constructs more closely. Results from confirmatory factor analysis were generally consistent with the theoretical structures. Multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) models were generated to compare SCCT and TRAPB, including associations between factors and variables. Associations between common predictor variables like race and gender differed between the MIMIC models. Frequency of talk with family members, perceived science ability, gender, and race were all significantly associated with multiple factors in both the SCCT- and TRAPB-aligned models.

Development and validation of an instrument to assess student attitudes toward science across grades 5 through 10

AbstractThe aim of the present study is to enable future studies into students’ attitudes toward science, and related constructs, by developing and validating an instrument suitable for cross‐sectional designs. Following a thorough review of the literature it was determined that many extant instruments included design aspects that appeared to be limited in some way. The BRAINS (Behaviors, Related Attitudes, and Intentions toward Science) Survey was designed to address core criticisms that have been leveled against many existing instruments. BRAINS was rooted in a theoretical framework drawn from the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior (TRAPB). Initial development involved review by an expert panel, adaptation for online delivery and a pilot on this platform. To establish the psychometric validity of the 59‐item instrument it was administered to a representative, random sample of 1,291 Illinois students in grades 5 through 10. Confirmatory factor analysis and subsequent refinement yielded a 30‐item instrument with five factors and a good statistical fit including a RMSEA of 0.04 and a CFI of 0.95. The five factors, or constructs, of the final instrument model reflect the underlying TRAPB framework: attitudes toward science, behavioral beliefs about science, intentions to engage in science, normative beliefs, and control beliefs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 172–205, 2018

Development and Large-Scale Validation of an Instrument to Assess Arabic-Speaking Students' Attitudes Toward Science

This study is part of a large-scale project focused on ‘Qatari students' Interest in, and Attitudes toward, Science’ (QIAS). QIAS aimed to gauge Qatari student attitudes toward science in grades 3–12, examine factors that impact these attitudes, and assess the relationship between student attitudes and prevailing modes of science teaching in Qatari schools. This report details the development and validation of the ‘Arabic-Speaking Students' Attitudes toward Science Survey’ (ASSASS), which was specifically developed for the purposes of the QIAS project. The theories of reasoned action and planned behavior (TRAPB) [Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behavior. In D. Albarracín, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp. 173–221). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum] guided the instrument development. Development and validation of the ASSASS proceeded in 3 phases. First, a 10-member expert panel examined an initial pool of 74 items, which were revised and consolidated into a 60-item version of the instrument. This version was piloted with 369 Qatari students from the target schools and grade levels. Analyses of pilot data resulted in a refined version of the ASSASS, which was administered to a national probability sample of 3027 participants representing all students enrolled in grades 3–12 in the various types of schools in Qatar. Of the latter, 1978 students completed the Arabic version of the instrument. Analyses supported a robust, 5-factor model for the instrument, which is consistent with the TRAPB framework. The factors were: Attitudes toward science and school science, unfavorable outlook on science, control beliefs about ability in science, behavioral beliefs about the consequences of engaging with science, and intentions to pursue science.

Addressing the cross‐country applicability of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB): A structured review of multi‐country TPB studies

AbstractThe theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRA/TPB) have received substantial research interest from consumer behaviourists. One important area of interest that has not been adequately researched concerns the impact of national culture on the TRA/TPB components and interrelationships. To date, no systematic assessment of the impact of culture on the TRA/TPB model relationships has been undertaken. In order to understand the potential impact of culture on the TRA/TPB model relationships, a structured review of TRA/TPB studies is undertaken. Studies that have quantitatively applied the TRA/TPB across at least two countries within a consumption domain since 2000 are reviewed. The authors propose that two of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, individualism and power distance, may moderate the TRA/TPB relationships. The review highlights that the impact of subjective norm on intention varies most across countries, with the relationship between intention and both attitude and perceived behavioural control operating more similarly across country samples. Further, a systematic assessment of variation in the TRA/TPB model relationships via multilevel modelling shows that only the subjective norm–intention relationship varies across the countries studied. The relationship between subjective norm and intention is found to be influenced by power distance, with a stronger relationship evident in high power distance cultures. This review is the first of its kind and is of significance in addressing the emic versus etic nature of the TRA/TPB. Importantly, the article outlines relevant avenues and recommendations for future cross‐national research utilizing the TRA/TPB. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Who Says There is an Intention–Behaviour Gap? Assessing the Empirical Evidence of an Intention–Behaviour Gap in Ethical Consumption

The theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRA/TPB) have fundamentally changed the view that attitudes directly translate into behaviour by introducing intentions as a crucial intervening stage. Much research across numerous ethical contexts has drawn on these theories to offer a better understanding of how consumers form intentions to act in an ethical way. Persistently, researchers have suggested and discussed the existence of an intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption. Yet, the factors that influence the extent of this gap and its magnitude have not been systematically examined. We, therefore, contribute to the debate on the intention–behaviour gap by reviewing the empirical TRA/TPB studies that have assessed both intention and behaviour in ethical contexts. The findings from our review show that few studies assessed the intention–behaviour relationship and as a result, there is limited empirical evidence to date to quantify more accurately the intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption. Our second contribution aims to provide an empirical case study which assesses the magnitude of the intention–behaviour gap in the context of avoidance of sweatshop clothing and to assess the roles of planning and actual behavioural control in potentially reducing the intention–behaviour gap. The findings of our case study suggest that there is indeed a large gap between intention and behaviour, and we conclude by calling for more empirical longitudinal studies to assess the complex nature of the relationship between intention and behaviour.

Integration of five health behaviour models: Common strengths and unique contributions to understanding condom use

The purpose of this research was to select from the health belief model (HBM), theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behaviour (TPB), information–motivation–behavioural skills model (IMB) and social cognitive theory (SCT) the strongest longitudinal predictors of women's condom use and to combine these constructs into a single integrated model of condom use. The integrated model was evaluated for prediction of condom use among young women who had steady versus casual partners. At Time 1, all constructs of the five models and condom use were assessed in an initial and a replication sample (n = 193, n = 161). Condom use reassessed 8 weeks later (Time 2) served as the main outcome. Information from IMB, perceived susceptibility, benefits, and barriers from HBM, self-efficacy and self-evaluative expectancies from SCT, and partner norm and attitudes from TPB served as indirect or direct predictors of condom use. All paths replicated across samples. Direct predictors of behaviour varied with relationship status: self-efficacy significantly predicted condom use for women with casual partners, while attitude and partner norm predicted for those with steady partners. Integrated psychosocial models, rich in constructs and relationships drawn from multiple theories of behaviour, may provide a more complete characterisation of health protective behaviour.

Comparing solutions to the expectancy‐value muddle in the theory of planned behaviour

The authors of the Theories of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Planned Behaviour (TPB) recommended a method for statistically analysing the relationship between the indirect belief-based measures and the direct measures of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control (PBC). However, there is a growing awareness that this yields statistically uninterpretable results. This study's objective was to compare two solutions to what has been called the 'expectancy-value muddle'. These solutions were (i) optimal scoring of modal beliefs and (ii) individual beliefs without multiplicative composites. Cross-sectional data were collected by telephone interview. Participants were 110 first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC), who were offered CRC screening in the study hospital (83% response rate). Participants were asked to rate the TPB constructs in relation to attending for CRC screening. There was no significant difference in the correlation between behavioural beliefs and attitude for rescaled modal and individual beliefs. This was also the case for control beliefs and PBC. By contrast, there was a large correlation between rescaled modal normative beliefs and subjective norm, whereas individual normative beliefs did not correlate with subjective norm. Using individual beliefs without multiplicative composites allows for a fairly unproblematic interpretation of the relationship between the indirect and direct TPB constructs (French & Hankins, 2003). Therefore, it is recommended that future studies consider using individual measures of behavioural and control beliefs without multiplicative composites and examine a different way of measuring individual normative beliefs without multiplicative composites to that used in this study.

Understanding Exercise Intention in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Postpartum Women

Research examining the determinants of exercise motivation among ethnically diverse women is scant. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive utility of the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior (TRA/TPB) for explaining exercise intention among postpartum women and to examine the moderating influence of ethnicity. Participants were 63 low-income postpartum women (n = 16 white, 47 non-white) who completed self-reported measures of their exercise attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intention. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that (a) attitude (β = .59, p < .05) and subjective norm (β = .29, p < .001) explained 66% of the variance in intention, (b) PBC (β = .03, p > .05) was not a significant predictor, and (c) the contributions of the theory constructs predicting intention were not moderated by ethnicity. The study findings provide preliminary support for the utility of the TRA as a framework for understanding exercise intention among ethnically diverse postpartum women. The lack of predictive support for TPB may be due to ethnic/cultural differences or methodological limitations with PBC; however, future research is needed to test this assumption.

Theory-Based Predictors of Intention to Engage in Precautionary Sexual Behavior Among Puerto Rican High School Adolescents

Abstract Predictors of intention to abstain from sexual intercourse or use condoms consistently with both main and other partners were investigated in 431 Puerto Rican high school students. The basis for this study was the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behavior (TPB), and two predictors from the theory of interpersonal behavior (TIB). As suggested by the TPB, self-efficacy substantially increased the predictability of both intentions over and above the TRA variables (attitude and subjective norm), and was the only variable that significantly predicted these intentions with both types of sexual partner. Anticipated emotional reaction and past behavior from the TIB, and gender further improved the predictions, but their contribution depended on the specific intention and the type of partner. The findings suggest that an augmented theory of planned behavior could be useful for understanding intention to engage in precautionary sexual behaviors among Puerto Rican adolescents.

The Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior Applied to Exercise: A Meta-analytic Update

Background:Statistical reviews of the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behavior (TPB) applied to exercise are limited by methodological issues including insufficient sample size and data to examine some moderator associations.Methods:We conducted a meta-analytic review of 111 TRA/TPB and exercise studies and examined the influences of five moderator variables.Results:We found that: a) exercise was most strongly associated with intention and perceived behavioral control; b) intention was most strongly associated with attitude; and c) intention predicted exercise behavior, and attitude and perceived behavioral control predicted intention. Also, the time interval between intention to behavior; scale correspondence; subject age; operationalization of subjective norm, intention, and perceived behavioral control; and publication status moderated the size of the effect.Conclusions:The TRA/TPB effectively explained exercise intention and behavior and moderators of this relationship. Researchers and practitioners are more equipped to design effective interventions by understanding the TRA/TPB constructs.

A Meta-Analytic Review of the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior in Physical Activity: Predictive Validity and the Contribution of Additional Variables

The aim of the present study was to examine relations between behavior, intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, and past behavior across studies using the Theories of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Planned Behavior (TPB) in a physical activity context. Meta-analytic techniques were used to correct the correlations between the TRA/TPB constructs for statistical artifacts across 72 studies, and path analyses were conducted to examine the pattern of relationships among the variables. Results demonstrated that the TRA and TPB both exhibited good fit with the corrected correlation matrices, but the TPB accounted for more variance in physical activity intentions and behavior. In addition, self-efficacy explained unique variance in intention, and the inclusion of past behavior in the model resulted in the attenuation of the intention-behavior, attitude-intention, self-efficacy-intention, and self-efficacy-behavior relationships. There was some evidence that the study relationships were moderated by attitude-intention strength and age, but there was a lack of homogeneity in the moderator groups. It was concluded that the major relationships of the TRA/TPB were supported in this quantitative integration of the physical activity literature, and the inclusion of self-efficacy and past behavior are important additions to the model.

Intention to Participate in Predictive Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer: The Role of Attitude toward Uncertainty

This study aimed to identify factors predictive of intentions to participate in genetic testing for hereditary cancer. Measures of the psychosocial influences on intention were based on the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behaviour (TPB) and a new measure of Attitude toward Uncertainty. The participants (the breast cancer sample, n = 124; the colon cancer sample, n = 168) were recruited via a general practitioner's patient database and asked to complete postal questionnaires. The overall response rate was 57.4% (54.7% in the colon cancer sample, 61.4% in the breast cancer sample). In the colon cancer sample, 72% of respondents stated that they would choose to participate in genetic testing for colon cancer susceptibility. In the breast cancer sample, 77% of respondents stated that they would choose to participate in genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility. The TRA components (attitudes and subjective norms) and Attitude toward Uncertainty emerged as the strongest predictors of intention. The Attitude toward Uncertainty appears to moderate intention in that participants with more negative attitudes toward uncertainty are more likely to undergo the test than those seeking more certainty.

Statistical guidelines for studies of the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behaviour

We identify potential problems in the statistical analysis of social cognition model data, with special emphasis on the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behaviour (TPB). Some statistical guidelines are presented for empirical studies of the TRA and the TPB based upon multiple linear regression and structural equation modelling (SEM). If the model is tested using multiple regression, the assumptions of this technique must be considered and variables transformed if necessary. Adjusted R2 (not R2) should be used as a measure of explained variance and semipartial correlations are useful in assessing each component's unique contribution to explained variance. R2 is not an indicator of model adequacy and residuals should be examined. Expectancy-value variables that are the product of expectancy and value measures represent the interaction term in a multiple regression and should not be used. SEM approaches make explicit the assumptions of unidimensionality of constructs in the TRA/TPB, assumptions that might usefully be challenged by competing models with multidimensional constructs. Finally, statistical power and sample size should be considered for both approaches. Inattention to any of these aspects of analysis threatens the validity of TRA/TPB research.