The Role of Distal Variables in Behavior Change: Effects of Adolescents\u27 Risk for Marijuana Use on Intention to Use Marijuana

This study uses an integrative model of behavioral prediction as an account of adolescents\u27 intention to use marijuana regularly. Adolescents\u27 risk for using marijuana regularly is examined to test the theoretical assumption that distal variables affect intention indirectly. Risk affects intention indirectly if low-risk and high-risk adolescents differ on the strength with which beliefs about marijuana are held, or if they differ on the relative importance of predictors of intention. A model test confirmed that the effect of risk on intention is primarily indirect. Adolescents at low and high risk particularly differed in beliefs concerning social costs and costs to self-esteem. Not surprisingly, at-risk adolescents took a far more positive stand toward using marijuana regularly than did low-risk adolescents. On a practical level, the integrative model proved to be an effective tool for predicting intention to use marijuana, identifying key variables for interventions, and discriminating between target populations in terms of determinants of marijuana use

Reasoned Action As an Approach to Understanding and Predicting Health Message Outcomes

The reasoned action approach is a behavioral theory that has been developed since the 1960s in a sequence of reformulations. It comprises the theory of reasoned action; the theory of planned behavior; the integrative model of behavioral prediction; and its current formulation, the reasoned action approach to explaining and changing behavior. Applied to health messages, reasoned action theory proposes a behavioral process that can be described in terms of four parts. First, together with a multitude of other potential sources, health messages are a source of beliefs about outcomes of a particular health behavior, about the extent of social support for performing that behavior from specific other people, and about factors that may hamper or facilitate engaging in the behavior. Second, these beliefs inform attitude toward performing the behavior, perceptions of normative influence, and perceptions of control with respect to performing the behavior. Third, attitude, perceived norms, and perceived control inform the intention to perform the behavior. Fourth, people will act on their intention if they have the required skills to do so and if there are no environmental obstacles that impede behavioral performance. The theory’s conceptual perspective on beliefs as the foundation of behavior offers a theoretical understanding of the role of health messages in behavior change. The theory also can be used as a practical tool for identifying those beliefs that may be most promising to address in health messages, which makes the theory useful for those designing health message interventions. Reasoned action theory is one of the most widely used theories in health behavior research and health intervention design, yet is not without its critics. Some critiques appear to be misconceptions, such as the incorrect contention that reasoned action theory is a theory of rational, deliberative decision making. Others are justified, such as the concern that the theory does not generate testable hypotheses about when which variable is most likely to predict a particular behavior.</p

Perceived Behavioral Control in Reasoned Action Theory

The inclusion of perceptions of control over behavioral performance has importantly advanced the ability of reasoned action theory to explain behavioral intentions and predict behavior. In consequence, the theory has usefulness as a tool for developing behavior change interventions. Despite the theoretical and practical importance of a perceived behavioral control construct, there remains ambiguity regarding the precise meaning and measurement of items. A central issue is that items used to measure perceived behavioral control often load on two factors, one composed of confidence-framed items and the other of control-framed items. According to reasoned action theory, these two factors represent capacity and autonomy aspects of perceived behavioral control. In this article I review the usefulness of the current dual-aspect conceptualization of perceived behavioral control, present illustrative perceived capacity and autonomy data, and discuss new areas of inquiry that can further advance the conceptualization of perceived behavioral control. </jats:p

Media-induced Misperception Further Divides Public Opinion: A Test of Self-categorization Theory of Attitude Polarization

Supplementary materials (news stimuli and survey items) for our manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of Media Psychology

Reasoned Action Frameworks

Reasoned action frameworks, which include the Theory of Reasoned Action and its extensions, the widely used Theory of Planned Behavior and the more recent Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction, describe that intention to perform a behavior follows reasonably (but not necessarily rationally) from specific beliefs that people hold about the behavior and that people act on their intentions when they have the required skills and when situational factors do not impede behavioral performance. Reasoned action research has two broad foci. A first seeks to advance theoretical understanding of human social behavior as based on expectancy beliefs about consequences of behavioral performance. A second applies reasoned action research to development or evaluation of interventions that seek to modify a specific behavior in a particular population. The relevance of the reasoned action approach for communication scholars lies in its direct applicability to a wide range of important communication questions, including the explanation of communication as a socially relevant behavior and intra-individual processes to explain how exposure to information leads to behavior change. Although reasoned action propositions embed belief-based processes in a multilevel system of influence, the individual is nonetheless the primary level of analysis. The range of citations included in this bibliography addresses the decades-long time frame during which scholars have explicitly employed core reasoned action concepts. Beyond the introductory works, the examples presented here are illustrative rather than exhaustive, by necessity, as few other behavioral theories have generated more citations in communication research.</p