UNIT 16Theory of Reasoned

Action

Intentions“The person’s motivation in the sense of his or her conscious plan to exert effort to carry out the behavior”

– Eagly & Chaiken

Volitional Behaviors

Things people do because they choose to do so.

Determinants of Attitudes

Toward Behaviors

Evaluation of Behavior

Is the behavior good or bad?

Strength belief is held

Stronger a belief is, the more likely it will cause a person to act on it.

Subjective NormThe subjective likelihood that a significant other (referent) things a person should perform a behavior times the person’s motivation to comply. These are then summed over the various salient referent persons.

I want to donate money to the Democratic Party.

My mother does not think I should donate the money.

My best friend things that I should donate the money.

Normative beliefsPerceptions of significant others’ preferences about whether one should engage in a behavior or not.

Motivation to Comply

What motivation do we have to comply with the referent’s ideas of our behavior(s)?

Intention-Behavior

Relationship

When the Intention is NOT Likely to Predict

Behavior Successfully

Degree of Correspondence--How well does the intended result correspond to the behavior in question.--Great American Smoke Out – throw your pack of Cigarettes away

Change of Intention

--If the purpose for enacting the behavior changes.--If a person finds out he has Ebola – don’t think s/he will quit smoking no matter what.

Not Under Volitional Control--If you can’t consciously control a specific behavior.--Many things have been found to be genetically based in our world.

B⇛BI=w1AB+w2SNB = BehaviorBI = Behavioral IntentionAB = Attitude toward Behavioral Act

SN = Subjective NormW1 & w2 = empirical weights (importance of first two terms)