The Theory of Planned Behavior
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES 50, 179-211 (1991)
The Theory of Planned Behavior
ICEK AJZEN University of Massachusetts at Amherst Research dealing with various aspects of* the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1987) is reviewed, and some unresolved issues are discussed. In broad terms, the theory is found to be well supported by empirical evidence. Intentions to perform behaviors of different kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior. Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are shown to be related to appropriate sets of salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs about the behavior, but the exact nature of these relations is still uncertain. Expectancy— value formulations are found to be only partly successful in dealing with these relations. Optimal rescaling of expectancy and value measures is offered as a means of dealing with measurement limitations. Finally, inclusion of past behavior in the prediction equation is shown to provide a means of testing the theory*s sufficiency, another issue that remains unresolved. The limited available evidence concerning this question shows that the theory is predicting behavior quite well in comparison to the ceiling imposed by behavioral reliability. © 1991 Academic Press. Inc.
As every student of psychology knows, explaining human behavior in all its complexity is a difficult task. It can be approached at many levels, from concern with physiological processes at one extreme to concentration on social institutions at the other. Social and personality psychologists have tended to focus on an intermediate level, the fully functioning individual whose processing of available information mediates the effects of biological and environmental factors on
The Theory of Planned Behavior
ICEK AJZEN University of Massachusetts at Amherst Research dealing with various aspects of* the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1987) is reviewed, and some unresolved issues are discussed. In broad terms, the theory is found to be well supported by empirical evidence. Intentions to perform behaviors of different kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior. Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are shown to be related to appropriate sets of salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs about the behavior, but the exact nature of these relations is still uncertain. Expectancy— value formulations are found to be only partly successful in dealing with these relations. Optimal rescaling of expectancy and value measures is offered as a means of dealing with measurement limitations. Finally, inclusion of past behavior in the prediction equation is shown to provide a means of testing the theory*s sufficiency, another issue that remains unresolved. The limited available evidence concerning this question shows that the theory is predicting behavior quite well in comparison to the ceiling imposed by behavioral reliability. © 1991 Academic Press. Inc.
As every student of psychology knows, explaining human behavior in all its complexity is a difficult task. It can be approached at many levels, from concern with physiological processes at one extreme to concentration on social institutions at the other. Social and personality psychologists have tended to focus on an intermediate level, the fully functioning individual whose processing of available information mediates the effects of biological and environmental factors on
References: Bagozzi, R. P. (1981). Attitudes, intentions, and behavior: A test of some key hypotheses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 607—627. Bagozzi, R. P. (1986). Attitude formation under the theory of reasoned action and a purposeful behavior reformulation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 95—107. Budd, R. J. (1987). Response bias and the theory of reasoned action. Social Cognition, 5, 95—107 tice-Hall. Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80(1, Whole No. 609). Sarver, V. T., Jr. (1983). Ajzen and Fishbein*s ‘theory of reasoned action”: A critical assessment. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 13, 155-163.