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The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)
Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Originators of Model

• Icek Ajzen, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Illinois and has, in past years, been a Visiting Professor at Tel-Aviv University in Israel. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and, with Dr. Martin Fishbein, has co-authored many scholarly papers, journals and books on the "Theory of Reasoned Action" and "Theory of Planned Behavior." Drs. Ajzen and Fishbein co-authored Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior, a book that has been used in many academic settings and in the field of social psychology.

Originators of Model

• Martin Fishbein, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of psychology and the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana, IL. He is a consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency, The Federal Trade Commission and Warner Communications, Inc. He co-authored with Dr. Ajzen Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. He has written many scholarly books, book chapters and articles. He first started thinking about the role of attitudes influencing behaviors in the early 1960s and in the early 1970s Ajzen joined him and they collaborated and developed the Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behavior. Also conducts research at the CDC in the behavioral intervention branch in the area of prevention.

Approximate year of origin

• The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was developed in 1967. During the early 1970s the theory was revised and expanded by Ajzen and Fishbein. By 1980 the theory was used to study human behavior and develop appropriate interventions. In 1988, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was added to the existing model of reasoned action to address the inadequacies that Ajzen and Fishbein had identified through their research using the TRA.

Circumstances that led to the model development

• originated in the field of social psychology. As early as 1862 psychologists began developing theories showing how attitude impacted behavior.
• Having their emphasis on attitude and behavior, it can be postulated that this theory grew out of the 19th century when the field of psychology began to look at the term "attitude".
• Those theories suggested that "attitudes could explain human actions" (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 13).

Circumstances that led to the model development

• Thomas and Znaniecki were the first psychologists to view attitude as individual mental processes that determine a person’s actual and potential responses. This was when social scientists began to see attitude as a predictor for behavior. These ideas remained relatively intact until the early 1960s when many social scientists began to review attitudes and behavior predictors.

The relationship between attitudes and behaviors

• In 1929 L.L. Thurston developed methods for measuring attitudes using interval scales. Following Thurston’s scale came the famous, more specific and easier to use Likert-scale. This scale is widely used today.
  • In 1935, Gordon W. Allport theorized that the attitude-behavior relationship was not uni-dimensional as previously thought, but multi-dimensional. Attitudes were viewed as complex systems made up of the person’s beliefs about the object, his feelings toward the object, and his action tendencies with respect to the object.

The relationship between attitudes and behaviors

In 1944, Louis Guttman developed the scalogram analysis to measure beliefs about the object.
Doob in 1947 adopted the idea of Thurstone that attitude is not directly related to behavior but it can tell us something about the overall pattern of behavior.
In the 1950’s, this point of view that attitude is multi-dimensional became universal.

The relationship between attitudes and behaviors

Rosenberg and Hovland in 1960 theorized that a person’s attitude toward an object is filtered by their affect, cognition and behavior.

In 1969, Wicker conducted an extensive survey and literature review on the subject and he determined "it is considerably more likely that attitudes will be unrelated or only slightly related to overt behaviors than that attitudes will be closely related to actions" (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 25).

Theory of Reasoned Action

• As a result of these developments, Fishbein and Ajzen joined forces to explore ways to predict behaviors and outcomes. They assumed that individuals are usually quite rational and make systematic use of information available to them. People consider the implications of their actions before they decide to engage or not engage in a given behavior" (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 5). After reviewing all the studies they developed a theory that could predict and understand behavior and attitudes. Their framework, which has become known as the Theory of Reasoned Action, looks at behavioral intentions rather than attitudes as the main predictors of behaviors.

Theory of Planned Behavior

• As the Theory of Reasoned Action began to take hold in social science, Ajzen and other researcher realized that this theory was not adequate and had several limitations (Godin & Kok, 1996). One of the greatest limitations was with people who have little or feel they have little power over their behaviors and attitudes. Ajzen described the aspects of behavior and attitudes as being on a continuum .. from one of little control to one of great control. To balance these observations, Ajzen added a third element to the original theory. This element is the concept of perceived behavioral control. The addition of this element has resulted in the newer theory known as the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Purpose of Theory

• To predict and understand motivational influences on behavior that is not under the individual's volitional control.
• To identify how and where to target strategies for changing behavior.
• To explain virtually any human behavior such as why a person buys a new car, votes against a certain candidate, is absent from work or engages in premarital sexual intercourse.

Characteristics and key terms

• This theory provides a framework to study attitudes toward behaviors. According to the theory, the most important determinant of a person's behavior is behavior intent. The individual's intention to perform a behavior is a combination of attitude toward performing the behavior and subjective norm. The individual's attitude toward the behavior includes; Behavioral belief, evaluations of behavioral outcome, subjective norm, normative beliefs, and the motivation to comply.

Assumptions

• Human beings are rational and make systematic use of information available to them.

People consider the implications of their actions before they decide to engage or not engage in certain behaviors.

Development

• The TRA/TPB began with looking at Behavioral Intentions as being the immediate antecedents to behavior. It is believed that the stronger a person’s intention to perform a particular behavior, the more successful they are expected to be.

Intentions

• are a function of salient beliefs and/or information about the likelihood that performing a particular behavior will lead to a specific outcome.
• Intentions can also change over time.
• The longer the time period between intention and behavior, the greater the likelihood that unforeseen events will produce changes in intentions.
• are a function of two basic determinants: a) attitude toward behavior and b) subjective norms of behavior.

Attitude

is postulated to be the first antecedent of behavioral intention. It is an individual’s positive or negative belief about performing a specific behavior. These beliefs are called behavioral beliefs. An individual will intend to perform a certain behavior when he or she evaluates it positively. Attitudes are determined by the individual’s beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior (behavioral beliefs), weighted by his or her evaluation of those consequences (outcome evaluations). Those attitudes are believed to have a direct effect on behavioral intention and are linked with subjective norm and perceived behavioral control.

Subjective norms

are also assumed to be a function of beliefs that specific individuals approve or disapprove of performing the behavior. Beliefs that underlie subjective norms are termed normative beliefs. An individual will intend to perform a certain behavior when he/she perceives that important others think he/she should. Important others might be a person’s, spouse, close friends, physician, etc. This is assessed by asking respondents to judge how likely it is that most people who are important to them would approve or disapprove of their performing a given behavior.

Volitional control

Problems arise with the TRA when the theory is applied to behavior’s that are not fully under volitional control.

The TPB took into account that all behavior is not under volitional control and that behaviors are located at some point along a continuum that extends from total control to a complete lack of control.

Control

The individual may have total control when there are no constraints of any type to adopting a particular behavior. At the opposite extreme, there may be a total lack of control if adoption of a given behavior requires opportunities such as resources or skills which may be lacking.

Control factors include both internal and external factors. Internal factors are such things as skills, abilities, information, emotions such as stress, etc. External factors include such things as situation or environmental factors.  

TRA/TPB

To overcome this limitation, Ajzen modified the Theory of Reasoned Action by adding a third antecedent of intention called perceived behavioral control. With the addition of this third antecedent, he re-named this the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Perceived behavioral control

refers to the degree to which an individual feels that performance or nonperformance of the behavior in question is under his or her volitional control. People are not likely to form a strong intention to perform a behavior if they believe that they do not have any resources or opportunities to do so even if they hold positive attitudes toward the behavior and believe that important others would approve of the behavior (subjective norm).

Main Constructs

• Behavior: It is the transmission of intention or perceived behavioral control into action.
• Behavioral Intention: It is an indication of how hard people are willing to try and of how much an effort they are planning to exert, in order to perform the behavior. Influenced by three components: person’s attitude toward performing the behavior, the perceived social pressure, called subjective norm and perceived behavioral control.

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)