What is the theory of reasoned action used for?

The theory of reasoned action (TRA) was developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen in 1975 to examine the relationship between attitudes and behavior. TRA looks at behavioral intentions rather than attitudes as the main predictors of behavior. According to this theory, attitudes toward a behavior (or more precisely, attitudes toward the expected outcome or result of a behavior) and subjective norms (the influence other people have on a person's attitudes and behavior) are the major predictors of behavioral intention. TRA works most successfully when applied to behaviors that are under a person's volitional control. The health-education implications of this theory allow one to identify how and where to target strategies for changing behavior (e.g., prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases and health fitness behaviors).

Donald E. Morisky

(see also: Attitudes; Behavioral Change; Health Belief Model; Social Cognitive Theory; Theory of Planned Behavior )

Bibliography

Ajzen, I., and Fishbein, M. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

—— (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen in 1975 as an improvement over the information integration theory. Fishbein and Ajzen formulated the theory after trying to determine the differences between attitude and behavior. The first change from the integration theory is behavioral intention. This theory also acknowledges that there are factors that can limit the influence of attitude on behavior. For example, if our attitude leads us to want to go out clubbing but our bank account is suffering, the lack of money will change that attitude to staying in for the night. Therefore, Theory of Reasoned Action predicts behavioral intention, an in between for stopping at attitude predictions and actually predicting behavior because it separates behavioral intention from behavior.

Another improvement to the TRA is that it has two new elements, attitude and the expectations of other people (norms) to predict behavioral intent. So, when our attitude wants us to do one thing, the expectations of other people influence us to do something else. For example, Melissa’s attitudes may encourage her to wear High School Musical t- shirts to Pub 320, but the students in her class may think that she is weird and make fun of her. Lastly, subjective norms have two factors: normative beliefs (what I think others expect me to do) and willingness or the motivation to comply with norms (how much do I care about what others think of me).

Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action Promoting Breakfast Consumption

This study was conducted to see if application of this theory would increase breakfast consumption for students in secondary school in Iran. An instructional program was planned to promote breakfast consumption and the TRA was used as a model for behavioral intention. An intervention with knowledge about breakfast consumption is provided for the students. For data collection, a questionnaire was to be filled out before and after the intervention. The questionnaire had two parts. The first part had questions concerning knowledge about breakfast consumption and the second part, for TRA, was made from existing questionnaires. According to the data, subjective norms were the best predictors for breakfast consumption. The scores of questionnaires, before and after the intervention, showed that the intervention was the main cause of increase in knowledge.

Source:https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-theory-of-reasoned-action-and-planned-behavior-Revised-from-Health-behavior-and_fig1_308784496

The Epidemiologic Triad is a traditional model of infectious diseases causation, as described previously it consists of an agent, host and environment. The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Martin Fishbein and by Icek Ajzen in the late 1960s. The Theory of Planned Behavior was developed from the Theory of Reasoned Action in 1985 (Hackman & Knowlden, 2014). We will be using the Triad to determine the host, agent, and environment while connecting it to the TRA and TPB.

The Theory of Reasoned Action is used to explain and predict behavior based on attitudes, norms and intentions. The construct of TRA are: behavioral beliefs, evaluations of behavioral outcomes which leads to attitude, then normative beliefs, motivation to comply which leads to subjective norms. Both the attitude and subjective norm lead to intention to perform the behavior, which results in the behavior. TRA does not account for people’s perception of the power they have over their behavior. That’s where the Theory of Planned Behavior introduces control beliefs, perceived power which leads to perceived control, then intention to perform the behavior, after which then the behavior occurs. The example that we will be using is the Ebola virus disease, a rare, communicable and deadly disease. It is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids, infected fruits or animals (CDC, 2018). In this case the agent is the virus, the host is the human, fruit, or animal, and the environment can be the community, local clinics, hospitals or a crowded house.

Behavioral belief produces in the host a favorable or unfavorable attitude towards a behavior. A male survivor of Ebola may want to engage in sexual activities but he is deciding on using a condom or not. Evaluation of behavioral belief are the values attached to the outcome or behavior, or the positive or negative judgment a host has. For example, an evaluation on whether or not to use condom. Attitude is a host’s disposition to act in a certain way. The host may decide not to use a condom because he has built immunity against the agent. Normative belief is when people close to the host agree or disagree over his behavior.

Motivation to comply is to agree with what the host’s friends and family thinks is the right behavior. I.e., using the condom to protect himself and others. Subjective norms are the host’s perception of social norms or what his peers’ beliefs are about the behavior. He may say that because the people that are important to him care about his actions, he wants to protect himself. Then, he may be willing to use condoms. External factors such as demographics variables, attitudes towards targets, personality traits, and other individual difference variables also play a role in behaviors.

As mentioned previously, TRA does not take into account for people’s perception of the control they have over their behaviors. This is where TPB comes in with control beliefs, beliefs about factors that facilitate or impede the performance of the host behavior. Perceived power are factors that facilitate or impede performance of the behavior. The host has the control over his behavior, what may facilitate him to engage in sexual behavior is his belief of being cured. Therefore, there is nothing to worry about. Perceived control is the individual’s control over their behavior. With perceived control the host is in control and can decide to perform the behavior.