Models of Behaviour Change- Theory of Planned Behaviour Flashcards
What does the theory of planned behaviour suggest?
- Individuals need to meet their behavioural attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control to get into the intention stage which leads to the behaviour stage
- If individuals meet their perceived behavioural control they can go straight into the behaviour stage
What is meant by behavioural attitude?
A positive or negative evaluation of the behaviour, combined with a belief about the outcome
What is meant by subjective norm?
Perceptions of what others do/think and whether they want to conform or not to these norms
What is meant by perceived behavioural control?
- The belief the person has about how much they can control their own behaviour
- The more control people think they have, the stronger their intention to perform the behaviour will be
- They will try more and persevere for longer so will be more successful than people who perceive themselves as not having much control
What is intention?
How likely they are to carry out this behaviour
What is behaviour?
Behaviour that creates change
How will a person who wants to quit their addiction act?
- Have a positive attitude to giving up (see health benefits + financial gain)
- Will want to conform to the subjective norms of a group that is anti addiction
- Believe they can control their behavioural and have the resources and skills to give up
- Have intention to give up and will successfully give up
How can TPB be used to change behavioural intentions?
- Many campaigns try to include a focus on changing the attitudes of the target audience towards the drug identified
- Aim is to make people rethink their behaviour and decide that it’s not the best thing for them
How can TPB be used to change subjective norms?
- Campaigns often try to correct misperceptions of levels of drug taking/smoking amongst teens
- Means that those trying to reduce addiction can try to correct these kinds of subjective norms and give people accurate information
How can TPB be used to change perceived behavioural control?
- Research by Godin et al found that 1 of the most important predictors of actual smoking behaviour was perceived behavioural control
- Suggests that strategies to help people break smoking addiction should focus on developing willpower and informing individuals of the effort that will be required to stop
- Thus, they will have greater perceived behavioural control and will be able to break the habit
How can TPB be used to increase self efficacy?
- According to TPB, self efficacy is an important factor in predicting their ability to change their behaviour and give up an addiction
- Means that increasing an individual’s self efficacy by encouraging their belief in their own ability to abstain from their addictive behaviour should be an important part of any treatment plan for addicts
If the point is:
A strength of the theory of planned behaviour is that there is evidence to support it as a model of behaviour change.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Hagger tested TPB with regards to alcohol related behaviours with 486 employees from Estonia, Finland, Sweden and UK. They found 3 factors (personal attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) all predicted behavioural intentions to limit alcohol intake. The best predictor was perceived behavioural control. However, they were not able to predict binge drinking behaviour.
Link- This suggests that many aspects of the theory are clearly involved with addictions, especially beliefs about your control.
If the point is:
A weakness of the theory of planned behaviour is that it’s criticised for explaining addictions in a way that’s too rational.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- For instance, very few people start gambling and plan to become addicted, as it could be considered an impulse disorder. This is likely to be the same with most addictions.
Link- This suggests that the theory may not be suitable as a complete explanation for understanding addictive behaviours, reducing its overall usefulness.
If the point is:
A strength of the theory of planned behaviour is that it has good practical applications and can be put into a therapeutic climate.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- For example, it can be practically applied in CBT sessions and possibly used within homework assignments by testing perceived behavioural control. For instance, directing them to go for lunch with their family and refrain from checking their phones for gambling apps.
Link- This could imply that it could be applied to help people combat addictions, having a positive effect in society.
If the point is:
A weakness of the theory of planned behaviour is that research into it is solely correlational and cannot identify casual relationships.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- For instance, researchers may well find perceived behaviour; control links to addictive behaviour, but both of these issues may be a product of dispositional factors. Eysenck suggests certain personality traits can increase the risk of developing addictions, such as neuroticism which leads to low control. Other theories would suggest having an external locus of control could lead to addictions due to having little to no perceived control over their actions.
Link- This means that research into it may not provide complete support for this explanation.
