The intention-behaviour gap Flashcards
what are not good direct predictors of behaviour?
attitudes
the effect of attitudes on behaviour is mediated by ?
intention
assume to capture the motivational factors that influence a behaviour, how much effort put in to perform a behaviour =
behavioural intentions
Sheppard et al conducted a meta analysis of 87 studies with 12,000 ppts. what correlation was found?
looked at theory of reasoned action. attitude + subjective norm > intention. r+=0.53. showed a large correlation between intention and behaviour
what can we conclude on the basis of the correlation evidence found in studies that approach 0.5?
correlations are all between 0.4-0.5 which is approaching a strong correlation > 0.5 shows a strong correlation so intentions are a good predictor of behaviour (sited in support of TPB)
how do you find how much variance is explained in a DV when you’ve got a correlation?
square the correlation e.g. 0.47x0/47 = 0.22 > 22%
why is a correlation for intentions and behaviour of around 0.47 problematic?
because this means if you square the value, intentions only explain 22% of the variance in behaviour, so the remaining high % of what you do is explained by other factors other than intentions, CORRELATION DOESN’T MEAN CAUSATION
what might intentions actually reflect in correlational studies?
how someone is behaving in the past rather than an actual decision
TPB models say people go through a process of _______ before forming an intention
deliberation (intentions are the outcomes of our deliberative process)
we can never be sure that our thoughts have caused our actions, as there could aways be unconscious causes that could have produced them both =
the third variable problem
how do we tackle the problem of correlational studies?
use experimental studies, manipulate intention and then follow up behaviour e.g. does changing intention lead to changes in behaviour?
what were the results in Burbaker & Fowler’s examining testicles study?
2 groups that got messages (TPB message/info message) had stronger intentions to perform testicle examination compared to no message (evidence that changes in intention lead to changes in behaviour)
what were the 3 important health behaviours Webb & Sheehan looked at in their review?
- contraception
- sunscreen use
- smoking
what does it mean if Webb & Sheeran’s review was a-theoretical?
had a variety of theoretical bases as the findings hold across a range of theories
what were the theories involved in webb and sherman’s review?
- TPB
- social cognitive theory
- protection motivation theory
- health belief model
what were the findings from Webb & Sheeran’s review?
on average the studies had a large effect on intentions (but they were chosen for this reason) the effect of behaviour on intentions was not as big but there was a change on behaviour, people seem to have wilful control over their responses
what are 3 ideas for why intentions may not translate into behaviour?
- intention viability
- intention activation
- intention elaboration
explain how intention viability may not allow intentions to translate into behaviour
sometimes we can’t put decisions into action because of absence of ability, resources, opportunities, may be outside personal control
what things cause intention viability?
- counter intentional habits
- strong habits
- lack of resources
explain intention activation
the intention may not be activated because we have more than one intention at a time and conflicting goals may mean the intention is deactivated, depends on salience, direction, intensity of intention compared to others
deactivated intentions are likely to be ________ or ________
reprioritised, forgotten
people fail to elaborate in sufficient detail how to go about performing the intended action =
intention elaboration
the idea that behaviour is a function of intentions is supported to an extent by ________ studies but there are problems inferring _______ from them
correlational, causation
experimental studies suggest there is often a gap between intentions and action because intentions may not be _____, ______ or sufficiently ________
viable, activated, elaborated
