Mark Conner

Prospective prediction of health-related behaviours with the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis explored the efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) dependent on behaviour and methodological moderators. A lack of hierarchical analysis in previous reviews risks confounding these moderators. Here moderating roles of behaviour type, length of follow-up, sample age and behavioural measure are explored hierarchically amongst prospective tests of the TPB, controlling for past behaviour where possible. Searching identified 237 prospective tests from 206 articles. Random-effects meta-analytic procedures were used to correcting correlations for sampling and measurement error. Behaviour type moderated the model; physical activity and diet behaviours were better predicted (23.9% and 21.2% variance explained, respectively) whilst risk, detection, safer sex and abstinence from drugs were poorly predicted (between 13.8 and 15.3% variance explained). Methodological moderators were also apparent: age of sample moderated relations with student samples better predicted for physical activity, and adolescent samples better predicted for abstinence behaviours. Behaviours assessed in the shorter term, and those assessed with self-reports (compared with objective measures) were also better predicted. Both behavioural and methodological characteristics moderated relations amongst model components. The results can aid selection of appropriate targets upon which to base interventions.

Social cognition models and health behaviour: A structured review

Abstract A number of social cognition models have been developed to account for socio-demographic variations in health behaviour. This paper distinguishes between: (a) motivational, (b) behavioural enaction, and (c) multi-stage models of health behaviour. The models are evaluated in terms of advancement of existing knowledge and - where appropriate - predictive utility. Common themes that appear within- and between- these categories are discussed, with consideration of ways in which theory may be advanced by future research. Each approach has associated strengths and weaknesses, suggesting that a “consensus” approach to the study of health behaviour may prove fruitful. Identification of the key constructs across different model types would allow coherent integration and promote further understanding of the psycho-social determinants of health behaviour.

The theory of planned behaviour: Assessment of predictive validity and ?perceived control?

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has received considerable attention in the literature. However, there have been few attempts to assess the proposed causal links between beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviour. The present study was designed to assess the predictive validity and causal ordering of TPB constructs over a 3-month period. Findings indicated good internal and test-retest reliability of assessed components; evidence for a distinction between two processes of perceived behavioural control (self-efficacy and perceived control); support for inclusion of self-identity into the model; and predictive validity of the TPB over 3 months. Perhaps more importantly, there was some evidence to support causal ordering between predicted TPB variables. In particular, cross-lagged panel correlation analysis supported the causal impact of self-efficacy on intention. The present study supports the use of the TPB as a reliable predictor of intentions and behaviour over time. It also highlights the need for further research on the relationship between attitudes, perceived behavioural control and their underlying beliefs.

The theory of planned behavior and healthy eating.

Application of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to healthy eating in 144 health promotion clinic attendees is reported. Respondents completed self-report TPB measures after the clinic (Time 1) and 6 months later (Time 2) with a measure of perceived past behavior. Intention stability was assessed on Time 1-2 differences. Six years later (Time 3), respondents completed measures of healthy eating intentions and behavior. Intentions were predicted by attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived past behavior (cross-sectionally). Healthy eating behavior (Time 3) was predicted from intentions (Time 2). As intention stability increased, intentions and perceived past behavior became stronger and weaker predictors of behavior, respectively. Implications for understanding health cognitions in long-term performance of health behavior are discussed.

Recommendations for increasing replicability in psychology

Replicability of findings is at the heart of any empirical science. The aim of this article is to move the current replicability debate in psychology towards concrete recommendations for improvement. We focus on research practices but also offer guidelines for reviewers, editors, journal management, teachers, granting institutions, and university promotion committees, highlighting some of the emerging and existing practical solutions that can facilitate implementation of these recommendations. The challenges for improving replicability in psychological science are systemic. Improvement can occur only if changes are made at many levels of practice, evaluation, and reward. Copyright

Interaction effects in the theory of planned behaviour : Studying cannabis use

This study employed the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to investigate the factors underlying intentions and frequency of use of cannabis over a three-month period in a population of students (N = 249). In addition, several hypotheses in relation to the TPB were investigated. The TPB provided good predictions of both intentions (R2 = 0.653; attitude, injunctive norms and perceived behavioural control significant) and behaviour (R2 = 0.711; intentions significant). Other norm measures (descriptive and moral norms) explained additional variance in intentions (p < .01). In addition, habit strength and self-identity explained significant additional portions of the variance in intentions (p < .001), but not behaviour, over and above the TPB variables. Several interactions among these variables were also tested. Attitude moderated the impact of perceived behavioural control (PBC) on intentions (p < .001). Moral norms moderated the impact of attitudes on intentions (p < .001). Habit strength moderated the impact of self-identity on intentions (p < .001). PBC was found to moderate the impact of intentions on behaviour (p < .05). The findings are discussed in relation to how interaction effects further our understanding of the social processes by which variables are related in the TPB.

Effects of daily hassles and eating style on eating behavior.

OBJECTIVE This study investigated the daily hassles-eating behavior relationship and its moderators in a naturalistic setting. DESIGN A multilevel diary design was used to examine day-to-day within-person effects of daily hassles on eating behavior (N = 422), together with the individual and simultaneous influence of potential moderating variables. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Daily diary reports of between-meal snacking, fruit and vegetable consumption and perceived variations in daily food intake. RESULTS The results showed daily hassles were associated with increased consumption of high fat/sugar snacks and with a reduction in main meals and vegetable consumption. Ego-threatening, interpersonal and work-related hassles were associated with increased snacking, whereas, physical stressors were associated with decreased snacking. The overall hassles-snacking relationship was significantly stronger and more positive at high compared to low levels of restraint, emotional eating, disinhibition, external eating and in females and obese participants. Simultaneous consideration of these moderators indicated that emotional eating was the pre-eminent moderator of the hassles-snacking relationship. CONCLUSION Daily hassles were associated with an increase in unhealthy eating behavior. These changes may indicate an important indirect pathway through which stress influences health risk.

Conscientiousness and the Theory of Planned Behavior: Toward a more Complete Model of the Antecedents of Intentions and Behavior

Two studies explored the relationship between past behavior, personality traits, intentions, and behavior. Study 1 (N = 181) considered intentions to engage in goal-directed activity (health protection). Cognitions specified by the Theory of Planned Behavior were examined as mediators of the relationship between past behavior, personality, and intentions. The effect of conscientiousness on intention was partially mediated by cognitions, whereas the effect of past behavior was partially mediated by cognitions and conscientiousness. Study 2 (N = 123) examined predictions of intentions and self-reported behavior in relation to both health protection and exercise, a more specific behavior. In both cases, the effect of conscientiousness on intention was totally mediated, whereas the effect on behavior was partially mediated. Similarly, the effects of past behavior on intentions were totally mediated, whereas the effects on behavior were partially mediated by cognitions and conscientiousness. Thus, combining personality traits and cognitions provided a more sufficient account of the determinants of intentions and behavior.

Attitudinal Ambivalence: A Test of Three Key Hypotheses

This article reports two studies designed to test the hypotheses that lower levels of attitudinal ambivalence are associated with attitudes that are more predictive of behavior, more stable over time, and less pliable. Study 1 (n = 346) employed a prospective design to test the effects of ambivalence on attitude-intention-behavior relationships. Findings indicated that less ambivalent attitudes were more predictive of subsequent behavioral intentions and behavior but were unrelated to attitude stability. Study 2 (n = 344) used a simple pre-post experimental design and showed that ambivalent attitudes were more pliable in the face of a persuasive communication. The findings are discussed in relation to future research into the bidimensional conceptualization of attitudes.

Application of the theory of planned behaviour to two dietary behaviours: Roles of perceived control and self-efficacy

Objectives. This study examined the application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to two dietary behaviours with a particular focus on the roles of perceived control and self-efficacy as two components of the perceived behavioural control construct in the TPB. Methods. A total of 287 members of the general public completed questionnaires, one concerning the influence of TPB variables on intentions and behaviour for either eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day (N = 144) or eating a low-fat diet (N= 143), and the second concerning actual eating behaviour one month later. In addition, the individual components of perceived behavioural control (perceived control and self-efficacy) and their determinant beliefs were examined. Results. For each behaviour, the TPB variables were found to be good predictors of intentions (fat intake, R 2 = .637; fruit and vegetable intake, R 2 = .572), although less good at predicting behaviour (fat intake, R 2 = .185; fruit and vegetable intake, R 2 = .321), with self-efficacy being consistently more predictive than perceived control. In addition, examination of their determinant beliefs revealed self-efficacy and perceived control to have difference bases. The conceptual and empirical distinctions between perceived control and self-efficacy are discussed.