Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2014 | Page 98

Internet Learning
research to have the highest scientific impact
score among U.S. and Canadian social
psychologists (Nosek et al., 2010).
The Theory of Planned Behavior
model is shown in Figure 1 (Ajzen, 2013a).
The key tenets of the model include direct
and indirect measures of attitudes, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioral control
that are used to predict intention, which
subsequently predicts behavior (Ajzen,
1991, 2012, 2013a). According to this expectancy-value
model, which weights beliefs
about actions by their value, behavior
is the actual manifestation of an individual’s
action in a particular circumstance. Intention
is the proximal predictor of a person’s
behavior and indicates an individual’s
willingness/readiness to demonstrate that
behavior. The model postulates a strong
relationship between intention and behavior
for those behaviors that are under one’s
own volitional choice. Intention is predicted
from an individual’s attitude toward the
behavior, subjective norms regarding the
behavior, and perceived behavioral control
over the behavior. Attitudes are defined as
“the individual’s positive or negative evaluation
of performing the behavior” and are
assessed by having individuals respond to
bipolar adjective scales regarding the behavior
under examination (e.g., good–bad;
Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 6). Subjective
norms are “the person’s perception of the
social pressures put on him to perform
or not perform the behavior in question”
(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 6). This social
pressure is measured as a general sense of
what important others think one should
do. Finally, perceived behavioral control is
one’s sense of his or her ability to perform
the behavior under examination, which
can be assessed by having individuals rate
the extent that performing the behavior is
up to them and whether they perceive they
have control over it.
Underlying these attitudes, norms,
and control perceptions are one’s beliefs
which are weighted by the subjective value
of these beliefs. Specifically, behavioral
beliefs are the accessible thoughts a person
holds regarding a certain behavior. These
beliefs are tempered by one’s evaluations of
the outcomes associated with these beliefs.
In terms of the model, each of a person’s
behavioral beliefs is multiplied by the outcome
evaluation associated with that belief.
Then, each of these products is summed
to form an indirect assessment of one’s
attitude toward the behavior. In a similar
manner, normative beliefs are the salient
expectations perceived by individuals that
are set by members of a relevant referent
group (e.g., family members, co-workers).
These beliefs are weighted by one’s motivation
to comply with these expectations,
and the sum of products (i.e., each belief
multiplied by the motivation to comply
with it) constitutes an indirect measure of
one’s subjective norms regarding the behavior.
Finally, control beliefs are thoughts
regarding factors in the setting which may
either impede or enhance the performance
of the behavior. These factors are weighted
by the power each control factor holds over
the individual. One’s level of perceived behavioral
control is the sum of products
(i.e., each control factor multiplied by its
power of control) to perform the behavior.
Given the wide application of the
theory, several notable meta-analyses
speak to the model’s utility in predicting
intentions to engage in a multitude of behaviors.
For example, in a review of 185
independent and varied applications of the
model conducted prior to 1997, Armitage
and Conner (2001) found that across all
behaviors studied, the correlation of intention
and perceived behavioral control
was significant, with perceived behavioral
control accounting for 27% of the variance
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