“Behavioral Intentions,
Expectations and
Willingness”
Gibbons and Gerrard, 1997, National Cancer Institute
Justin Roudabush
Oregon State University
Outline
 Definition and Significance of Behavioral Intention
 Causes of Variance
 Moderators
 Alternative Proximal Measurements
 Implementation Intentions
 Behavioral Expectations
 Behavioral Willingness
TRA + TPB
Behavioral
Beliefs
Attitude Towards
the Behavior
Normative
Beliefs
Subjective
Norm
Control
Beliefs
Perceived Behavioral
Control
Intention
Behavior
The TTI Developmental-Ecological System
Levels of
Causation
E
Ultimate
Underlying
Causes
Values
Environment
S
ENVIRONMENT
Situation
Person
E
P
P S
P
Knowledge
Environment
S
E
Distal
Predisposing
Influences
Value
Social SelfCom- Role
Bonds Control petence Models
Eval Mc
Att SNB Self
Proximal
Immediate
Predictors
Exp
NB
Will + Skill
SNB
Know
Att
Efficacy
Intentions
Behavior
DEVELOPMENT & TIME
Lost in Translation
 Most value-expectancy theories contain an Intention element
 Explains some variance between Intention and Behavior (HB)
 Can account for 20-30% of this variance
HB
HB
Intention
HB
HB
HB
Definition
 “amount of effort one is willing to exert to attain a goal”
 “behavioral plans that……enable attainment of a behavioral
goal”
 “proximal goals”
 “intentions can be conceived of as goal states”
Measurement
 Aggregation – include multiple items
 Compatibility – BI and measures should included exactly the
same “action, target, context and time”
 Commitment – more important to the individual
Predictability Concerns
 Stability – consistency over time
 Time Lag – diminishes over time
 Emotion – at the time of execution
Moderators
 Perceived Behavioral Control
 Complexity
 Social Desirability
 Social Involvement
Perceived Behavioral Control
(PBC)
 Perceived control over a behavior
 Actual Ability to control behavior
 When both are high the relationship is more likely to be
positive
 When one or the other is low then outcome is less
predictable
Complexity
 Require a series of actions to complete
 People overestimate likelihood of completing all actions
 Only takes failure on one action to fail completely
“Literal Inconsistency”
 Tendency to not do what you said you would do
 Say you will do the behavior but don’t follow through
 Say you won’t and don’t
 Same issue exists for Socially Undesirable Behaviors
 Health Risks
Social Involvement
 Interventions between BI and HB can be most effective
when:
 Follow up and measurement between BI and HB is earlier
 HB includes significant habitual components
 Perceived and actual control are low
 Health risks are involved under social contexts
Intrapersonal Stream
BIOLOGY/
PERSONALITY
1
2
Sense of
Self/Control
Self
Determination
13
8
Skills:
Social+General
14
SELF-EFFICACY
BEHAVIORAL
CONTROL
Cultural/Attitudinal Stream
SOCIAL
SITUATION
3
Social
Competence
7
Social/Normative Stream
4
Interpersonal
Bonding
Others’
Beh & Atts
9
10
Motivation
to Comply
Perceived
Norms
15
16
SOCIAL
NORMATIVE
BELIEFS
DECISIONS/INTENTIONS
PBC, Complexity, Literal
Inconsistency, Social Involvement
CULTURAL
ENVIRONMENT
5
6
Interactions w/
Social Instit’s
Information/
Opportunities
11
12
Values/
Evaluations
17
Knowledge/
Expectancies
18
ATTITUDES
TOWARD THE
BEHAVIOR
Alternative Proximal Antecedants
 Implementation Intentions
 Behavioral Expectations
 Behavioral Willingness
Implementation Intentions (II)
 Make the abstract more concrete
 Create specific goals related BI to HB
 Ideal for use with complex behaviors
 Good for situational cues/prompts
Behavioral Expectations (BE)
 Subjective probability of performance
 Prediction versus plan (BI)
 Accounts for additional influences: circumstances, past
behaviors, anticipated changes
 Ideal for undesirable and/or difficult behaviors
Behavioral Willingness (BW)
 BI less effective for measuring adolescents and/or behavior
involving health risks
 HB is not intentional, but a reaction to social circumstances
 Openness to risk opportunity
 Survey of capabilities of risky behavior if the opportunity is
encountered
 Ideal for adolescents and risky behaviors
Best Fit
 Health promoting behaviors: use BI combined with II
 Complex behaviors with control aspects: use BI with PBC
 Social Desirability, commitment tenuous, low perceived
control: use BE
 Health risk, adolescents, social reactions: use BW and BE
E
Values
Environment
S
ENVIRONMENT
Situation
Person
P
P
E
P S
Knowledge
Environment
S
E
Value
Social SelfCom- Role
Bonds Control petence Models
Eval Mc
Will + Skill
Att SNB Self
NB
SNB
Know
Exp
Att
Efficacy
Proximal
Antecedants
Intentions
(BI, BE, BW)
Social Context,
Maturity, Anxiety,
Complexity, Level of
Control, etc……..
Behavior