Pearson BTEC National Applied Psychology: Book 2

Theory 3: Theory of planned behaviour Key concepts of the TPB Evaluation Ajzen (1985, 1991) proposed the TPB to explain how people control voluntary behaviours. Intention is the central concept, which is affected by three sources: 1. Personal attitudes Balance of the person’s favourable and unfavourable attitudes towards own behaviour. 2. Subjective norms Person’s beliefs about whether people who matter to them approve or disapprove of their behaviour. 3. Perceived behavioural control (PBC) How much control we believe we have over own behaviour. Indirect influence on intentions, e.g. the more control I believe I have over my weight, the stronger my intention to lose weight. Direct influence on intentions, e.g. the more control I believe I have, the longer and harder I will try to lose weight. Research support for the TPB Research showed that attitudes, norms and PBC influenced intentions, which then influenced actual alcohol consumption (Hagger et al . 2011). Not a full explanation Gambling behaviour of teenagers not predicted by intentions, and TPB not useful for interventions (Miller and Howell 2005). Lack of support from some studies Attitudes, norms and PBC all affected by stress, so do not predict behaviour in way TPB suggests (Louis et al . 2009). Short-term versus long- term Intention is a good predictor of not drinking within 5 weeks but not over longer period. So TPB not applicable to real-life behaviour change (McEachan et al . 2011). Louis et al . (2009) Evaluation Aims Test TPB to explain health decision- making and stress. Procedure Questionnaires measured 154 male and female students’ healthy-eating behaviour in terms of personal attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions to eat healthily or unhealthily. Life stress and perceptions of body image also measured. Findings Attitudes and control predicted intentions to eat healthily but norms did not. Small effect of perceived control on healthy-eating intentions. Subjective norms favouring healthy eating did predict intentions to eat unhealthily, but only at low levels of stress. Conclusions Only partial support for TPB: effects of attitudes, norms and control on intentions depended on stress. Not part of theory. Practical applications Shows best way to target resources: increase control and reduce stress, ignore social pressure. Self-report measures Questionnaire data, subjective measures of intentions but not objective measures of behaviour. Cooke et al . (2016) Evaluation Aims Review research into links between TPB, intention to consume alcohol and actual alcohol consumption. Procedure Reviewed 40 studies of intentions to drink alcohol, personal attitudes, norms and perceived control. Some studies measured self-efficacy. Five categories of consumption (e.g. getting drunk, heavy episodic drinking). Findings Positive correlation between: • Intentions to consume and consumption. • Intentions and attitudes (especially for episodic drinkers). • Subjective norms and perceived control. • Self-efficacy and both intention to drink and actual consumption (more strongly than perceived control). Conclusions TPB is useful to understand intentions to drink. Interventions should target attitudes and intentions. Relatively large number of studies 40 studies much better than median for most reviews (usually about three studies), gives confidence in conclusions. Not cause-and-effect Many correlations between elements of the TPB but very few experimental studies. ‘We do not need any more correlational studies of the TPB’ (Sniehotta et al . 2014). Theory 4: Self-efficacy theory Key concepts of the theory Evaluation Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s own ability to perform a task successfully, central to behavioural change. Awareness of self-efficacy comes from four sources: 1. Mastery experiences Experience of performing task successfully means you learn about your own capability and feel confident performing future tasks. 2. Vicarious reinforcement Your self- efficacy increases when you observe someone else performing a task successfully. Especially if you perceive them as similar to you. 3. Social persuasion Encouragement from others (using words) increases self-efficacy, adds to belief we can succeed. Source has to be credible (e.g. qualified). 4. Emotional states Stress and anxiety reduce self-efficacy (e.g. being ‘evaluated’), we expect to fail and do. Support from research Self- efficacy linked to several health behaviours, can be increased leading to change (Strecher et al . 1986). Effective practical applications Break target behaviour into achievable tasks (easiest first), use relaxation training to reduce stress. De nition and measurement issues Some self-efficacy scales are unclear and do not measure self-efficacy. Or self-efficacy confused with confidence or self-esteem (Eastman and Marzillier 1984). Back re effects Increasing self-efficacy lowered performance on next task, led to over-confidence and less effort (Vancouver et al . 2002). Bandura and Adams (1977) Evaluation Aims To investigate role of self-efficacy in the treatment of snake phobia, by using systematic desensitisation (reducing emotional arousal) which should enhance self-efficacy and reduce avoidance of snakes. Procedure Ten people with snake phobias assessed on 29 tasks with a snake: • Avoidance. • Fear arousal, self-rating on scale of 1 to 10. • Self-efficacy, self-rating on scale of 0 to 100. Given treatment and assessed again. Findings Higher self-efficacy and lower arousal after treatment. Positive correlation between self- efficacy and avoidance. Conclusions The treatment helped participants increase self-efficacy, supports predictions of Bandura’s theory. Standardised procedures Same tasks for everyone, experience of procedure identical, so findings not due to confounding variables. Self-reports Subjective measures of fear and self- efficacy, may be influenced by social desirability bias and therefore over- or under-reported the role of self-efficacy. Marlatt et al . (1995) Evaluation Aims Review research into links between self-efficacy and aspects of addiction. Procedure Wide range of studies identified which had investigated link between types of self-efficacy and various addictions. Findings of the review • Resistance self-efficacy: when low and combined with peer influence, predicts alcohol and nicotine use by adolescents. • Harm-reduction self-efficacy: can be increased if adolescent already drinking/smoking. • Coping self-efficacy: when low means alcoholics stay longer in treatment. • Recovery self-efficacy: helps addicts ‘bounce back’ from relapse. Conclusions Interventions should target self-efficacy to reduce self-harm of drug through achievable targets, extra support, and identifying triggering situations. Comprehensive and thorough Wide variety of studies, several types of self-efficacy considered at different stages of addiction process. Subjective selection of studies Researchers decided which studies to include but did not describe the selection criteria used. Conclusions could be based on biased selection. 31