The Theory of Planned Behavior

Social Norms can be defined as expectations, or rules of behavior, that develop out of values or morals. Someone’s values can be defined as their idea of what is desirable in life. People develop expectations of what is the right way to reflect these values. When norms are violated people are usually shocked and form sanctions from the norm that is being broken, either positively or negatively. For this paper I was required to violate a norm.

This theory was first created by Ajzen and Fishbein in 1980. This theory provides a framework to study the attitudes that support behaviours and suggests that the most important determinate of an individual’s behaviour is their behavioural intent. This is the individual’s intention to preform a certain behaviour, which is formed from a combination of their attitude towards the behaviour and the subject norm. (The subject norm is the individual’s perception of what others expect them to do).

It has substantial success in predicting a variety of behaviors (Conner & Sparks, 1996). It details the causes of an individual's decision to behave in a particular manner. Theory of Planned Behavioral is rooted in the fact that behavior reflects expected value. It aims to explain rationally motivated, intentional health and non-health behaviors. Extremely specific behavioral intentions measures that closely match the intended behaviors are used in the Theory of Planned Behavior. Behavioral intention measures can assess planning. The Theory of Planned Behavioral provides an account of the elements of behavior when both motivation and opportunity to process information are high (Conner & Armitage, 1998). Self-efficacy plays a vital role in this

Social Norms is a part of everyday life that is used by everyone. Norms means many different kinds of behaviors. They are usually known as the most common fad that people are doing however, if someone does not do it they do not fit in. Social norms set up the way people think of others and why others judge. They usually work by saying if one is normal or abnormal.

This paper will address what social norms entail and what role they play within a society.

In our society we have a number of society norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. For example, it is proper to face front, stand away from strangers, and not to look at others. When a social norm is broken people may respond with alarm, humor, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means, a standard or representative value for a group. The norm that is more common to people is a social norm. Meaning expectations about what behavior, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given group within a given context.

“Social norms are rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide and/or constrain human behavior without the force of laws” (Steg, 2013, p. 154). Social norms have two areas or types they fall into. Injunctive norms are considered behavior that is approved or disapproved and descriptive norms are described as behavior shown by the members of a group. Individuals follow social norms for the rewards involved and the individual wants to avoid rejection and ridicule from societal members. “Social norms can exert a powerful influence on pro-environmental behavior through normative and informational influence” (Steg, 2013, p. 162). Behavior is influenced through normative and informational influences, also moderator variables that may decrease or increase the strength of the influence. Moderator variables contain the size of the group in question, the salience of the norm, if the group is considered an in-group, and the individual personal norms. “A wide variety of research shows that the behavior of others in the social environment shape individuals’ interpretations of, and responses to, the situation, especially in novel, ambiguous, or uncertain

Intention – Intention represent motivational components of a behavior, that is, the degree of conscious effort that a person will exert in order to perform a behavior (Ajzen, 1991, p.201).

Conformity is a type of social influence which involves a change in behaviour and belief of a minority to fit in with the group concerning real or imagined group pressures. This behaviour could be defined as the pressure to behave in ways that are viewed as acceptable by a particular group, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked. The main factor that influences conformity are social norms. Social Norms are a pattern of expected behaviour in certain situations either implicitly or explicitly. Conformity exists in two categories, normative influence where the individual’s desire is to gain social approval and acceptance from the group to make a favourable impression. And informational social influence where a person is looking for guidance in an ambiguous situation as the individual listens to other member 's views and opinions to be guided to an answer. Conformity is distinguished in three different types; Compliance is the most superficial type of conformity. It refers to a person who conforms publicly with the views and attitudes expressed by the group but still continue to privately disagree. This temporary short term behavioural change which often results normative social influence. For example, It is a student 's first day of college, but has arrived late and missed the induction to which he doesn 't know where to go. He then sees a group of students filing off towards a corridor and

In this exercise, you are going to examine some of the norms that affect your topic. Often, there are unstated or implicit norms that shape our perceptions and behaviors. Especially when we are trying to create change, our actions may be perceived as deviant and elicit a strong social reaction from others. In general, how much do you think self-presentation and social norms affect your topic? Are people completely honest about the topic or do they maintain

Jean Twenge and San Diego State University analyzed the questionnaires made by Julian Rotter in the late 1950s. This set of questions was to figure out how much control the student had based on the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. The “internal locus of control” was the idea that a person is responsible for their own success, as “external locus of control” is the belief that an external force or good fortune determines a person’s future. For example, a question might be “(a) Whatever

Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, Cognitive Dissonance Theory, and Self-Perception Theory as my references if a person has a damaging attitude concerning a certain person or group of people the possible consequences of their actions toward that person or group of people can alter the way they identify the concepts by developing the character of one of them. The theory of planned behavior put together numerous issues to offer improved calculation. “According to this theory, if we want to predict both intent to behave and actual behavior, we need to know three things: (1) attitude toward that specific behavior, (2) subjective norms related to that behavior, and (3) perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991)” (Feenstra, 2013). The cognitive dissonance theory describes how our attitudes alter and has dissimilar indicators through beliefs. The self-perception

“Social influence is the process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others” (Feldman 495). These influences are strongly experienced by members in the group. Every group is unique and is mostly guided by a particular norm and behavior. An individual in a group passively or actively allows himself to be influenced by the group just to have a sense of belongingness. In the bid to prevent being excluded or rejected from a group, some individuals overtly adhere to the norms of the group. “Thus, people conform to meet the expectations of the group” (Feldman 495).

From Week 4 lecture, I have learnt about the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Initially, I thought that if a person intend to do something, they will put in their best effort to do it. However, I realized that I was wrong because ‘intention does not always accurately predict behaviour when there is a reflex or conditioned response involved.’(Long-Crowell, 2003) For example, ‘my friend with a phobia may intend to stay calm and collected when faced with their fear, but may end up having a panic attack instead.’(Long-Crowell, 2003) After this lecture, I have learnt that this theory explores the relationship between attitudes and behaviour. A person who have the intention to change is determined by attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. For example, a person who know about the negative effects are more willing to quit smoking.

The TPB (Ajzen, 1985; 1991) was developed following an extension of the socio psychological Theory of Reasoned Action or TRA (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) as a result of the original model’s limitations in dealing with behaviours over which people have incomplete volitional control. According to the theory, both attitude toward behaviour (Act) and subjective norms (SN) are immediate determinants of intention to perform behaviour. The TPB further proposes that intention to perform behaviour is the immediate cause of such behaviour. It represents motivational components, that is, the extent to which a person will exercise conscious effort in carrying out any intended behavioural actions.