Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior

Theories in the reasoned action tradition, that is, the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behavior, the integrative model of behavioral prediction, and its latest version, the reasoned action approach to explaining and changing behavior, identify a small set of variables that together offer a good explanation of any given behavior. According to the theory, behavior ultimately is a function of highly specific beliefs that people have about the behavior. These beliefs about the behavior form the basis of more general attitudinal, normative, and control perceptions, which in turn shape people's intention to engage in the behavior. People act on their intentions when they have the skills needed to perform the behavior and when factors in people's environment facilitate rather than hinder behavioral performance. The theory is a tool for identifying which of a potentially large set of beliefs have the strongest impact on whether people will or will not perform a behavior. This smaller set of beliefs is the basis for interventions, based on the notion that a positive change in beliefs that shape behavior is most likely to produce a change in intention and behavior. Despite the theory's significant potential for illuminating belief-based processes that underlie communication effects on behavior change, only very few reasoned action and planned behavior studies in health communication measure beliefs and/or behavior. Instead, research in health communication predominantly examines only the attitudinal, normative, control, and intention variables that mediate effects of communication-induced beliefs on behavior.