Attitudes and theTheory of Planned

BehaviourApplied to Leisure

2106HSL Psychology of Well-being and Recreation

Is this an attitude?

Attitudes

• A cognition/thought with some aversion or attraction (emotional valence)

• Reflect classification and evaluation of stimulus

• Hypothetical constructs (i.e., inferred but not objectively observable)

• Manifest in experience, speech, behaviour, and physiological indicators.

(Vaughn & Hogg, 2008)

An attitude is basically an evaluative judgement about a stimulus object (a thing, concept, behaviour, etc.).

(Maio & Haddock, 2009)

Attitudes and Behaviour

• The degree to which a person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation or appraisal of the behaviour in question. Attitudes can vary across person and situation. (Ajzen, 1991)

• Attitudes are implicated in human behavior, and have an impact on specific behaviour indirectly by influencing some of the factors implicated in behaviour. (Ajzen, 1991)

• Attitudes are a function of salient behavioral beliefs, which represent perceived outcomes/attributes of the behaviour.  (Conner & Armitage, 2006)

 EXAMPLES: Would you see Lady Gaga in concert based on your attitude?

Why Attitudes Matter

Individuals• participation• brand loyalty• consumer buying

behaviour

Managers of Leisure• human resources• improved product/service• marketing and research

Psychologists• treatment of clinical illness• occupational psychology

In 2004, $1.45 billion was spent on political advertising.

        (TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, 2004)

Why Attitudes Matter

EXAMPLE: Australia's FIFA World Cup 2022 bid• Aussie attitudes to

soccero it's not cricket! Other

sports have priority• FIFA's attitudes of

Australiao need to reflect value of

"the world game"o international relations and

politics

"Hours of effort were put into ensuring Australia put forward a technically excellent, credible and responsible bid against enormous competition." 

- PM Julia Gillard (Herald Sun, 2010)

ASSUMPTION: Attitudes are an antecedent of various leisure behaviours we may end up doing.

(Ajzen & Driver, 1992).  As little is known about the antecedents of leisure behaviour, there is a need for the development and use of better methods by applying general theory and methods of psychology in an effort to improve our prediction and understanding of leisure behaviour. 

 

Attitudes and Behaviour

When we want to relate attitudes to a domain (eg. leisure) we need an appropriate explanatory structure.

This is where models combine both a central focus on attitudes with factors that are also consistently related to behaviour in the domain in question (eg. leisure).

THUS WE BRING YOU…

Domains and Models

THE THEORY OF PLANNED

BEHAVIOUR(Ajzen, 1991)

AttitudeThe individual's attitude towards a specific behaviour. Depends on:• Expectancy (belief strength)• Value (evaluation)

EXAMPLE: Running is a highly reliable method of getting fit (expectancy). The evaluation of running is that it is an enjoyable thing to do (value)

The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Behaviour

Behaviour

Attitude

NormsAn individual's belief about how significant others view the behaviour.• Normative beliefs (how you think people important to you expect you to act)• Motivation (how willing you are to comply with these beliefs)

EXAMPLE: A son thinks his mum wants him to get fit (normative beliefs) and he always does what his mummy says (motivation).

The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Behaviour

Attitude

Norms

Perceived BehaviouralControl

EXAMPLE: I'm fit (resources), and there's a track down the road from home (opportunity).

The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Individual’s perceptions about whether they possess the resources or opportunities to perform the behavior

The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Attitude

Norms

Perceived BehaviouralControl

Intention BehaviourInternal declaration to act.General attitude --> Specific behaviourSpecific attude <-- General behaviourBut both poorly predict behaviour

The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Intention BehaviourThe actual observable thing that you do (ie. behaviour).

EXAMPLE: Right now, I am running.

Attitude

Norms

Perceived BehaviouralControl

The Theory of Planned Behaviour, (Ajzen, 1991)

Effectiveness of the TPB

• The TPB is held to be a complete theory of behaviour.

• Meta-analyses have provided strong support for the predictive validity of the theory in terms of the percentage of variance explained in behaviour and intention.

• That is,  it's good at predicting behaviour.(Conner & Armitage, 2006).

• Ajzen and Driver (1992) looked at:o Boatingo Beachingo Runningo Climbingo Biking

• The three major factors (attitudes, norms, PBC) each contributed to the prediction of intention to engage in these recreational activities.

• From intentions, behaviour also followed in the leisure activities.

• In statistic speak, the prediction of behaviour showed a moderate effect size, which for psychology, is pretty good.

Evidence for Leisure

Intention Behaviour(No better predicted)

Attitude

Norms

Perceived Behavioural Control

Habits(Accounted for by)

So, if this is a complete model of behaviour, adding more factors should not better predict behaviour (Maio & Haddock, 2009).

Additional Factors

Moderators (Maio & Haddock, 2009) 

Moderators can cause a different effect in a relationship between 2 variables.

EXAMPLE:Habits

Attitudes

Norms Intention Behaviour

PBC

Moderators

Even though the current four predictors of behaviour in the model have been proven as reliable, there may still be other variables which affect the behavioural outcome.Aside from attitudes, all the current components of the TPB started out as moderators before established as reliable predictors.This model is not a complete predictor of behaviour in itself; specific behaviours cannot be reliably predicted every time.

THERE MAY BE SOME VARIATION!

Criticisms

• Habits aren't rational. (Vaughan & Hogg, 2008)

• The majority of research on the TPB employs self-report measures, which may be biased or confounded by social desirability (Conner & Armitage, 2006).

• Evidence supporting the causal aspect of the model is weak and in need of further demonstration  (Conner & Armitage, 2006).

What do we DO with this model?• Find a market using the model

ie. Tapping into a population where the model will already fit, and integrating a leisure service to suit.

OR....

• Change the market to fit the modelie. Within a given population, manipulate the factors within the model (eg. encourage pro-recreational norms) to increase the likelihood that people will participate in the leisure service provided.

Recreation Determinants and Constraints

In light of John's profound insights into the nature of facilitating/inhibiting recreation...  Revisiting our ASSUMPTION that attitudes are an antecedent of various leisure behaviours we may end up doing... A model such as the TPB potentially provides explanations and opportunities that can fit into existing models of recreation determinants and constraints.

            Antecedent               Intervening             Constraints                Constraints 

                  TPB • Fills out explanations• Provides predictions

 

        Recreation                                                 Recreation         Preferences                                               Participation Which means: You smart business people who can integrate and apply these two models stand to make a lot more money than psychology students!

The TPB + The Model of Recreation Constraints

ReferencesAustralian World Cup Bid Dumped in First Round.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/australian-world-cup-bid-dumped-in-first-round/story-fn75ie93-1225964889778 3 December; accessed 13 April 2011.

Azjen. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour; Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, (50), 179-211.

Azjen & Driver. (1992). Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour to leisure choice. Journal of Leisure Research, (24)3, 207-224.

Conner, M., & Armitage, C.J. (2006). Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior: A review and avenues for further research. Journal of Applied Psychology, (28)15, 1429-1464.

Maio, G., & Haddock, G. (2009). The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change. London: SAGE Publications.

U.S. Political Advertising Spending Reaches $1.45 Billion. http://www.tnsmi-cmr.com/news/2004/110104.html — 1 November; accessed 13 April 2011.

Vaughan, G., & Hogg, M. (2008). Introduction to Social Psychology (5th Ed.). New South Wales: Pearson Education Australia.

Verplankan, B. (2006). Beyond frequency: Habit as mental construct. British Journal of Social Psychology, (45), 639-656.

Verplankan, B. & Orbell, S. (2003). Reflection on past behaviour: A self-report index of habit strength. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, (33), 1313-1330.