Imagine being addicted to a substance or an activity and being unable to stop, no matter how hard you try. Imagine your addiction being the only thing you think about all day - from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Imagine how debilitating this would be, and the impact it would have. Addiction can be a consuming part of people's lives, and many theories have been proposed in an attempt to treat addiction. One such theory is the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), a development of the theory of reasoned action by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975).
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenImagine being addicted to a substance or an activity and being unable to stop, no matter how hard you try. Imagine your addiction being the only thing you think about all day - from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Imagine how debilitating this would be, and the impact it would have. Addiction can be a consuming part of people's lives, and many theories have been proposed in an attempt to treat addiction. One such theory is the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), a development of the theory of reasoned action by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975).
Fig. 1 - The theory of planned behaviour can be used to treat addiction.
Three key theories of behaviour change for addiction are the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behaviour and the transtheoretical model. Since they are all theories which assess how behaviours occur in the first place, they can be further used to derive interventions which can change these behaviours as well.
While these theories may differ in what they suggest, they all operate under the same assumption: intention precedes behaviour.
The addition of this factor led to the theory of reasoned action being adapted to the theory of planned behaviour. Let us understand what this theory suggests, and see how it can be applied when talking about addiction.
An extension to the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behaviour suggests that an individual's attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, are all factors that contribute to the likelihood of whether or not a specific behaviour will be carried out.
The theory of planned behaviour is a cognitive theory that states that in addition to attitudes and subjective norms, individuals must have personal, voluntary control over the behaviour they wish to engage in.
Applied to addiction, the theory of planned behaviour explains drug abstinence by referring to addicts' intention to give up their addictive behaviours, be that drug addiction or gambling.
Such intention arises from three key influences:
The theory of planned behaviour brings forward two constructs from the earlier version of its theory, i.e., the theory of reasoned action and adds a new one. These three are attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, and we will discuss each of these in relation to addiction.
An individual's attitude is how they judge the behaviour under question, in this case, addiction.
Attitude refers to the individual's judgement about whether or not their addiction is good, thereby helping them decide if they should carry it out.
This can be further divided into a positive attitude and a negative attitude. A positive attitude will mean that the individual thinks the behaviour is good, which will lead to an increased intention to continue in the behaviour, thereby resulting in that behaviour.
On the flip side, a negative attitude will mean that the individual thinks the behaviour is bad, which will lead to a decreased intention, thereby not resulting in that behaviour.
Imagine the behaviour under question is gambling. Now imagine someone has a positive attitude towards this behaviour. For them, they may consider gambling to be fun, which will increase their intention to continue gambling, and will ultimately result in them going to a casino.
Now imagine if they had a negative attitude towards this behaviour, and they may consider it to be unhealthy. In this case, they will have decreased intention to stop gambling, resulting in them not going to a casino.
Unfortunately, our attitudes do not solely contribute to our intention; if this were the case, then justifying whether or not we did something would be too easy. Attitudes tend to be affected by subjective norms.
Have you ever been in a situation where you don't want to do something, but you do it anyway because you think your friends and family want you to? This is where subjective norms come in.
Subjective norms refer to the individual’s beliefs about their social world; if they think the people important to them (e.g., their family and friends) will view the behaviour in a certain way, motivation to continue these behaviours is affected.
It is the perceived social consequences of engaging in a behaviour.
It is important to note here that subjective norms are not actually what other people think, rather, it is an individual's own perception of their thoughts - this could be true, but it could also not be. Let's understand this better with an example.
We already know that if the behaviour under question is gambling and we have a positive attitude towards it, we are likely to engage in the behaviour, because we will have the intention to.
However, with this attitude, if we believe that people close to us (friends/family/partner) think that gambling is harmful, then our intention towards this behaviour changes, and we are unlikely to go to a casino.
Now that we have understood attitude and subjective norms separately and seen how they can work together, let us look at perceived behavioural control to see how that contributes to the theory of planned behaviour.
Think about this: if you don't believe that you are capable of carrying out a certain behaviour, are you going to make an effort to try? Probably not, right? Welcome to perceived behavioural control.
Perceived behavioural control refers to the extent to which an individual believes they can personally control their behaviours.
Perceived behavioural control is affected directly or indirectly.
If you truly believe it is too hard to stop taking drugs, for instance, if the withdrawal symptoms are particularly devastating, your perceived personal control over your behaviour is low, and your intent to stop taking the drug is affected.
You might now be wondering how all three of these constructs come together to predict whether or not we will carry out a certain behaviour. Let's understand this with yet another example.
We've discussed how attitudes and subjective norms work together to result in the individual going to a casino. Now, let's look at perceived behavioural control. If someone believes they are capable of controlling how much they gamble, then, of course, they are likely to gamble.
However, if they believe that are not capable of controlling how much they gamble, then they are unlikely to gamble for fear of losing money.
Perceived behavioural control is further dependent on two additional factors, (a) internal factors, i.e., one's ability and determination towards a specific behaviour and (b) external factors, i.e., the resources and support available to the individual so that they can perform the behaviour.
When discussing gambling, internal factors could be things like 'I want to gamble' or 'gambling is fun', and external factors could be things like 'the casino is five minutes away' or 'everyone around me gambles'.
Additionally, there are two more ways perceived behavioural control can impact one's behaviour:
Thus, in addition to feeding intention for a specific behaviour, perceived behavioural control can also impact behaviour directly.
Fig. 2 - Perceived behavioural control was added as a third aspect to the original theory of reasoned action
As with any theory, the theory of planned behaviour comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses, which we will discuss in more detail below.
Let's explore the various strengths and weaknesses of the theory of planned behaviour.
A substantial amount of research into the theory of planned behaviour uses self-report techniques and is therefore liable to social desirability bias.
Social desirability bias is a type of response bias wherein individuals responding to a survey answer questions in a manner that will make them 'look good' in front of others, rather than being honest.
The emphasis on perception means that researchers have to ask addicts about their attitudes and perceptions. According to social desirability bias then, individuals may try to answer these questions in a manner that is viewed favourably by others, meaning that they are not being 100% truthful.
Due to the discrepancies evidenced by research, many psychologists now question whether the theory of planned behaviour is a model of behavioural change at all. It focuses on intention, which makes it challenging to create drug-related interventions that could connect this intention to behaviour.
Attitude refers to the individual's judgement about whether or not their addiction is good, thereby helping them decide if they should carry it out.
Subjective norms refer to the individual’s beliefs about their social world and the perceived social consequences of engaging in the behaviours.
Perceived behavioural control refers to the extent to which an individual believes they can control their addictive behaviour.
A drug addict may have the intention and a plan to give up their addiction because they know it causes them harm (personal attitudes), they know their family dislike it (subjective norms), and they think they have the control needed to overcome it.
When applied to addiction, it refers to a person’s intention to give up their addiction, which is influenced by personal attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control.
It can be used to explain addiction abstinence
According to Ajzen, it can if the individual has the intention of fulfilling that healthy behaviour.
There are positives and negatives of TPB, although it has research support, it is a limited explanation, has methodological problems and doesn’t explain addictive behaviour.
What does TPB stand for?
Theory of planned behaviour.
Who came up with the theory of planned behaviour?
Ajzen.
When did Ajzen come up with the theory of planned behaviour?
In 1985 and 1991.
What is the theory of planned behaviour?
It is a theory of behaviour which states that central to behaviour is intention. When applied to addiction, it refers to a person’s intention to give up their addiction, which is influenced by personal attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control.
Which of these Ajzen did NOT state influenced intention?
Perceived behavioural norms.
What are personal attitudes?
This refers to the addict’s attitude towards their addiction such as if they think their addiction is good or bad.
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