Theory of Planned Behavior

In daily life, many of our decisions, including environmental decisions, are deliberate and planned. In deciding whether to invest in a hybrid car, or to install energy-efficient equipment, we consider different aspects of the situation before coming to a decision.

To illustrate this deliberative process, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a very well-known theory that posits how attitudes predict deliberative behavior.

tpb1Source: biomedcentral.com

According to the TPB, when people have the opportunity to consider their behavior, their intention best predicts their behavior. Intention is preceded by three factors:

Specific attitudes. The TPB holds that only specific attitudes towards the behavior in question, and not general attitudes, can be expected to predict the behavior. In the context of people’s environmental attitudes, specify the type of environment attitude of interest.  For instance, if the focus is attitudes towards recycling, state it explicitly, and if possible, branch it further into different aspects of recycling, such as items, location, and so on.

Subjective norms. This refers to people’s beliefs about how people that are important in their lives will view the behavior in question. If important people are supportive and encourage the behavior, the behavior is more likely to be repeated.

Perceived behavioral control. This refers to people’s beliefs about the ease with which they can perform the behavior in question  The greater the perceived ease, the more likely people will form the intention to carry out the behavior, or even perform the behavior itself.

In a study that examined the preferences of U.S environmental managers’ pollution-reduction strategies, results showed that their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were positively correlated to their inclination to put in place pollution source reduction strategies, which in turn predicted actualization of such inclinations.

 

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