A COMPARISON OF LEADING THEORIES FOR THE PREDICTION OF GOAL-DIRECTED BEHAVIORS

A number of attitude theories have been proposed recently to explain b ehaviours subject to thwarting by internal and external impediments. T he present research compares the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behaviour, a portion of the theory of self-regulation, and the theory of trying and performs tests of their ability to predict t wo actions relatively low in perceived behavioural control: exercising and dieting. Respondents were 142 students who participated in a two- wave survey over a two-week period. The results indicate that, while a ttitudes significantly predicted intentions in ail theories, subjectiv e norms lead to intentions only under the theory of trying. Further, t he effects of past behaviour were not channelled entirely through atti tudes, subjective norms, or perceived behavioural control but rather h ad direct effects on intentions and subsequent behaviour. When past be haviour was taken into account, it was found that the performance of t he target acts were not functions of intentions, and perceived behavio ural control failed to predict either intentions or behaviour. Desires had strong direct effects on intentions and mediated most of the impa ct of attitudes. A number of theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.