When good intentions are not enough: Modeling postdecisional cognitive correlates of condom use

Measures of intention usually leave substantial proportions of the variance in behavior unexplained. It has been suggested that improved behavioral pr ediction could be achieved by identifying postdecisional cognitive processe s capable of distinguishing between intenders who do act and those do not a ct. Condom-related self-report measures of postdecisional cognitive process es were developed and tested in a cross-sectional questionnaire study invol ving 447 heterosexual students. A discriminant function composed of postdec isional measures was found to significantly distinguish between intenders w ho reported use and non-use and to correctly classify 80% of intenders. The results indicate that measures of the relative importance of competing int entions, prior planning of specific preparatory actions, and action-specifi c self-efficacy may enhance the prediction of condom use among intenders.