Does State Versus Action Orientation Moderate the Intention-Behavior Relationship? (original) (raw)

2003, Journal of Applied Social Psychology

According to Kuhl's (1 985) theory of action control, action-oriented individuals should be more likely to translate their intentions into action than state-oriented individuals. The present study considered the moderating role of state vs. action orientation on intentionbehavior relations across 30 behaviors. Respondents (N = 2 11) completed questionnaires assessing their intentions to perform each of the 30 behaviors and state vs. action orientation. Two weeks later, respondents completed a second questionnaire to assess performance of the 30 behaviors. Between-subjects and within-subjects analyses both failed to provide support for the moderating role of state vs. action orientation, although a more detailed analysis revealed that state-oriented individuals were more likely to act on their intentions in the case of behaviors that were under nonnative control. The results are discussed in relation to Kuhl's theory of action control and the need to focus on a range of volitional processes when addressing the intention-behavior gap. The theory of reasoned action (TRA; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) has been used extensively to predict intentions and behavior. According to Ajzen and Fishbein, the proximal determinant of behavior is the person's intention to perform the behavior (e.g., "I intend to go to the gym next week"). This construct represents a person's motivation to perform the behavior, and those with strong intentions are likely to expend more effort to enact their intention. Intention, in turn, is determined by two constructs; first, the person's attitude toward the behavior, which refers to the person's evaluation of performing the behavior (e.g., "My going to the gym next week would be good/bad"), and second, subjective norm, which refers to the perceived social pressure to perform or not perform the behavior (e.g., "People who are important to me think I should/should not go to the gym next week"). The relative weights attached to these two constructs are likely to