Correlates of COVID-19 vaccination intentions: Attitudes, institutional trust, fear, conspiracy beliefs, and vaccine skepticism.

Successful campaigns to combat the COVID-19 pandemic depend, in part, on people's willingness to be vaccinated. It is therefore critical to understand the factors that determine people's vaccination intentions. We applied a reasoned action approach - the theory of planned behavior - to explore these factors. We used data from an online survey of adults (18-74 years; n = 5044) conducted in Germany between April 9 and April 28, 2021 and found that attitudes toward getting vaccinated predicted vaccination intentions, while normative and control beliefs did not. In turn, positive attitudes toward getting vaccinated were supported by trust in science and fear of COVID-19 whereas negative attitudes were associated with acceptance of conspiracy theories and skepticism regarding vaccines in general. We advise policymakers, physicians, and health care providers to address vaccination hesitancy by emphasizing factors that support positive attitudes toward getting vaccinated, such as prevention of serious illness, death, and long-term health detriments, as opposed to exerting social pressure or pointing to the ease of getting vaccinated.

Perceived behavioral control moderating effects in the theory of planned behavior: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: According to the theory of planned behavior, individuals are more likely to act on their behavioral intentions, and report intentions aligned with their attitudes and subjective norm, when their perceived behavioral control (PBC) is high. We tested these predictions meta-analytically by estimating the moderating effect of PBC on the attitude-intention, subjective norm-intention, and the intention-behavior relations in studies applying the theory in the health behavior domain. METHOD: We conducted a preregistered secondary analysis of studies (k = 39, total N = 13,121) from two programs of research. Each study measured participants' attitude, subjective norms, PBC, and intentions in relation to health behaviors, and most (k = 36) measured health behavior at follow-up. Data were analyzed using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Behavior type, scale score coverage, sample age, and publication states were included as moderators of model effects. RESULTS: PBC moderated the intention-behavior relation but not the attitude-intention and subjective norm-intention relations. All moderation effects exhibited significant heterogeneity. Analysis of moderators indicated that the PBC moderation effects on intention varied according to scale score coverage but not by the other moderator variables tested. CONCLUSIONS: Results support moderation of the intention-behavior relation by PBC in health behaviors. However, substantial unresolved heterogeneity in the effect across studies remained. Further, these effects may not generalize to other populations and moderator analyses were confined to broad categories. More research that tests these moderation effects in health behavior contexts and reports sufficient data necessary for conducting a meta-analysis is needed to enable moderator analyses with greater fidelity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding employers' hiring intentions in relation to qualified workers with disabilities: preliminary findings.

INTRODUCTION: As part of the planning process for a larger survey study to examine factors affecting employers' intention to hire and hiring of people with disabilities, a series of three semi-structured focus groups were held with key hiring decision makers, such as Human Resources directors, Chief Operating Officers (COOs), or Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of small, medium, and large Seattle area companies. AIM: The chief goals of the focus groups were to elicit and refine the participants' beliefs, normative influences, and perceived control relative to hiring workers with disabilities. METHOD: Narrative data obtained from the focus group discussion were examined using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to identify themes expressed by the focus group participants within the context of company size. RESULTS: Themes did vary by company size, but a prevailing concern across all companies related to questions about the efficiency/effectiveness of contact with vocational rehabilitation agencies. For both small- and mid-sized companies, there was a belief that people with disabilities could not do the work or were somehow less qualified. For large companies, convincing departmental and team managers that outreaching workers with disabilities would be a worthwhile hiring practice remained a challenge. CONCLUSION: The themes derived from this study can be used to help occupational rehabilitation professionals develop educational and marketing interventions to improve employers' attitudes toward hiring and retaining individuals with disabilities.

Control Interactions in the Theory of Planned Behavior: Rethinking the Role of Subjective Norm.

Research with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) has typically treated attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) as independent predictors of intention (INT). However, theoretically, PBC moderates the effects of ATT and SN on intention. In three studies dealing with different behaviors (voting, reducing household waste, and energy consumption) we show that greater PBC tends to strengthen the relative importance of ATT in the prediction of intention, whereas it tends to weaken the relative importance of SN. The latter pattern was observed in relation to injunctive as well as descriptive subjective norms, and it may help explain the relatively weak relation between SN and INT frequently observed in TPB studies.

Understanding Support for European Integration Across Generations: A Study Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Recent events, such as failed constitutional referenda, low voting turnout in the European Union parliamentary elections, and the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom call for a better understanding of people's voting behavior in relation to the EU. The current study is the first attempt to use the theory of planned behavior to explore the antecedents of voting for EU integration in an Italian convenience sample (N = 441) of varying age. A structural equation model of voting intentions showed an excellent fit to the data, both for the whole sample and for subsamples of young vs. old participants. Perceived behavioral control, mainly determined by participants' beliefs about the difficulties of exerting direct democratic control through citizenship and voting, had a significant effect on intentions to vote in favor of EU integration across age groups. In addition, older people's intentions were also affected by their attitude towards EU integration, based primarily on their beliefs about losing national identity.

The Theory of Planned Behavior: Selected Recent Advances and Applications.

This editorial gives a brief introduction to the articles included in the thematic section of Europe's Journal of Psychology, which is devoted to selected recent advances and applications of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The five contributions address two thematic streams: (1) adjustments and extensions of the original theory and (2) applications of the TPB in public health and the political sciences.

Reasoned action in the service of goal pursuit.

The theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991, 2012), used widely for the prediction and modification of human actions, is behavior centered. According to the TPB, behavioral intentions, the immediate precursors of behavior, are determined by attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm with respect to the behavior, and perceived control over the behavior. In contrast, goal systems theory (GST; Kruglanski et al., 2002) is goal centered. It assumes that behavior typically serves as a means to an individual's goals. To extend the TPB's range of application and augment its explanatory and predictive power, we integrate these two theoretical perspectives in a proposed theory of reasoned goal pursuit. We conclude that the formation of a behavioral intention is determined by motivation to perform a behavior in light of alternative options and in the context of the individual's currently active goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Women's Decisions to Stay in or Leave an Abusive Relationship: Results From a Longitudinal Study in Bolivia.

This study examined Bolivian women's decisions to stay with or leave their violent partners. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used as the theoretical framework. One hundred thirty-four women were assessed 3 times over 6 months. The TPB constructs were measured at T1 and T2; relationship status was assessed at T3. At T2, attitudes about staying and leaving predicted the intention to leave. Intention to leave at T2 but not at T1 predicted relationship status at T3. These results suggest that the decision to leave was consolidated between T1 and T2, and attitudes toward staying were most relevant to this decision.

An assessment of beliefs about mental health care among veterans who served in Iraq.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed beliefs about mental health treatment in a group of soldiers newly returning from the war in Iraq. METHODS: Participants were 20 National Guard soldiers who had served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soldiers who in phone interviews screened positive for a mental disorder were asked about advantages and disadvantages of seeking treatment, who would or would not support treatment seeking, and facilitators and barriers to treatment seeking. RESULTS: Stigma was portrayed as a major disadvantage to treatment seeking. Yet most participants indicated that people would be supportive of treatment seeking. Reducing symptoms was a major advantage of care. Barriers, especially those viewed as "self-induced," such as pride, not being able to ask for help, and not being able to admit to having a problem, were considered major impediments. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that interventions developed to engage veterans in care must be directed toward cognitive factors that motivate treatment seeking.

Theory-based behavior change interventions: comments on Hobbis and Sutton.

Hobbis and Sutton (this issue) suggest that Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) techniques can be used in interventions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Although this suggestion has merit, CBT is only one of many applicable methods for producing belief and behavior change. Moreover, CBT's primary purpose is to help people carry out intended behaviors, not to influence intentions, and that it is more useful in face-to-face than in community-level interventions. Contrary to Hobbis and Sutton's critique, TPB can accommodate core beliefs or fundamental assumptions, but the theory suggests that interventions targeted at such beliefs are less effective than interventions targeted at behavior specific beliefs.

Questions raised by a reasoned action approach: comment on Ogden (2003).

In her critique of social cognition or reasoned action models, J. Ogden (see record 2003-05896-016) claimed that such models are not falsifiable and thus cannot be tested, that the postulated relations among model components are true by definition, and that questionnaires used to test the models may create rather than assess cognitions and thus influence later behavior. The authors of this comment challenge all 3 arguments and contend that the findings Ogden regarded as requiring rejection of the models are, in fact, consistent with them, that there is good evidence for the validity of measures used to assess the models' major constructs, and that the effect of completing a questionnaire on cognitions and subsequent behavior is an empirical question.

Explaining the discrepancy between intentions and actions: the case of hypothetical bias in contingent valuation.

An experiment was designed to account for intention-behavior discrepancies by applying the theory of planned behavior to contingent valuation. College students (N = 160) voted in hypothetical and real payment referenda to contribute $8 to a scholarship fund. Overestimates of willingness to pay in the hypothetical referendum could not be attributed to moderately favorable latent dispositions. Instead, this hypothetical bias was explained by activation of more favorable beliefs and attitudes in the context of a hypothetical rather than a real referendum. A corrective entreaty was found to eliminate this bias by bringing beliefs, attitudes, and intentions in line with those in the real payment situation. As a result, the theory of planned behavior produced more accurate prediction of real payment when participants were exposed to the corrective entreaty.

Predicting substance abuse treatment completion using a new scale based on the theory of planned behavior.

We examined whether a 9-item scale based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) predicted substance abuse treatment completion. Data were collected at a public, outpatient program among clients initiating treatment (N=200). Baseline surveys included measures of treatment-related attitudes, norms, perceived control, and intention; discharge status was collected from program records. As expected, TPB attitude and control components independently predicted intention (model R-squared=.56), and intention was positively associated with treatment completion even including clinical and demographic covariates (model R-squared=.24). TPB components were generally associated with the alternative readiness scales as expected, and the TPB remained predictive at higher levels of coercion. Meanwhile, none of the standard measures of readiness (e.g., the URICA and TREAT) or treatment coercion were positively associated with treatment participation. Results suggest promise for application of the TPB to treatment completion and support use of the intention component as a screener, though some refinements are suggested.

The theory of planned behaviour: reactions and reflections.

The seven articles in this issue, and the accompanying meta-analysis in Health Psychology Review [McEachan, R.R.C., Conner, M., Taylor, N., & Lawton, R.J. (2011). Prospective prediction of health-related behaviors with the theory of planned behavior: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5, 97-144], illustrate the wide application of the theory of planned behaviour [Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211] in the health domain. In this editorial, Ajzen reflects on some of the issues raised by the different authors. Among the topics addressed are the nature of intentions and the limits of predictive validity; rationality, affect and emotions; past behaviour and habit; the prototype/willingness model; and the role of such background factors as the big five personality traits and social comparison tendency.

Engagement in mental health treatment among veterans returning from Iraq.

OBJECTIVES: Many veterans return from combat experiencing a variety of mental health concerns. Previous research has documented a stigma associated with seeking treatment that interferes with the decision to seek treatment. This study, conceptualized using the theory of planned behavior, assessed beliefs about mental health treatment in order to understand mental health treatment seeking behavior among a group of returning National Guard soldiers who served in the war in Iraq. METHODS: Participants were one hundred and fifty Operation Iraqi Freedom National Guard soldiers who screened positive for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder or alcohol abuse disorder on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing beliefs about mental health treatment and treatment-seeking behavior. RESULTS: Beliefs related to symptom reduction and work were significantly related to mental health treatment-seeking behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions developed to engage veterans into care must be directed toward cognitive factors that motivate treatment seeking in addition to traditionally targeted structural barriers.