ABSTRACT
Several deliberative models of decision making and social behavior including the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein, 1980), the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 2001), the model of goal-directed behavior (Perugini & Bagozzi, 2001) and protection-motivation theory (Rogers, 1983) as well as theories of goal striving (e.g. Emmons, 1996; Sheldon & Elliott, 1999) propose that the proximal determinant of a person’s behavior is his or her intention to act. Behavioral intention, according to each of these models, mediates the impact of prior variables on subsequent behavior. Indeed the genesis of the theory of reasoned action is attributable in large part to the assertion that the relationship of attitude (and subjective norm) to behavior is mediated by the formation of a behavioral intention. Similarly, protectionmotivation theory proposes intention as the important motivational construct mediating the effects of threat and coping appraisal processes on subsequent behavior. The model of goal-directed behavior also asserts that intention is the proximal cause of behavior, mediating the effects of behavioral desire and its antecedents (goal desire, positive and negative anticipated emotions, attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control). Both the model of goal-directed behavior and the theory of planned behavior posit that intentions are the proximal determinants of behavior but allow for the possibility that, in some circumstances, a person may not have complete control over behavior and therefore, be unable to act upon his or her intention. Thus, behavior in these models may be predicted from intention and perceived behavioral control. A fundamental issue for each of these theories must therefore be to consider how satisfactory is the theoretically causal relationship between intention and behavior.
