Theory of reasoned action (TRA)
The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) is a psychological model developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen in 1980, aimed at understanding the relationship between attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. TRA posits that an individual's intention to engage in a behavior is influenced primarily by their attitudes toward the behavior and the subjective norms surrounding it. Attitudes are shaped by beliefs about the consequences of the behavior and how those consequences are evaluated, while subjective norms reflect perceived expectations from significant others and the motivation to comply with those expectations.
TRA is particularly relevant for studying voluntary behaviors, as it emphasizes that stronger intentions typically lead to greater likelihood of action. This theory has been applied across various domains, including public health, where it aids in promoting healthy behaviors, and social situations, such as understanding whistle-blowing in contexts like hazing in fraternities and sororities. Researchers have extended TRA to explore additional factors influencing behavior, including perceived behavioral control, making it a widely used framework for predicting and analyzing human behavior. By understanding the components that influence behavioral intention, TRA offers insights into encouraging positive actions and addressing social issues.
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Theory of reasoned action (TRA)
The theory of reasoned action (TRA), articulated by social psychologists Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen in 1980, is a psychological model that seeks to understand how individuals are persuaded to participate in a behavior or an activity. By studying the relation between attitudes and behaviors, psychologists have used the TRA to investigate deviant behavior and compulsions, to research how to promote healthy actions, and to better understand why individuals participate in and blow the whistle about misbehavior in social groups, such as hazing in fraternities and sororities.
Background
The TRA focuses on the connection between an individual’s intent and behavior. This only applies to voluntary behaviors because the intent must be to engage in a specific act. According to psychologists, the stronger an individual’s intention, the more likely they are to participate in a behavior. This is called "behavioral intention." While behavioral intention might not seem like a revolutionary idea, it is an important step in determining whether an individual’s actions were based on predetermined plans and intentions or occurred by chance or due to factors outside their control.
The TRA builds upon studies of behavior by trying to determine the role of persuasion as a step between intention and behavior. It attempts to study the connection between a specific intended and actual behavior. According to the TRA, two primary factors—attitudes and subjective norms—influence intention. Those attitudes derive from behavioral belief and evaluation, and the subjective norms originate in normative beliefs and motivation to comply. The behavioral beliefs are what the person believes the consequences or outcomes of the behavior will be, while their assessment of an anticipated outcome is the behavioral evaluation. "Normative beliefs" refers to the perceived behavioral expectation or moral judgment of others regarding the behavior, and "motivation to comply" describes how inclined the person is to follow what important others believe regarding the behavior.
Impact
Researchers can either apply the TRA broadly, or they can focus their analysis on a specific component of the theory. While some researchers have continued to use the TRA as originally proposed, others have created additional factors and subdivisions, including obligations, personal norms, and competing attitudes. For example, in 1985, Ajzen developed the theory of planned behavior by adding the factor of perceived behavioral control as a predictor of behavioral intention and subsequent behavior. Despite often being applied to situations involving choice among alternatives and achievement of goals, rather than just single behaviors, the TRA has been shown to be a highly predictive model for behavior.
The TRA has been applied to hazing rituals used by fraternities and sororities, among other situations. This particular topic is popular because educational institutions and researchers are interested in ways to prevent hazing and the harm that it causes to students. While many schools have banned hazing, it continues to occur and, in some cases, has resulted in student deaths. As such, schools are looking for new ways to prevent hazing from occurring. The TRA has been used to study when and why students might act as whistleblowers against hazing. Whistleblowing occurs when a member of a group reports illegal, unethical, or otherwise objectionable behavior among other group members. For example, if a sorority member knew that her group was planning to haze new members, she could act as a whistleblower and prevent the hazing from occurring. However, making the report could result in a lot of trouble for the whistleblower. She might be forced out of the sorority or made to feel so excluded that she decided to leave. Additionally, by revealing the hazing, the whistleblower might put herself at risk of punishment from the school if it became known that she had participated in previous hazing activities. Given these factors, colleges and universities want to know how to encourage students to speak up about hazing, despite the real and perceived risks of doing so.
Based on student survey data, communications researchers Brian Richardson, Zuoming Wang, and Camille Hall used the TRA to try to determine which attitudes and persuasive techniques can encourage more whistleblowing behavior. Richardson and his colleagues found that students are more inclined to make reports when they perceive the effects of hazing to be more harmful to participants. Thus, they consider the costs of reporting less in their decision-making. From this analysis, schools could develop strategies that emphasize the mental, emotional, and physical risks of hazing (based on the TRA’s concept of attitudes) while mitigating potential negative impacts of reporting (relating to subjective norms).
Researchers and policy analysts are using this same method of determining why individuals behave in specific ways in order to understand other problems and predict outcomes. The TRA has been used to understand public health issues ranging from sexual practices to sunscreen use to cyberbullying and to devise interventions that are more likely to be effective. TRA has also been increasingly incorporated into digital and online contexts through the analysis of behavior on social media. Scholarship has also integrated the TRA within the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA). Additionally, TRA has been integrated into emerging theories such as the Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit (TRGP). These advancements help researchers better understand the cognitive processes that influence human behavior.
Bibliography
Ajzen, Icek. "Martin Fishbein’s Legacy: The Reasoned Action Approach." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 640, no. 1, 2012, pp. 11–27.
Ajzen, Icek, and Martin Fishbein. "Attitudes and the Attitude-Behavior Relation: Reasoned and Automatic Processes." European Review of Social Psychology, vol. 11, no. 1, 2000, pp. 1–33.
Akbar, Heena, Debra Anderson, and Danielle Gallegos. "Predicting Intentions and Behaviours in Populations with or At-Risk of Diabetes: A Systematic Review." Preventive Medicine Reports, vol. 2, 2015, pp. 270–282.
Doane, Ashley N., Michelle L. Kelley, and Matthew R. Pearson. "Reducing Cyberbullying: A Theory of Reasoned Action‐Based Video Prevention Program for College Students." Aggressive Behavior, vol. 42, no. 2, 2016, pp. 136–146.
Fishbein, Martin, and Icek Ajzen. Predicting and Changing Behavior: The Reasoned Action Approach. Psychology Press, 2010.
“An Interview with Icek Ajzen and Arie Kruglanski on Their New Theory 'The Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit.'” Outlook, Winter 2019, www.sbm.org/publications/outlook/issues/winter-2019/interview-icek-ajzen-arie-kruglanski-theory-of-reasoned-goal-pursuit/full-article?utm‗source=chatgpt.com. Accessed 14 Jan. 2025.
Madden, Thomas J., Pamela Scholder Ellen, and Icek Ajzen. "A Comparison of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Reasoned Action." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 18, no. 1, 1992, pp. 3–9.
Richardson, Brian K., Zuoming Wang, and Camille A. Hall. "Blowing the Whistle against Greek Hazing: The Theory of Reasoned Action as a Framework for Reporting Intentions." Communication Studies, vol. 63, no. 2, 2012, pp. 172–193.
Sheppard, Blair H., Jon Hartwick, and Paul R. Warshaw. "The Theory of Reasoned Action: A Meta-Analysis of Past Research with Recommendations for Modifications and Future Research." Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 15, no. 3, 1988, pp. 325–343.