Introduction

Most behaviors in ones’ daily life are largely under volitional control. In other words, people can perform these behaviors if they want to, or decide not to, and it is all under their control. This chapter will address two questions: the gap between intentions and behavior, and what psychological factors bridge the intention-behavior gap. Throughout this chapter you will see how attitude influences behavior and how that behavior is also influenced by intention. Icek Ajzen is one of the founders of both the Theory of Reasoned Action and The Theory of Planned behavior. Icek Ajzen stresses the importance of perceived behavior control in affecting people’s attitude, behavior, and intention when it comes to their health. Perceived behavioral control refers to people’s perceptions of their ability to perform a given behavior. There are also external factors that limit behavior control goals. Your social life, the place you live, and the activities you do are all external factors that can limit attaining behavior goals. Ajzen believes that you can predict a person’s behavior through knowing their attitude about a behavior, subjective norms (external factors influencing behavior), and their perceived behavior control. When you combine all these factors together, you can predict the intentions of an individual.