TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of changing attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy on health-related intentions and behavior
T2 - A meta-analysis
AU - Sheeran, Paschal
AU - Maki, Alexander
AU - Montanaro, Erika
AU - Avishai-Yitshak, Aya
AU - Bryan, Angela
AU - Klein, William M.P.
AU - Miles, Eleanor
AU - Rothman, Alexander J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Objective: Several health behavior theories converge on the hypothesis that attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy are important determinants of intentions and behavior. However, inferences regarding the relation between these cognitions and intention or behavior rest largely on correlational data that preclude causal inferences. To determine whether changing attitudes, norms, or self-efficacy leads to changes in intentions and behavior, investigators need to randomly assign participants to a treatment that significantly increases the respective cognition relative to a control condition, and test for differences in subsequent intentions or behavior. The present review analyzed findings from 204 experimental tests that met these criteria. Method: Studies were located using computerized searches and informal sources and meta-analyzed using STATA Version 11. Results: Experimentally induced changes in attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy all led to medium-sized changes in intention (d+ = .48, .49, and .51, respectively), and engendered small to medium-sized changes in behavior (attitudes-d+ = .38, norms-d+ = .36, selfefficacy- d+ = .47). These effect sizes generally were not qualified by the moderator variables examined (e.g., study quality, theoretical basis of the intervention, methodological characteristics, and features of the targeted behavior), although effects were larger for interventions designed to increase (vs. decrease) behavioral performance. Conclusion: The present review lends novel, experimental support for key predictions from health behavior theories, and demonstrates that interventions that modify attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy are effective in promoting health behavior change.
AB - Objective: Several health behavior theories converge on the hypothesis that attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy are important determinants of intentions and behavior. However, inferences regarding the relation between these cognitions and intention or behavior rest largely on correlational data that preclude causal inferences. To determine whether changing attitudes, norms, or self-efficacy leads to changes in intentions and behavior, investigators need to randomly assign participants to a treatment that significantly increases the respective cognition relative to a control condition, and test for differences in subsequent intentions or behavior. The present review analyzed findings from 204 experimental tests that met these criteria. Method: Studies were located using computerized searches and informal sources and meta-analyzed using STATA Version 11. Results: Experimentally induced changes in attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy all led to medium-sized changes in intention (d+ = .48, .49, and .51, respectively), and engendered small to medium-sized changes in behavior (attitudes-d+ = .38, norms-d+ = .36, selfefficacy- d+ = .47). These effect sizes generally were not qualified by the moderator variables examined (e.g., study quality, theoretical basis of the intervention, methodological characteristics, and features of the targeted behavior), although effects were larger for interventions designed to increase (vs. decrease) behavioral performance. Conclusion: The present review lends novel, experimental support for key predictions from health behavior theories, and demonstrates that interventions that modify attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy are effective in promoting health behavior change.
KW - Attitude
KW - Health behavior
KW - Interventions
KW - Norm
KW - Self-efficacy
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U2 - 10.1037/hea0000387
DO - 10.1037/hea0000387
M3 - Article
C2 - 27280365
AN - SCOPUS:84973438888
SN - 0278-6133
VL - 35
SP - 1178
EP - 1188
JO - Health Psychology
JF - Health Psychology
IS - 11
ER -