Bridging the intention–behaviour gap: The role of moral norm

Abstract

This research examined whether intentions aligned with moral norms better predict behaviour compared with intentions aligned with attitudes. Six data sets predicting behaviours in the health domain (smoking, driving over speed limit, applying universal precautions, exercising) were analysed. Moderated regression analysis indicated that participants whose intentions were more aligned with their moral norm were more likely to perform behaviours compared with participants whose intentions were more aligned with their attitude. However, further analysis indicated that this moderation effect was only present when participants construed the behaviour in moral terms. The findings suggest that the theory of planned behaviour should more clearly acknowledge the importance of internalized norms and self-expectations in the development of one's motivation to adopt a given behaviour.

Engaging in Pro-Environment Travel Behaviour Research from a Psycho-Social Perspective: A Review of Behavioural Variables and Theories

“…This inconsistency between what people say and what people do is referred to as the attitude-behaviour gap [115,116] or the intention-behaviour gap [117,118], demonstrating the volatility of the concepts of attitude or intention. Mostly attributed to information deficit, which refers to the level of knowledge about behavioural consequences or, in a more tangible way, to the existence and to the characteristics of possible alternatives, such a gap poses a real problem for any policy maker.…”

Social-Psychological Factors in Public Support for Local Biodiversity Conservation

“…Problems of multicollinearity were checked for by calculating correlations between the predictors (Pearson's r), the variance inflation factors (VIFs), and the tolerances of the predictor variables (Landau and Everitt 2004). The analysis of alignment of intention followed the procedures suggested by Godin et al (2005). An aggregated measure of intention to support local biodiversity conservation was computed by adding the participants' scores for each one of the five biotopes.…”

“…The analysis yielded a separate factor of moral=altruistic concerns that was found to be particularly important to behavioral intention. Godin et al (2005) suggested that the impact of moral considerations may have been underestimated in previous research. These researchers showed that students whose intentions were aligned with-that is, had developed from-their PN were more likely to perform behavior that they construed in moral terms than students whose intentions were more aligned with their attitude.…”

“…PN is generally operationalized as a felt obligation to behave in a certain way, and is different from SN in the TRA because the sanctions attached to PN are tied to the self-concept, whereas sanctions tied to SN are anchored in a social group (Harland et al 1999). Since PN refers to the personal value system, it will be more difficult for the individual to act against it than against attitude, and thus it is likely to be a more reliable predictor, over time and situations, than attitude of intention and behavior (Manstead 2000;Godin et al 2005). Activation of PN occurs when one is aware of the consequences of one's behavior for others, or in the present context, nature, and at the same time ascribes at least some responsibility to oneself.…”

“…Behavioral intentions based on the individual's attitudes and norms seem to endure as compared to those elicited from external incitements (Gardner and Stern 2002). However the most reliable intention, in the sense that the intention to support local biodiversity conservation will last over time and situations, would be achieved if the intention was based on the PN (Manstead 2000;Godin et al 2005). …”