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Applied Psychology Summary
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Summary of 7 pages for the course Applied psychology at RuG
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Theory of Planned Behaviouroriginated from Theory of Reasoned Action:
• link between attitudes and behaviour
• positive evaluation (attitude) + recommendation to perform behaviour from others (subjective norm) higher
intention (motivation)
• attitudes and subjective norms: both high correlation to behavioural intention → subsequent behaviour
• however, behavioural intention does not always lead to actual behaviour → circumstantial limitations: behavioural
intentions are not the only factor, if the individual's control over a situation is incomplete
Added to Theory of Planned Behaviour:
• perceived behavioural control: originates from self-efficacy theory; expectations (motivation, performance and
feelings of frustration determine affect and behavioural reactions
• expectations:
→ self-efficacy: confidence one can successfully complete a task at hand/execute a given behaviour
→ outcome expectancy: person's estimation that a given behaviour will lead to a certain outcome
• self-efficacy most important precondition for behavioural change (initiation of coping behaviour)
• peoples' behaviour is strongly influenced by their self-efficacy
→ this way, non-volitional behaviours for predicting behavioural intention and actual behaviour are covered
• perceived behavioural control = self-efficacy
• evaluation of behaviour = attitudes toward behaviour → based on accessible beliefs about that behaviour
→ belief: subjective probability that the behaviour will produce a certain outcome
• subjective norms from
→ peer group
→ family
→ society
→ collectivistic culture-related variables
• human behaviour guided by
→ behavioural beliefs (produce favourable or unfavourable attitude toward the behaviour)
→ normative beliefs (result: subjective norm)
→ control beliefs (give rise to: perceived behavioural control)
• attitude + subjective norm + perceived behavioural control → behavioural intention
• perceived behavioural control does not only affect actual behaviour directly, but also indirectly through behavioural
intention
• the more favourable the attitude toward behaviour and subjective norm → the greater the perceived behavioural
control → the stronger the person's intentions
• sufficient degree of control → people expected to carry out the behaviour when the opportunity arises
• limitations: does not include emotional variables – threat, fear, mood, negative or positive feeling
• example: explains contradiction between sustainable attitudes and unsustainable behaviour – sustainable
behaviours widely promoted as positive behaviours; yet, perceived behavioural control can be low (e.g. lack of
recycling infrastructure, belief that own actions won't make a difference)
Key Terms and Concepts
Behavioural Beliefs and Attitude Toward Behaviour
Behavioural belief: individual's beliefs about the consequences of a given behaviour; based on subjective probability that
the behaviour will produce a particular outcome
Attitude toward behaviour: individual's positive or negative evaluation of self-performance; degree to which performance of
the behaviour is positively or negatively valued; determined by total set of accessible behavioural beliefs linking the
behaviour to different outcomes
Normative Beliefs and Subjective Norms
Normative belief: individual's perception about the particular behaviour; influenced by significant others
Subjective norm: individual's perception of social normative pressures; others' beliefs of whether or not the individual
should perform an action
Control Beliefs and Perceived Behavioural Control
Perceived behavioural control: perceived ease or difficulty of performing the particular behaviour; determined by total set
of accessible control beliefs
Control beliefs: beliefs about the presence of factors which may facilitate or impede performance of the behaviour (→
related to self-efficacy)
Behavioural Intention and Behaviour
Behavioural intention: readiness to perform a given behaviour; immediate antecedent of behaviour; based on attitude
toward the behaviour, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control (each predictor weighted for its importance)
Behaviour: individual's observable response in any given situation, to a given target; favourable intention produces the
behaviour only when perceived behavioural control is strong
Self-efficacy
• self-esteem in one very particular situation; person's belief in own competence
• self-efficacy beliefs: cognitions which determine whether a behaviour will be initiated, how much effort will be put
into it, and how long it will be sustained when faced with obstacles and failures
→ self-efficacy influences the effort one puts forth, and the persistence to continue striving
• personalised ideas of self-efficacy therefore affect social interactions
• major role in how one deals with goals, tasks, challenges
• centre of social cognitive theory (role of observational learning and social experience in the development of
personality) → individual's behaviour in almost every situation is based on what this individual has observed in
others before
• therefore, self-efficacy is developed from external experiences and self-perception
• influential in determining the outcomes of many events
• self-efficacy represents the personal perception of external factors
,• people with high self-efficacy are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to be mastered
• attribution theory: how people attribute the cause of an event and how those beliefs interact with internal
perceptions of themselves
→ Locus: determines the location of the cause
→ internal (dispositional; depending on the person)
→ external (situational)
→ Stability: whether the cause is static or dynamic over time
→ Controllability: control the person has over the cause; related to emotions such as anger, pity, gratitude, shame
• if success or failure is attributed to internal factors, success will lead to pride, increased self-efficacy; failure will
decrease self-esteem and negatively affect self-efficacy
• if one feels he has not done his best → guilt
• if one attributes one's own abilities to success → increase in self-efficacy
• failing at something we cannot control → shame or anger
•
• people with self-efficacy beyond their actual ability often over estimate their ability
• people with self-efficacy significantly lower than their ability: unlikely to grow and expand their skills
• optimum level: a little above actual ability → encourages people to tackle difficult tasks → gain valuable
experience
• people with high self-efficacy are more like to make an effort and persist longer in a task
→ the stronger the self-efficacy or mastery expectations, the more active the efforts
• on the other hand, low self-efficacy may provide an incentive to learn more about the subject → someone with
high self-efficacy may not prepare well enough for a task
• low self-efficacy may lead to belief that tasks are harder than they actually are → poor task-planning, increased
stress, erratic and unpredictable behaviour
• people with high self-efficacy tend to take a wider overview of the task → best route of action; encouraged by
obstacles to make greater effort
• person with high self-efficacy will attribute failure to external factors, whereas a person with low self-efficacy will
usually attribute it to low ability
• direct influence on health behaviour, but also an indirect one by influencing goals → influences the challenges
which people take on as well as how high they set their goals
• connection between self-efficacy and academic productivity: students with high self-efficacy showed boost in
academic performance compared to those with low self-efficacy; first usually took control over their own learning
experience, were more likely to participate in class and preferred hands-on learning experiences
• people with high self-efficacy are generally convinced that they are in control of their lives; that their own actions
and decisions shape their lives
• people with low self-efficacy may see their lives as somewhat out of their hands
Factors affecting self-efficacy
• Experience aka. Enactive Attainment
→ mastery experience = most important factor in deciding a person's self-efficacy (success raises self-efficacy,
failure lowers it)
• Modeling aka. Vicarious Experience
→ comparison between oneself and someone else; if people see somebody succeeding at something, their selfefficacy
will increase (people fail – observer's self-efficacy will decrease); more effective if the observer sees
himself as similar to the model
•
• Social Persuasions
→ encouragement/discouragement; positive persuasions → increase in self-efficacy, negative persuasions →
decrease in self-efficacy; usually easier to decrease someone's self-efficacy than to increase it
• Physiological Factors
→ unusual, stressful situations → physiological signs of distress; those with low self-efficacy may take this as a
sign of their own inability (→ decreasing self-efficacy even further); those with high self-efficacy are likely to
interpret such signs as normal, unrelated to his actual ability; → person's beliefs in the implications of their
physiological response can alter their self-efficacy (rather than the sheer power of the response itself)
• self-regulatory self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy have a negative correlation with moral disengagement
• social self-efficacy has a positive correlation with prosocial behaviour
• moral disengagement and prosocial behaviour have a negative relationship
• all three types are positively correlated
• having less self-efficacy for a subject may be helpful → negative attitudes towards how quickly/well one will learn
can prove of benefit (put more effort into it)
• over-efficaciousness negatively affects student motivation; negative beliefs increase motivation to study
• self-efficacy supposed to facilitate the forming of behavioural intentions, development of action plans, initiation of
action → applications in health behaviour change; assisting relapse prevention
• as a moderator, self-efficacy can support the translation of intentions into actions
• General Self-Efficacy: global confidence in one's coping abilities across a wide range of demanding or novel
situations
• Social Self-Efficacy: individual's confidence in his ability to engage in social interactional tasks necessary to
initiate and maintain interpersonal relationships
→ making friends
→ pursuing romantic relationships
→ social assertiveness
→ performance in public situations,
→ in groups or parties
, → giving and receiving help
→ closely related to shyness and social anxiety
• Academic Self-Efficacy: student's beliefs that he can successfully engage in and complete course-specific
academic tasks
• Teacher Self-Efficacy: one's perceived competence to deal with all demands and challenges implied in teacher's
professional life
• advantages of high versus low levels in certain social situations is not universally agreed upon as salient
• while self-efficacy usually can be accurately reported by an individual, it isn't able to predict actual social
interactions in many situations
• how important is self-efficacy to complex social situations?
Protection Motivation Theory
• people protected themselves based on four factors
→ perceived severity
→ perceived probability (of the occurrence), vulnerability
→ efficacy (of the recommended preventive behaviour; expectancy that recommended behaviour can remove the
treat)
→ perceived self-efficacy
• threat appraisal + coping appraisal
• threat appraisal: assessment of situation's severity
• coping appraisal: how person responds to the situation; consists of efficacy and self-efficacy
• people differ in
→ sensitivity
→ vulnerability to certain types of events
→ their interpretations and reactions
(Lazarus)
Threat-Appraisal Process
• severity + vulnerability of situation (+ rewards)
• severity: degree of harm from the (unhealthy) behaviour
• vulnerability: probability that one will experience this harm
• rewards: positive aspects of starting or continuing the (unhealthy) behaviour
• amount of threat experienced:
severity + vulnerability – rewards
• higher threat appraisals → negative arousal → coping → increased psychological symptomatology
Coping-Appraisal Process
• response efficacy + self-efficacy + response costs
• response efficacy: effectiveness of the recommended behaviour in removing or preventing the possible harm
• self-efficacy: belief that one can successfully enact the recommended behaviour
• response costs: costs associated with the recommended behaviour
• amount of coping ability:
response efficacy + self-efficacy – response costs
• coping appraisal:
sum of the appraisals of the responses efficacy + self – any physical or psychological “costs”
• relative emphasis on threat and coping appraisals may vary from topic to topic and with target population
• different styles of coping → specific health outcomes (e.g. control of anger → hypertension)
Social Cognitive Theory
• knowledge acquisition through observational learning (social interactions, experiences, outside media influences)
• if the individual is motivated to learn a particular behaviour, that behaviour would be acquired through direct/clear
observations
• imitation → realisation that the learned action would be rewarded (positive reinforcement)
• basic assumption: people learn by watching what other do and will not do → central to understanding personality
• acknowledge that the environment (and behaviour learned in this particular environment) plays a significant role in
moral development
• however, also believe that the individual person (and this individual's cognition) is just as important in moral
development
• three factors influencing development: environment, behaviour, cognition
→ not static or independent → all reciprocal
• each witnessed behaviour can change someone's cognition; the environment one is raised in may influence later
behaviour; parents' cognition will determine the environment in which a child is raised
• difference: moral competence vs. moral performance
• moral competence: ability to perform moral behaviour; growth of cognitive-sensory processes (awareness of what
is considered right and wrong); include
→ individual's capabilities
→ individual's knowledge
→ individual's skills
→ individual's awareness of moral rules and regulations
→ individual's cognitive ability to construct behaviours
• moral performance: execution of one's ideas of moral behaviour in a specific situation; influenced by incentives to
a certain way
• example study: Bandura – Bobo Boll Behaviour: A Study of Aggression
• observer may not expect actual rewards or punishments; rather anticipates similar outcomes to the imitated
behaviour
→ relies heavily on outcome expectancies
→ heavily influenced by the environment
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