Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior: A Theoretical Framework

The Theory of Planned Behavior was developed by Icek Ajzen in 1985 and has since undergone a series of revisions with the latest revision in 2011.  The Theory of Planned Behavior holds that all actions are a controlled by intentions (Ajzen, 1985).  This theory holds that the individual’s intention to perform or not to perform a particular behavior is prerequisite to any action.  This intention however, can be affected by time and other confounding factors, whether internal or external that dictates the individual’s willingness to carry out the intention.  Intentions are defined as the motivational factors that indicate the extent to which people are willing to go to perform a particular behavior, hence the stronger the intention to perform a behavior, the higher the likelihood that an individual will perform it (Ajzen, 1991). Several databases such as MEDLINE, PsychInfo, CINHAL, PubMed, and Googlescholar were utilized to come up with several articles about the Theory of Planned Behavior.  A comprehensive review and synthesis of the literature was conducted, which led to the submission of this abstract. This theory has been used as a theoretical framework for many studies and has been cited over 4550 times in the literature (Ajzen, 2011).  Some studies that have used this model include smoking cessation, weight loss, election results, and many more.  Many other researchers have tested the relationships and have found similar results such as 61% of the variance in intention being explained by attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, among other findings (Armitage & Conner, 2001).  Attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are influenced by the salient beliefs called behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs respectively (Ajzen, 2002).  This theory is applicable to relapse prevention among chemically dependency nurses in that increasing the intention to remain sober early in recovery can increase rates of sobriety and prevent relapse.  Domino et al. (2005) asserted that relapse usually happens within the first two years of rehabilitation, therefore increasing intention to remain sober early in the process, before external factors such as new information and perceived power begin to affect the intention.  My hypothesis therefore, is that increased self-efficacy, religiosity, and resilience activated early in the recovery of chemically dependent nurses would predict the intention to achieve and maintain sobriety, and ultimately the actual behavior of sobriety, thereby reducing relapse in this population.