Question

can anyone summarize for me the below passage and to add for me some information that u get from the below passage

Thank You

Theory of Reasoned Action stresses the importance of attitudes and intentions in changing a behavior. According to this theory, the most important determinant of behavior is intention.23 Very few actions that produce a healthy outcome happen without ample knowledge and full intention to practice the healthy behavior. Two cognitive processes are at work to develop healthy behaviors: 1) belief about what significant others think, and 2) personal motivation to comply with those significant people. Other external variables that will influence attitudes and thus behaviors are internally processed within the context of significance. According to the Theory of Reasoned Action, people make rational decisions based on their knowledge, personal values and attitudes. Therefore, a person's intent to perform a certain action is the most immediate and relevant predictor of carrying out that action. Behavioral beliefs and normative beliefs are two kinds of beliefs that shape intentions.23 Behavioral beliefs are the attitudes held by the individual alone. A person forms attitudes based on relative risks, benefits, and possible outcomes. Therefore, personal knowledge and perception of personal health importance influence behavioral beliefs. Normative beliefs are those held by other people who influence the individual. If a certain behavior is expected or is the social norm, or is expected by someone of importance to the individual, those expectations will have a bearing on an individual's intentions and, therefore, affect his or her behavior. 23 Intentions will only predict behavior if they are stable and consistent.23 When faced with an unexpected obstacle, an individual might change his or her intentions and neglect to carry out the originally intended behavior. Another limitation of this theory is that intentions must be matched very closely to the behavior to have predictive power. Social norms and community expectations are powerful predictors of individual behavior, according to the Theory of Reasoned Action. When using this theory in a community intervention, the behavior of the collective community may be more easily predicted than that of the individual. Social norms do not change as readily as individual choices; therefore, social norms are more stable and provide strong normative beliefs to those in a close community. 23 The Theory of Reasoned Action helps explain an individual's perceptions of normal and expected behavior. The theory seems to be most successful in predicting behaviors that are completely within the individual's control and in which intentions remain stable, such as daily oral hygiene practices. Extraneous factors outside of the individual's control, such as fatigue or change of environment, may quickly change intentions and therefore change behavior and outcome. This theory has proven to be effective in influencing oral hygiene in young adults. The social expectations of the group had a strong influence on their oral hygiene behavior. 10,23 Applying this concept to patient education, a teenager may consistently practice oral hygiene at home, but a change in environment, such as moving to student housing at college, may change intentions and behavior. Fatigue associated with student life also might affect nightly oral health practices.

Answer 1

The above passage summarizies the theory of reasoned action it means the behaviour intent is created or caused by two factors our attitude (person's belief) and our subject norms (person's perception, what he considers important). This theory was developed by Fishbein and Ajzen. The Reasoned action predicts behvaioural intentions. This theory seperates behavioural intentions from behaviour. Hence Behaviour = Attitude + Subjective norms

The sttitudes are based upon beliefs and evaluations. Hence these are person's own beliefs as said above. Let us take eg of improving health hence person's own knowledge of nutrition, risk factors, his belief on excersizing dieting etc. Whereas there are other subjective norms also, these normative beleifs, beleifs that are held by society, that are practised by the society, which one practises. In this case it would normal lifestyle, such as getting up early and going to bed early, to eat home food as far as possible, to avoid junk food etc. All these factors also help individual in maintaining a fit lifestyle