The Role of Behavioral Intentions in the Prediction of Behavior

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Abstract
Fishbein''s assertion that behavioral intensions are the immediate antecedents to behavior is tested through path analysis. A sample of New York State probation officers (N = 113) completed a questionnaire which included their sentence recommendations for a period of six months (behavior); their proposed recommendations for six standardized case studies (behavioral intentions); their attitudes toward probation and incarceration (attitudes toward the act); and their beliefs about what sentences their fellow officers, supervisor, judge, and the public would prefer (social normative beliefs). The direct explanatory power of each predictor was examined, and each contributed independently to the measure of behavior. Fishbein''s contentions that behavioral intentions mediate the effects of attitudes and normative beliefs was not borne out.

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