SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY AS A FRAMEWORK TO EXPLAIN INTENTIONS TO PRACTICE HEALTHY EATING BEHAVIORS

Our focus in this study was the observed gap between informed awareness and the intention to act. We used elements of social cognitive theory to develop a theoretical model of six psychosocial factors hypothesized to influence the intention to adopt healthy eating behaviors. Survey data from 490 white-collar employees were analyzed using a Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) program and a stacked model. The overall fit of the model to one half of the data was excellent, chi2 (6, 237) = 3.79, p = 71, and the model was successfully replicated with the second half of the data chi2 (28, 249) = 28.68, p = .43. Our model suggests that self-efficacy expectations (a) partially depend on the perceived likelihood of an outcome; (b) act as a conduit for the effects of media, disincentives, and outcome expectancy; and (c) have powerful direct influences on intentions. As expected, outcome expectancy adds little to the prediction of intentions.