ENCOURAGING THE PRACTICE OF TESTICULAR SELF-EXAMINATION - A FIELD APPLICATION OF THE THEORY OF REASONED ACTION

Identified factors associated with testicular self-examination (TSE) within the context of the theory of reasoned action. Subjects (232 male college students) received instruction in TSE and completed a questionnaire operationalizing the components of the theoretical model. During the following 6 weeks, a field intervention was conducted in which approximately half the subjects were exposed to posters reminding them to perform the exam. Multiple-regression analyses revealed that intention to perform TSE correlated significantly with attitude and subjective norm and that consideration of self-efficacy and TSE knowledge improved the prediction of intention. Significant differences in outcome expectancies and normative beliefs were found between subjects who intended to perform the exam and those who did not. Intention was moderately (r = .30, p less than .001) correlated with behavior; the intention-behavior correlation, however, was stronger among subjects who intended to perform the exam and were exposed to the posters (r = .55, p less than .001).