Perceived behavioral control moderating effects in the theory of planned behavior: A meta-analysis.

According to the theory of planned behavior, individuals are more likely to act on their behavioral intentions, and report intentions aligned with their attitudes and subjective norm, when their perceived behavioral control (PBC) is high. We tested these predictions meta-analytically by estimating the moderating effect of PBC on the attitude-intention, subjective norm-intention, and the intention-behavior relations in studies applying the theory in the health behavior domain. METHOD: = 36) measured health behavior at follow-up. Data were analyzed using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Behavior type, scale score coverage, sample age, and publication states were included as moderators of model effects.

PBC moderated the intention-behavior relation but not the attitude-intention and subjective norm-intention relations. All moderation effects exhibited significant heterogeneity. Analysis of moderators indicated that the PBC moderation effects on intention varied according to scale score coverage but not by the other moderator variables tested.