An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to support provision communication behaviors across cultures

Hairong Feng, Purdue University

Abstract

To understand more about variations in social support across cultures, the current study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to three support provision behaviors of talking about emotions, giving advice, and distracting attention in the U.S. and China. Guided by the TPB, structural models of talking about emotions, giving advice, and distracting attention were built. The study (a) assesses and compares overall fit of the three models for Americans and Chinese, (b) examines how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control together predicted behavioral intentions of the three support provision behaviors for both Americans and Chinese, and (c) compares how Americans and Chinese were similar and different with regard to ratings of the TPB key components (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions) and strengths of associations between the three predictors (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) and intentions. 289 American college students and 227 Chinese college students participated in this research. Data were collected from self-reported questionnaires. Data analyses were conducted by employing various techniques, such as structural equation modeling, mix-model ANOVAs, and t-tests. Results indicate that (a) overall the three TPB models fitted almost equally for Americans and Chinese, (b) the TPB demonstrated mixed predictive power for intentions of support provision behaviors, and (c) there were broad similarities regarding ratings of the TPB components and strengths of associations between the three predictors and behavioral intentions between Americans and Chinese. And couched in these broad similarities, there also were some cultural differences with respect to ratings of the TPB components and strengths of associations between the three predictors and intentions between the two cultures. Implications and limitations of the study, as well as directions for future research were discussed by the end of this document.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Wilson, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Social research|Communication

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