Cognitive antecedents to
adolescent health risk: Discriminating between behavioral intention and
behavioral willingness
Frederick X. Gibbons, Meg
Gerrard, Judith A. Ouellette, Rebecca Burzette
(1998) Psychology and Health,
13, 319-339.
A model of adolescent health
risk behavior that is both cognitive and social-psychological in orientation is
described, and an aspect of the model is tested empirically. The model suggests
that health risk behaviors (e.g., smoking or dunk driving), especially among
adolescents, are not always intended or premeditated, but instead are often
reactions to risk-conducive circumstances. Because they are not entirely
premeditated, such behaviors are not accurately predicted by
"traditional" behavioral intention measures, but are predicted by a
central construct in the model labeled behavioral willingness. Results of two
studies indicate that both intention (expectation) and willingness measures
predict future risk behaviors, and do so independent of one another. Additional
analyses provide further evidence of discriminant validity between the two
constructs by indicating that they relate differently to perceptions of
personal vulnerability to the health risks associated with these behaviors.