Authors
Marwin HM Snippe, Gjalt-Jorn Peters, Gerjo Kok
Publication date
2023/6
Publisher
PsyArXiv
Description
Self-identity was proposed as an extension of the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) and the Theory of Planned Behavior. The authors of the RAA rejected this, because self-identity’s conceptual independence from the three conventional determinants was insufficiently established. Recently, a systematic review on self-identity proposed a new definition and formulation of self-identity items. We assessed whether these items are applicable to multiple health behaviors, in samples from two countries, and assessed self-identity’s conceptual independence while addressing previous studies’ limitations. Participants in six samples (condom use, exercising and drinking alcohol, in America and India, N= 643) completed self-report questionnaires. We operationalized conceptual independence using statistics from explorative factor analysis and correlation coefficients, and assessed the conceptual independence of self-identity, attitude, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control. Results suggested that self-identity was not clearly conceptually independent when compared to the conceptual independence suggested by the original RAA determinants relative to each other. This relative conceptual dependence of the RAA determinants prompted us to revisit the justifications accompanying prior additions of determinants. Using a similar justification, we conclude that self-identity is conceptually independent and propose a self-identity scale that is applicable to a broad range of behaviors, in various cultural contexts.
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