Predicting adolescent pedestrians' road-crossing intentions: An application and extension of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Abstract

The present paper reports an application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to the prediction of road-crossing intentions among adolescents. In addition, the sufficiency of the TPB was assessed by examining the additional predictive utility of moral norms, anticipated affect and self-identity. A sample of 1833 adolescents completed a questionnaire containing a scenario depicting a potentially hazardous road-crossing behaviour, followed by items measuring the TPB constructs, moral norms, anticipated affect and self-identity. Regression analyses revealed that the TPB was able to explain 25% of the variance in road-crossing intentions, over and above the influence of age and gender, with perceived behavioural control emerging as the strongest predictor. The additional variables were found to increase the predictive utility of the TPB. The results have a number of theoretical and practical implications. In particular, interventions should focus on perceptions of control in order to encourage safer road-crossing behaviour among adolescents.