Anticipated emotions and personal experience for predicting behavioral intentions and behavioral expectations

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Health Behavior

Background:

• The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a key framework for understanding behavioral intention and expectation.
• Personal experience and anticipated emotions are crucial factors influencing risk-taking behaviors.
• Previous research has not fully explored the interplay between personal experience and anticipated emotions in predicting behavioral outcomes within the TPB.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how anticipated emotions interact with personal experience to enhance TPB predictions for behavioral intention (BI) and behavioral expectation (BE).
• To examine these interactions in the context of specific risk behaviors: unprotected sex and excessive drinking.
• To determine if the predictive power of anticipated emotions differs based on an individual's level of personal experience.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted, focusing on sexual risk behavior (Study 1) and excessive drinking (Study 2).
• Participants' anticipated emotional profiles (AEPs) and personal experience levels were assessed.
• The predictive accuracy of the TPB model was compared with and without the inclusion of AEPs for BI and BE.

Main Results:

• In individuals with moderate to high personal experience, AEPs significantly improved TPB predictions for both BI and BE in sexual risk behavior and binge drinking.
• For low-experience individuals in Study 2, AEPs improved TPB predictions for BI but not for BE, indicating a divergence in their predictive relevance.
• These findings were consistent when using a general negative anticipated emotion index, confirming the robustness of the results.

Conclusions:

• Anticipated emotions are valuable additions to the TPB for predicting risk behaviors, particularly for individuals with substantial personal experience.
• The equivalence of behavioral intention and expectation breaks down for less experienced individuals, with anticipated emotions playing a differential role in their prediction.
• Future interventions aiming to modify risk behaviors should consider incorporating emotional forecasting and personal experience levels for enhanced efficacy.