Evaluation of three interventions to promote workplace health and safety: evidence for the utility of implementation intentions

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Abstract

This article evaluates a motivational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior, a volitional intervention based on implementation intentions, and a combined motivational plus volitional intervention in promoting attendance at workplace health and safety training courses in the UK. Intervention manipulations were embedded in postal questionnaires completed by participants (N=271). Subsequent attendance over a 3-month period was determined from course records. Findings showed that the volitional and combined interventions doubled the rate of attendance compared to the motivational and control conditions (rates were 39%, 32%, 12%, and 16%, respectively). The effects of the volitional intervention were independent of the effects of previous attendance, demographic variables, employment characteristics, and variables from the theory of planned behavior.

Section snippets

The theory of planned behavior

The theory of planned behavior (TPB; Atzen (1985), Ajzen (1991a), Ajzen (1991b)) has been used extensively to understand and predict health behaviors including exercise (e.g., Norman & Smith, 1995; Sheeran & Orbell, 2000a), diet (e.g., Povey, Conner, Sparks, James, & Shepherd, 2000), smoking (e.g., Norman, Bell, & Conner, 1999), alcohol use (e.g., Rise & Wilhelmson, 1998), safer sex (e.g., Sheeran, Abraham, & Orbell, 1999; Sutton, McVey, & Glanz, 1999) and health screening (Sheeran, Conner, &

Participants and procedure

Potential participants were employees at a United Kingdom university who were eligible to attend one of six training courses that would take place over a 3-month period (n=3000 approx.). One week before the start of the first course, a random sample (n=1260) was sent a postal questionnaire through the internal mail system. This resulted in n=316 returns. Forty-five participants were eliminated from the sample either because they reported having attended a training course during the previous

Results

Data analysis proceeded in six stages. First, the discriminant validity of the additional variables (organizational support, moral obligation, and competing intentions) was assessed and scales were constructed. Second, the representativeness of the sample was checked. Third, the success of randomization of participants was tested. Fourth, the effect of the motivational intervention on attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions was assessed. The fifth set of

Discussion

This is the first study that evaluated psychological interventions to increase attendance at workplace health and safety training courses. Three interventions were tested; a motivational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior, a volitional intervention based on Gollwitze (1993), Gollwitze (1999) concept of implementation intentions, and a combined motivational plus volitional intervention. The key finding from the study was that participants who formed implementation intentions

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Kamaljit Birdi and Paul Norman for helpful comments on a previous draft of the manuscript.

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