The Decision of African American Students to Complete High School : An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

A longitudinal study explored high school completion among African Americans. Male and female high school students aged 14 to 17 (N 166) completed a theory of planned behavior (I. Ajzen, 1991) questionnaire early in their 2nd year. Intentions to complete the year were accurately predicted from attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (R .71; p .01). Attitudes were related to beliefs about shortand long-term consequences; subjective norms reflected perceived expectations of family, teachers, and friends; and control considerations included requisite academic abilities, conflict with peers and teachers, and distracting life conditions. Intentions and, to a lesser extent, perceived behavioral control, predicted graduation almost 3 years later (R .50; p .01). The findings indicate opportunities for early interventions.

[1]  M. Fishbein.  An Investigation of the Relationships between Beliefs about an Object and the Attitude toward that Object , 1963 .

[2]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[3]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[4]  Robert West,et al.  Expectations and actions: Expectancy-value models in psychology: N. T. Feather: Erlbaum, Hillsdale, N.J. (1982). xi+436 pp. £24.95. , 1983 .

[5]  P. O'Malley,et al.  Black-White Differences in Self-Esteem: Are They Affected by Response Styles? , 1984, American Journal of Sociology.

[6]  M. Fine.  Why Urban Adolescents Drop into and out of Public High School , 1986, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[7]  Ruth B. Ekstrom,et al.  Who Drops Out of High School and Why? Findings from a National Study , 1986, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[8]  J. Parker,et al.  Peer relations and later personal adjustment: are low-accepted children at risk? , 1987, Psychological bulletin.

[9]  I. Ajzen.  Attitudes, Personality and Behavior , 1988 .

[10]  W. R. Kitz.  Adult Literacy , 1988 .

[11]  Peter M. Bentler,et al.  EQS : structural equations program manual , 1989 .

[12]  R B Cairns,et al.  Early school dropout: configurations and determinants. , 1989, Child development.

[13]  Hugh G. Petrie,et al.  Dropouts from School: Issues, Dilemmas, and Solutions. , 1991 .

[14]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[15]  T. Oakland.  School dropouts: Characteristics and prevention , 1992 .

[16]  A. Garibaldi.  Educating and Motivating African American Males to Succeed. , 1992 .

[17]  M. Ensminger,et al.  Paths to High School Graduation or Dropout: A Longitudinal Study of a First-Grade Cohort. , 1992 .

[18]  P. Gollwitzer.  Goal Achievement: The Role of Intentions , 1993 .

[19]  S. Rawlings,et al.  Household and family characteristics: March 1994. , 1995 .

[20]  Russell W. Rumberger,et al.  Dropping Out of Middle School: A Multilevel Analysis of Students and Schools , 1995 .

[21]  B. Hawkins.  Gender Gap: Black Females Outpace Black Male Counterparts at Three Degree Levels. , 1996 .

[22]  S. Fordham,et al.  Blacked Out: Dilemmas of Race, Identity, and Success at Capital High , 1996 .

[23]  J. L. Mahoney,et al.  Family Influences on School Achievement in Low-Income, African American Children. , 1997 .

[24]  Jennifer Jacobs,et al.  The Process of Dropping Out of High School: A 19-Year Perspective , 1997 .

[25]  Day Jc,et al.  Educational attainment in the United States: March 1996 (update). , 1997 .

[26]  S. Sutton.  Predicting and Explaining Intentions and Behavior: How Well Are We Doing? , 1998 .

[27]  E. Newburger,et al.  Educational Attainment in the United States: Population Characteristics. Current Population Reports. , 1999 .

[28]  Robert D. Abbott,et al.  Predictors of Early High School Dropout: A Test of Five Theories. , 2000 .

[29]  S. Jimerson,et al.  A prospective longitudinal study of high school dropouts: Examining multiple predictors across development. , 2000 .

[30]  M. Conner,et al.  Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analytic review. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[31]  I. Ajzen.  Nature and operation of attitudes. , 2001, Annual review of psychology.

[32]  John J. Daigle,et al.  Predicting Hunting Intentions and Behavior: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior , 2001 .