example, an individual might believe that walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes daily

will reduce his/ her blood pressure (b) and believe that lowering his/her blood pressure is

good (e).

 Ultimately, the individual's attitude toward the behavior reflects his/her assessment

of the outcome associated with the behavior and whether the outcome is perceived as

positive or negative. For example, a person may believe that farming traditionally

preserves his/her cultural roots (b), and that preserving his/her culture is good (e). The

individual then may have a positive attitude toward farming traditionally. Figure 2-1

depicts this relationship.

 A = I (b) (e)

Figure 2-1: The relationship between attitudes (A), behavioral beliefs (b) and the
 evaluation of the outcome (e) (Ajzen, I. (nd). The Theory ofPlanned
 Behavior. Retrieved March 15, 2005, from
 http://www.people.umass.edu/aizen/index.html)

 The other factor that influences an individual's intention to perform a behavior is

subjective norms. Subjective norms are the perceived social pressure to engage in a

behavior. This consists of two components, normative beliefs (n) and motivation to

comply with influential others (m). Normative beliefs are an individual's beliefs about

what important individuals or groups, known as referents, consider to be desirable or

undesirable behavior. An example of a normative belief is when a farmer's grandfather,

whose opinion he/she considers important, does not approve of traditional farming.

Notice the normative belief consist of a referent's (grandfather) belief and also the

importance of the referent to the individual. For example, the referent may have a

positive view of traditional farming. However, if the referent's opinion is not important