Psychosocial Determinants of Health Care Intentions: Test of the Triandis and Fishbein Models

The present study reports the predictive adequacy of two psychosocial models of human behavior—the Triandis Theory of Social Behavior and Fishbein's Theory of Behavioral Intentions—as they focus on women's intentions to obtain PAP tests. These models are compared and contrasted with the Health Belief Model of health care behavior. Participants in this study were ninety-three adult women currently living in the East-Central Illinois area. Expectations that both models would prove to be accurate in prediction of intentions relative to cervical cancer detection were supported across four subsamples and three criterion intentions. Results reveal a common determinant for most behavioral intentions as well as an interpretable pattern of predictor differences across different groups of women.