Understanding activist intentions: An extension of the theory of planned behavior

The current study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine multiple structural models of low-risk and high-risk activist intentions (Ajzen, 1991). Results indicated a good model fit for both a traditional TPB model (CFI =.96; RMSEA =.06; SRMR =.05; χ²(125) = 283.28, p <.001) and an identity TPB model (CFI =.95; RMSEA =.06; SRMR =.05; χ² (194) = 434.20, p <.001). The identity TPB model, which included activist identity as a mediator for the TPB variables, accounted for notably more variance in both low-risk activist intentions (44.2% in comparison to 20.1%) and high-risk activist intentions (27.3% in comparison to 12.2%) than the traditional TPB model. The current study increases our understanding of factors that may contribute to low-risk and high-risk activist intentions and highlights the importance of an activist identity to both. The merits of each of the structural models and the practical implications for practice and research are discussed.