Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools (2020), 1–11

doi:10.1017/jgc.2020.13

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Assessment of the theory of planned behaviour in

predicting potential intention and behaviour of
positive thinking among a school-based sample
of Iranian adolescents: a path analysis
Leila Ghahremani1, Mohammad Hossein Kaveh1, Hadi Tehrani2, Arezoo Orooji3 and
Alireza Jafari4,*
1
Department of Health Promotion, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, 2Health Education &
Health Promotion, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran,
3
Student Research Committee, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health sciences, Mashhad University
of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran and 4Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical
Sciences, Gonabad, Iran
*Corresponding author: Email: Jafari.ar94@gmail.com

(Received 01 July 2019; revised 25 March 2020; accepted 25 March 2020)

Abstract
This study aimed to determine the predictive power of the theory of planned behaviour in predicting the
intention and behaviour of positive thinking in school students. A cross-sectional study was performed on
367 high school male students in Iran. Data were gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire whose
validity and reliability had been confirmed before. Descriptive and inferential analysis (univariate and
multiple logistic regression models, Pearson correlation) was performed using SPSS software V.20.
AMOS version 22 was used to perform the path analysis. According to the results, the construct of attitude
was the most important construct in predicting positive thinking intention. Finally, the theory of planned
behaviour constructs could predict 36% of intention variance and 20% of behaviour variance of positive
thinking. Since the construct of attitude is one of the most powerful constructs in predicting student
positive thinking intention in male teens, it is recommended that more attention be paid to this construct
in educational programs to improve the mental health of male high school students. The results of this
study can help psychologists and counsellors, families, and teachers improve students’ mental health.

Keywords: high school; adolescent; positive thinking; path analysis

Positive thinking is defined as the desire to have good things, hope for the future, and expect positive
consequences (Dumitrache, Windle, & Herrera, 2015). Positive thinking helps people face their
problems effectively, and it is a valuable strategy to help one cope with difficulties such as depression
(Bekhet & Garnier-Villarreal, 2017). Positive thinking may cause increased lifespan, lower rates
of depression, lower levels of distress, increased immune levels, better psychological and physical well-
being, better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and better
coping skills during hardships and times of stress (Grezo & Sarmany-Schuller, 2015; Luger, Cotter, &
Sherman, 2009; Rozanski, Bavishi, Kubzansky, & Cohen, 2019; Xie et al., 2018).
Behaviours are divided into explicit and covert behaviour. Explicit behaviours are behaviours that
are observable and measured by someone other than the person doing the act. There are observ-
able behaviours such as brushing, exercising, or eating fruits and vegetables. Covert behaviours are

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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 2 Leila Ghahremani et al.

behaviours that are not observable or able to be recorded by other than the person doing the act; hence,
it is called private behaviour, and positive thinking is a covert behaviour. So positive thinking is a covert
behaviour that can affect one’s mental health (Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, 2015; Liau, Barriga, &
Gibbs, 1998). One of the things that can affect the physical and mental health of adolescents is positive
thinking (McLaughlin, 2016).
Adolescents’ health issues are a concern for their health status in the future. Adolescence is a tran-
sition from childhood to adulthood (Conversano et al., 2010; Ghahremani, Nazari, Changizi, & Kaveh,
2019). According to the definition of the World Health Organization, adolescents are individuals in the
age group of 10–19 years old (Sayers, 2001). In general, health problems increase between preadoles-
cence and adolescence (Dehghankar, Panahi, Kekefallah, Hosseini, & Hasannia, 2019; Rask et al.,
2016), and the root of health problems in adulthood is related to the adolescence stage, especially from
11 to 18 years (McLaughlin, 2016).
Various studies have showed that positive thinking is related to the enhancement of learning,
academic achievement, an increase in educational motivation, increased self-esteem, better social net-
works/social supports, and reduced antisocial behaviours and drug abuse in adolescents (Dumitrache
et al., 2015; Hamedi Nasab, Asgari, & Ayati, 2015; Mavioğlu, Boomsma, & Bartels, 2015; Patton et al.,
2011). The results of a study by Souri and Hasanirad (2011) among Iranian medical students showed
that positive thinking increased their psychological wellbeing.
Gender is an influencing factor in positive thinking. According to the results of various studies, a
significant difference between girls and boys in positive thinking has shown that the level of positive
thinking in girls is higher than in boys (Bagana, Raciu, & Lupu, 2011; Shaheen & Jahan, 2014). Various
studies in Iran have also examined the positive thinking of high school students (Moradi, Rashidi, &
Golmohammadian, 2017; Rashidi Kochi, Najafi, & Mohammadyfar, 2016). However, the factors influ-
encing positive thinking of this group of people have not been identified. To design and implement
more effective intervention programs, it is necessary to identify the key variables that affect positive
thinking in adolescents. So, this study was performed to investigate the factors affecting and predicting
the positive thinking of male high school students in Iran.

Theoretical Background
Positive thinking is a mental process. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) provides a useful frame-
work for predicting and understanding health behaviour (De Leeuw, Valois, Ajzen, & Schmidt, 2015).
One of the useful social-cognitive theories that can be used to examine positive thinking is TPB. Icek
Ajzen proposed TPB in 1985. This theory was developed from the theory of reasoned action, which was
proposed by Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein in 1980 (Glanz et al., 2015).
The TPB includes constructs of attitude, perceived behavioural control (PBC), subjective norms,
intention, and behaviour (Table 1; Ajzen, Joyce, Sheikh, & Cote, 2011). According to the TPB, if people
evaluate the suggested behaviour as positive (attitude), and if they think their significant others want
them to perform the behaviour (subjective norms), and if people feel that they have the power to do the
desired behaviour (PBC), this results in a higher intention (intention), and they are more likely to do so
(behaviour; Ajzen et al., 2011; Ghasemi, Nazari, Vafaei, & Fararouei, 2017; Sharma, 2016).

Method
Study Design
This cross-sectional study was performed on male high school students (14–17 years old) in Shiraz,
Iran. Power calculation indicated that the minimum sample size was 367 subjects for an 80% chance of
a p value < .05.
In this study, the sampling method was multistage. At first, the city of Shiraz was divided into
four districts — north, south, east, and west. From each district, two schools were selected randomly

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 Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools 3

Table 1. Characteristics of constructs of the TPB

Theory Construct Definition

Theory of planned Attitude
behaviour (TPB)
Subjective norms
Perceived behavioural
control (PBC)
Intention
The attitude refers to an ‘overall feeling of like or dislike towards
any given behaviour’.
The subjective norms construct refers to ‘one’s belief that most of
the other significant people in one’s life think one should or
should not perform a certain behaviour’.
The PBC construct refers to ‘how much a person feels they are in
command of enacting a given behaviour’.
Intention refers to ‘the tendency or reluctance of people to
behave’.

Behaviour Classify of actions with a specific target, or observable action

conducted by an individual.

(eight schools). Then one class was randomly selected from each school and enrolled in the study. The
inclusion criteria were being a male high school student and a resident of Shiraz city, willing to partici-
pate in the study, and with written consent obtained from the parent/guardian of the student. Before
the study, the aims of the study were explained to the students, and informed consent was obtained.
They were also assured that their information would be kept confidential by the research team. Then
the questionnaires were completed by the students based on a self-report without the presence of
school personnel.

Measuring Tools
Data were collected using a questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of two sections, including
demographic characteristics and positive thinking based on the TPB (Jafari, Ghahremani, Keshavarzi, &
Kaveh, 2016).

Demographic section
This questionnaire included questions such as age, birth order, education level of parents, occupation of
parents, habitant, number of siblings, number of friends, and so on.

Section of Positive Thinking based on the TPB

This questionnaire has 45 items (lowest score = 45, highest score = 219), and five constructs of the TPB
(attitude, subjective norms, PBC, intention, and behaviour) were used to design this questionnaire.
Information on the TPB questionnaire is presented in Table 2.

Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by a previous study (Jafari et al., 2016).

Statistical Analyses
Descriptive and inferential analysis (univariate and multiple logistic regression models, Pearson cor-
relation) was performed using SPSS software V.20. A Pearson correlation test was used to investigate
the relationship between the constructs of the TPB. For logistic regression, initially the variables were
entered into univariate regression, and then those with a significant level lower than .2 were entered
into multiple regression (Jewell, 2003). The level of statistical significance was considered as p < .05.

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 4 Leila Ghahremani et al.

Table 2. Characteristics and dimensions of the Questionnaire of Positive Thinking based on the TPB

Subscale Item Range Scale Sample question

Attitude 26 26–130 5-point Likert scale I feel that when I think positively,
(1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree) I can communicate better with
others.
Subjective norms 4 4–20 5-point Likert scale My friends encourage me to always
(1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree) be positive in my life.
PBC 7 7–35 5-point Likert scale Although my living conditions are
(1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree) hard and stressful, I can still be
positive.
Intention 6 6–30 5-point Likert scale How likely are you to participate
(1 = very low, 5 = very high) in positive thinking, counseling
classes, etc. during the next month?

Behavioural 2 2–4 Dichotomous response (1 = no, 2 = yes) I have read books, watched CDs
about positive thinking,
participated in classes or
counseling for positive thinking, for
more than six months.

Table 3. Standard fit indices for path analysis

Model fit index Standard value

Chi-square normalised by degrees of freedom (λ/df) (Bentler, 2006) <5

Goodness-of-fit (GFI; Henry & Stone, 1994) >0.9
Root mean square error (RMSEA; Wu, Chang, Chen, Wang, & Lin, 2015) <0.08
Root mean square residual (RMR; Wu et al., 2015) <0.08
Adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI; Henry & Stone, 1994) >0.8
comparative fit index (CFI; Henry & Stone, 1994) >0.9
Tucker-Lewis index (TLI; Wu et al., 2015) >0.9
Normed fit index (NFI; Henry & Stone, 1994) >0.9

Incremental fit index (IFI; Henry & Stone, 1994) >0.9

In this study, a path analysis was conducted to investigate the direct and indirect effects of TPB con-
structs on positive thinking behaviour. First, the maximum likelihood estimation was used in all the
models. The following various fit indices were measured to ensure that the acceptability of each model
fit the data adequately. Standard fit indices for path analysis are presented in Table 3.

Results
Descriptive Statistics
In this study, the mean (SD) age of students was 14.92 (0.85). The education level of most of the
students’ parents was a diploma or lower than a diploma. Results showed that 70.3% of fathers
(n = 255) were self-employed, and 88.3% of mothers (n = 319) were housewives (Table 4). Other
demographic information is shown in Table 4.

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 Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools 5

Table 4. Frequency distribution of demographic factors

Variables N % Variables N %

Father’s education level Illiterate 21 5.8 Number of friends 1–4 165 46.7
Diploma and below diploma 231 63.1 5–10 75 21.2
Academic 114 31.1 <10 113 32.1
Mother’s education level Illiterate 21 5.8 Number of brothers None 107 31.2
Diploma and below diploma 248 69.1 One 150 43.9
Academic 90 25.1 <2 85 24.9
Father’s job Employee 108 29.7 Number of sisters None 117 34.5
Self-employed 255 70.3 One 159 46.9
Mother’s job Housewife 319 88.3 <2 63 18.6
Working outside the home 42 11.7 Birth order One 166 46.4
Status location Owner 232 64.6 Two 98 27.4

Renter 127 35.4 <3 94 26.2

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Based on the results of this study, the mean (SD) constructs of attitude, subjective norms, PBC
(perceived behavioural control), intention and behaviour were 92.1 (13.91), 14.96 (3.66), 23.87 (4.92),
20.88 (4.40) and 2.81 (0.81), respectively.

Logistic regression
Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that variables of the number of sisters with an
odds ratio (0.434), number of friends with an odds ratio (0.720), and attitude with an odds ratio (1.098)
had a significant relationship with the intention of positive thinking (Table 5). Based on the results,
only the constructs of subjective norms with an odds ratio (1.086) and intention with an odds ratio
(1.198) had a significant relationship with positive thinking behaviour (Table 6).

Path Results
The final model fitting indexes in Table 7 showed the appropriation of the final model (p = .12). The
final model is shown in Figure 1. The TPB determined 36% of the variance for intention and 20% of the
variance for students’ behaviour about positive thinking (Figure 1). The results of this study showed
that the constructs of attitude, subjective norms, and PBC had a positive effect on intention. Attitude
was the most effective construct (p < .001) and indicated about 80.37% of the total effects on behaviour.
Based on the results, only attitude had an indirect effect on intention. The constructs of attitude, sub-
jective norms, and PBC had an indirect effect on behaviour and indicated about 19.62% of the total
effects on behaviour (Table 8).

Discussion
This study aimed to determine the power of the TPB in predicting the intention and behaviour of
students’ positive thinking. According to the path analysis results in this study, the TPB can predict
intention and students’ positive thinking, and the model-fitting indexes showed the appropriation of

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 6 Leila Ghahremani et al.

Table 5. Results of logistic regression analysis of demographic variables and constructs of TPB in relation to intention of
positive thinking

Univariate regression Multiple regression

Variables OR 95% CI p value OR 95% CI p value

Age student 1.126 [0.781, 1.624] .524 – – –

Birth order 0.924 [0.646, 1.322] .665 – – –
Number of brothers 0.666 [0.394, 1.125] .129 0.735 [0.390, 1.386] .341
Number of sisters 0.601 [0.336, 1.076] .087 0.434 [0.217, 0.866] .018
Education level Father 1.283 [0.854, 1.928] .231 – – –
Mother 1.052 [0.692, 1.598] .813 – – –
Job Father 1.493 [0.680, 3.278] .318 – – –
Mother 1.664 [0.380, 7.293] 0.499 – – –
Number of friends 0.747 [0.595, 0.938] .012 0.720 [0.538, 0.964] .027
Family income 0.994 [0.699, 1.414] .975 – – –
Status location 0.984 [0.440, 2.202] .969 – – –
Attitude 1.080 [1.050, 1.112] <.001 1.098 [1.046, 1.153] <.001
Subjective norms 1.126 [1.014, 1.250] .027 1.002 [0.868, 1.157] .976

PBC 1.136 [1.051, 1.228] <.001 1.023 [0.904, 1.158] .716

Table 6. Results of logistic regression analysis of demographic variables and constructs of TPB in relation to positive
thinking behaviour

Univariate regression Multiple regression

Variables OR 95% CI p value OR 95% CI p value

Age student 1.092 [0.842, 1.416] .506 – – –

Birth order 1.034 [0.851, 1.257] .738 – – –
Number of brothers 0.935 [0.699, 1.251] .652 – – –
Number of sisters 1.013 [0.745, 1.378] .933 – – –
Education level Father 0.761 [0.607, 0.955] .018 0.863 [0.602, 1.237] .422
Mother 0.787 [0.622, 0.997] .047 1.017 [0.713, 1.449] .928
Job Father 2.162 [1.320, 3.541] .002 1.658 [0.902, 3.049] .104
Mother 0.687 [0.334, 1.411] .307 – – –
Number of friends 0.971 [0.844, 1.118] .686 – – –
Family income 0.749 [0.605, 0.926] .008 0.827 [0.654, 1.047] .115
Status location 1.311 [0.844, 2.038] .228 – – –
Attitude 1.023 [1.007, 1.040] .005 0.989 [0.966, 1.013] .366
Subjective norms 1.144 [1.070, 1.223] <.001 1.086 [1.085, 1.008] .031
PBC 1.030 [0.986, 1.076] .181 0.961 [0.906, 1.019] .182

Intention 1.204 [1.135, 1.277] <.001 1.198 [1.115, 1.288] <.001

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 Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools 7

Table 7. Characteristics of the indices obtained in the path model

Model fit index Values

χ2 7.392
df 4
χ /df
2
1.84
p value .12
GFI 0.99
RMSEA 0.04
RMR 0.37
AGFI 0.97
CFI 0.99
TLI 0.98
NFI 0.98

IFI 0.99

Figure 1. The results of path analysis based on the TPB (*p < .05, **p < .001).

the final model. In the present study, all the constructs of the TPB showed a significant statistical rela-
tionship with intention. This means increasing a positive attitude, social support, and PBC will increase
the intention to perform positive thinking behaviours.
The results of this study showed that the intention construct had a significant relationship with
positive thinking behaviour. This means increasing one unit of intention will increase the behaviour
of students’ positive thinking. Results of a study by Andrykowski and Burris (2010) showed that con-
structs of TPB could predict 23.9% of variances for seeking mental health services. The results of vari-
ous studies have shown that constructs of attitude, subjective norms, and PBC predicted 41% and
29.6% of people’s intention variances to get help from psychologists (Schomerus, Matschinger, &
Angermeyer, 2009; Smith, Tran, & Thompson, 2008).
In this study, attitude was one of the most powerful constructs in predicting the students’ positive
thinking intention. It had both direct and indirect effects on intention and behaviour of positive think-
ing. This means increasing one unit of attitude will increase the intention and behaviour of students’

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 8 Leila Ghahremani et al.

Table 8. Direct and indirect effects of TPB constructs

Causal effect
Determinants or predictors Direct Indirect Total effects

Attitude → Intention 0.440** 0.130** 0.570

Subjective norms → Intention 0.139* – 0.139
PBC → Intention 0.145* – 0.145
Attitude → Behaviour – 0.253** 0.253
Subjective norms → Behaviour – 0.062* 0.062
PBC→ Behaviour – 0.064* 0.064
Intention → Behaviour 0.444** – 0.444
Attitude → Subjective norms 0.387** – 0.387
Attitude → PBC 0.530** – 0.530
Through total causal effect 2.085 0.509 2.594

Percentage of direct and indirect effects → 2.085/2.594 = 80.37% 0.509/2.594 = 19.62%

positive thinking. Attitude had a significant and direct effect on subjective norms and PBC. Results of
the Andrykowski and Burris’ (2010) research showed that attitude was the critical construct of the TPB
to search for the mental health resources in patients. Results of a study by Bohon based on the TPB on
the intention of American students showed that attitude was the most important construct in predict-
ing people’s intention (Bohon, Cotter, Kravitz, Cello, & Fernandez y Garcia, 2016). A study by Bohon
et al. (2016) found that the obstacles against searching for mental health care are related to negative
beliefs and attitudes towards mental health services. Results showed that attitude has a significant cor-
relation with the subjective norms and PBC (Bohon et al., 2016).
In this study, the subjective norms had a direct and significant effect on intention. Moreover, it
showed an indirect and significant effect on male students’ positive thinking. This means increasing
one unit of subjective norms will increase the intention and behaviour of students’ positive thinking.
The teenage period is critical in life, and during this time, teenagers make their decisions based on the
opinions of others, especially peers, and are greatly influenced by them (Albert, Chein, & Steinberg,
2013; Tomé, Matos, Simões, Diniz, & Camacho, 2012). Results of the Piko study showed that social
support, especially parent support, had an influence on teens’ positive thinking and reduced their neg-
ative thinking (Piko, Luszczynska, & Fitzpatrick, 2013).
In this study, the PBC showed a direct and significant effect on intention. Moreover, it had an
indirect and significant effect on positive thinking behaviour. This means that increasing one unit
of PBC will increase intention, and behaviour, of students’ positive thinking. PBC is a cognitive resource that
can be used to improve one’s health condition (Görgens-Ekermans & Steyn, 2016). The PBC is related to
the level of positive thinking, and the higher the sense of PBC in people, the lower the reports of depression,
and they can create a balance between their work and lives (Chang, Wang, Li, & Liu, 2011). People with
high PBCs have higher positive thinking, self-esteem, positive sense, and more intention to acquire health
information (Karademas, Kafetsios, & Sideridis, 2007). The study results of Prokopcáková showed that the
students who have a greater sense of PBC over their behaviours have a negative relationship with pessimism
and anxiety (Prokopcáková, 2015).
The results of this study showed that the constructs of attitude, subjective norms, and PBC could
predict 36% of intention variance of positive thinking in students. Intention had a direct and significant
relationship on behaviour and finally determined 20% of positive thinking behaviour variance. One of
the significant points in this model is intention. Many people may intend to do something but never do

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 Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools 9

it for various reasons, so the predicting value of the intention is more than the behaviour. The intention
is one of the variables in predicting behaviour. If people have a positive attitude towards a behaviour,
and the subjective norms are consistent with their perspective, and they have high PBC, these factors
can increase the likelihood to do so.

Limitation and Implications

This study was only conducted with boys, which could reduce the generalisability of the results. In this
research, information was collected by self-report and may be accompanied by some error; due to this
limitation, it would be better to exercise caution in generalising the results. In future studies, it is sug-
gested that similar studies be conducted, including both genders, to allow comparisons between them.
It is also suggested that similar studies be conducted with other groups such as parents and teachers
because they play an essential role in the students’ viewpoints and attitudes. It is also recommended
that similar studies be designed and implemented based on other models and theories to determine
other factors affecting this field.

Conclusion
According to the obtained results, the TPB can be used as a useful model to predict the intention and
behaviour of male teens to select a positive thinking style. Since attitude is one of the most powerful
constructs in predicting positive thinking intention in male teen students, it would be better to pay
more attention to this construct in educational programs to improve the mental health status of male
high school students.
Acknowledgments. We express our gratitude to the vice-chancellor Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, teachers, students
and all the people who provided the opportunity to do this research.

Conflict of interest. None.

Ethical approval. To collect the data, after obtaining the necessary confirmation from the relevant authority and obtaining
the code of ethics (IR.SUMS.REC. 1392.S6719). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were by
with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and
its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Cite this article: Ghahremani L, Kaveh MH, Tehrani H, Orooji A, and Jafari A. Assessment of the theory of planned behaviour
in predicting potential intention and behaviour of positive thinking among a school-based sample of Iranian adolescents: a
path analysis. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools. https://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2020.13

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. East Carolina University, on 29 May 2020 at 10:10:49, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
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