Expanding upon single theories, researchers have recently proposed
and tested integrated models of behavior. A key rationale for model
integration is based on arguments that no one theory can be considered
definitive in explaining behavior and, thus, should be open to
modification to enable other constructs to be added that may provide
more efficacious explanations of outcomes. One such recent integrated
model of behavior is the theory of reasoned goal pursuit (TRGP),
integrating the theory of planned behavior and goal systems theory, that
can be used to identify the modifiable predictors of health behavior by
considering the active goals that motivate people's behavior. The TRGP
suggests that the motivation to consider performing a particular behavior
rests, in part, on the desire to attain one or more goals. This paper
provides tests of the TRGP for two health behaviors, physical activity
and compliance with a medical directive. The research comprised
elicitation studies to identify individuals' procurement and approval goals,
behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs regarding the
two health behaviors. Then, two-wave prospective studies were
employed to assess the effects of these goals and beliefs on behavior
using a path model. For both behaviors, the model accounted for a great
deal of the variance in motivation and intention, and a moderate portion
of variance in behavior. The model supported the majority of
hypothesised pattern of effects among theory constructs; in particular,
the proposition that beliefs corresponding to procurement and approval
goals would be more consequential to people's motivation and, thus,
their intentions and behavior, than other behavioral and normative
beliefs, respectively. Results lend support for the TRGP and sets the
agenda for future research to systematically test the model effects as
well as contributes to refinement of social cognition models that
acknowledge the role of goals in fulfillment of actions.