Application of Behavior Change Theory to the Development

BEHAVIOR CHANGE THEORY
one-shot notification. However, any reference to the driver’s record was determined to
be sufficient to satisfy this element.
It was surprising to find that fewer than half (41%) of the letters provided direct advice
to the drivers regarding the state’s expectations. Although many warning letters
provided ample doses of sarcasm and less than subtle threat, more than half failed to
provide direct advice about expectations.
About 43 percent of the letters communicated confidence in the ability of the driver to
change dangerous behaviors, 36 percent mentioned the negligent driver’s personal
responsibility to change driving behaviors that threaten the public safety, one-third
expressed empathy for the negligent operator, and finally, a mere 14 percent of the
warning letters offered a choice of change strategies, even though that is a powerful
technique used to motivate any individual contemplating change.
Early Stages of Change
Nearly all the warning letters (98%) provided information regarding the nature and risk
of unsafe driving behaviors as a means to raise the negligent operator’s consciousness.
Approximately 60 percent of the letters provided dramatic relief in which the negligent
operator’s emotions were consciously elevated before offering assurance that the
situation was in the control of the driver. Environmental reevaluation was utilized in
29 percent of the treatments through various methods intended to allow the driver to
reflect upon the possible consequences of negligent driving behaviors on innocent
others. Self-reevaluation was attempted in 10 percent of the interventions and social
liberation was ignored, totally.
Late Stages of Change
These five behavioral elements were the most infrequently used of the sixteen methods
available in the TTM. Nineteen percent offered help to the negligent operator and ten
percent attempted to apply contingency management techniques. Unfortunately, the
other three elements, stimulus control, counter conditioning, and self-liberation, were
not used at all.
The Studies
A total of 42 letter treatments were evaluated. Although letters usually were not
identical to each other, the modest changes in wording often were not accompanied by
the use of additional TTM components. Generally, with a few exceptions, the advisory
letter contents made poor use of the available elements (Appendix A-4).
The evaluation of the treatment letters included a calculation of the percentage of letters
that applied each of the TTM elements, and these are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1 illustrates two major points. The first is that the Marsh studies (1985–1995) used
treatment letters that incorporated fewer TTM elements than the balance of the studies
reviewed. The second point is that treatment letters utilized progressively fewer
elements from the later stages of the three-stage TTM model.
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