Application of Behavior Change Theory to the Development

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BEHAVIOR CHANGE THEORY
obligates—the Department of Motor Vehicles to utilize its discretionary authority in
taking hazardous drivers off the streets and highways”. These sentences validate
Campbell’s (1958) vision of a bureaucracy more deeply dedicated to punishment than
behavior change.
Even the attempt at environmental reevaluation was punitive and might tend to
generate anger rather than positive change. Comments like, “Statistics clearly indicate
that irresponsible driving patterns such as yours often result in the maiming of innocent
people and in destruction of human life”, give credence to Warren’s (1981) reminder
that the effectiveness of any treatment letter will be affected by the driver’s perceptions
of the Department’s motivations.
Table 6
McBride & Peck, 1970: High Threat/Low Intimacy Letter
Design Characteristics Score General stage Score Early stage Score Late stage Score
Participation rate 70% 4 Systematic feedback 3 Consciousness raising 2 Stimulus control 0
No-treatment control 4 Personal
responsibility
Random assignment 4 Direct advice 0 Environmental
reevaluation
Similar subject
characteristics
Blinded to random
schedule
Temporality 4 Strengthen selfefficacy
3 Dramatic relief 0 Helping relationships 0
2 Counter conditioning 0
0 Choice of strategy 0 Social liberation 0 Contingency
management
0 Express empathy 0 Self reevaluation 0 Self liberation 0
0
Total 16 6 4 0
Even an opportunity to strengthen self-efficacy while stressing personal responsibility
was missed when the words took on a venomous tone, “It is never too late to improve,
but in your case, improvement must be immediate if restrictive action is to be avoided”.
Low threat/high intimacy letter. The low threat/high intimacy letter (Appendix B-8)
employed all six general strategies, three of the early stage methods, but none of the late
stage techniques (Table 7). This correspondence, when combined with the
questionnaire, was significantly better (p < 0.05) than the control condition for adjusted
seven-month accident means. The letter-questionnaire combination was also
significantly superior (p < 0.05) to the control for adjusted violation means.
In terms of the TTM, this letter is very similar to the low threat and low intimacy letter.
The difference appears to involve the increased solicitous, personal tone, that the
0