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had previous direct experience. Such beliefs are
called inferential.
• The information collected from other (media,
family, friends, etc.). Information is accepted as
real, unless it contradicts the beliefs formed from
the direct or indirect experience (M. and Ajzen,
1975).
Regarding to the subjective norm, it has deter-
mined by the perception of the beliefs that others have
about the conduct that the individual must perform
and, moreover, it is also determined by the individ-
ual’s motivation to meet the expectations that others
have about her. Its a differential process of beliefs
formation that contributes to each of the beliefs have a
particular weight and value according to each individ-
ual and the attitude object. Outstanding attitudes, to-
gether with their evaluation, will better predict the be-
havior intention (M. and Ajzen, 1975). Furthermore,
knowledge about the specific beliefs of what others
persons think of each of the specific behaviors (for
example smoking, physical exercise, healthy eating,
etc.) will Influence the intention to carry out or not
a general behavior (maintaining a healthy lifestyle),
depending on the motivation to please.
However, not all behaviors are consciously con-
trolled by the individual, because there are many situ-
ations in which contingency may occur, or in which it
requires skills or resources that could interfere with
the intention of performing a behavior. Its neces-
sary a third determinant of behavioral intention, the
perceived control (Ajzen, 1987) (Ajzen, 1988)). Al-
though the individual has a favorable attitude toward
a behavior, the probability of carrying it out will de-
pend on, among other factors, the perception of con-
trol by the individual about her behavior. A person
may have a favorable attitude toward health care, for
instance to give up smoking, but if that individual per-
ceives that she has low ability to control and to quit
smoking, either because she considers she hasnt ca-
pacity enough, or because she believes that behav-
ior of other people can interfere with her decision to
quit, this healthy behavior will not be performed. The
perception of control is a factor consisting of inter-
nal variables (perceived ability, skill of action etc.),
and external variables (opportunity to action, obsta-
cles, time, cooperation, etc.). This is a determinant
that helps to improve forecasting and modeling of the
behavior (Ajzen, 1987).
The Theory of Reasoned Action doesnt take into
account factors such as attitudes towards goals, per-
sonality characteristics, sociodemographic variables,
social role, etc. For this model, these factors are exter-
nal variables that can influence behavior, but no nec-
essary relationship between them.
2.3 The Social Action Theory
This model proposed by Ewart (Ewart, 1991) presents
the individual as a self-regulatory system that actively
trying to achieve goals, and also as a feedback sys-
tem consisting of a set of serially arranged elements,
or stages: a first input stage, which represents stimu-
lus field and sets the targets. A second output stage,
or production of response, which provides the plans,
the selection and development of responses. And a
third stage of supervision that involves the consider-
ation of the consequences of action in relation to the
initial set of objectives. This model stresses the role
of social context in the development and maintenance
of healthy routines and habits; it provides the causal
structure linking the self-change processes in inter-
personal environments; and it also specifies the social
and environmental influences that make possible per-
sonal change.
According to Social Action Theory, preventive in-
terventions involve the creation of protective habits in
the form of routines behavioral sequences that reduce
personal risk. The actions are guided by their conse-
quences in a control loop, and variations in the results
produce compensatory behavioral adjustments. The
result is a steady state-action, but constantly fluctu-
ating. The starting point for intervention is an anal-
ysis of the relations between the harmful or benefi-
cial behaviors to health and its effects experienced.
This is an analysis that allows extracting those as-
pects in which behaviors are more accessible to pre-
vention, and it also allows extracting effective pro-
cedures for the design of new schemes that promote
health (Ewart, 1991).
The Social Action Theory remarks that per-
sonal action schemes are socially interconnected to
schemes of close social environment (friends, family,
peers etc.) so they raise significant obstacles to long-
term changes. Its necessary to extend the concept of
state-action focused individually to include social in-
terdependence as a determinant of a change in be-
havior. Close social relations mean that the patterns
of action of each person are interconnected, thereby
increasing the likelihood of someone trying to mod-
ify a routine, influencing and conditioning routines of
other individuals.
This model implies the existence of mechanisms
that enable people to make transitions from old states-
action to other new, causing a change. According to
this theory, attitudes and reinforcements do not deter-
mine and cause behavior. People motivate themselves
by taking into account the possible outcomes, assess-
ing their capabilities and creating goals that guide
and energize the solution of various problems. The
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