Predicting students' global competence: An approach using the theory of planned behavior

The theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) allows researchers to investigate relationships between a behaviour (that, in the case of this study is ‘acting as a globally competent student’) and an individual’s intentions to perform that behaviour as well as their assessment of actually being able to perform the behaviour. Further, it assumes that intentions are influenced by attitude, subjective norm and the individual’s perceived behavioural control of their performance.

We used secondary data from PISA’s2018 study of global competence. We selected the Hong Kong Chinese sample(OECD, 2020).

Sample: We selected 6,037 15-year-old secondary (Grade 7 or above)students from 152 schools.
Instrument: We selected TPB scales from PISA’s validated instruments (see below for identification of the scales.(OECD, 2020)and background student variables.
Analysis: The study employed a two-level path analysis using Mplus version 8.0.
Results: Direct effects of TPB variables on Response to People of other Cultures (RPOC) [Interest]
Student attitudes (i.e. Interest in other cultures showed the strongest direct effect (β = .25). Student perceived behavioural control (i.e. cognitive flexibility-adaptability) was the next strongest (β = .14). Student subjective norm (i.e. Student perception of teachers’ discriminatory practices) had a negative
effect (β = -.08).
Student background efforts were either small or insignificant.
Student contextual variables such as Student perspective taking, Global mindedness and Global competence had direct effects of βs = .21, .08 and .12 respectively.
Indirect effects were also assessed with Interest in other cultures playing an important mediator role.
Research/Practical Implications: Those responsible for developing interventions, for example, can use the results reported here as the basis for those interventions, including teacher’s role modelling.
Originality/Value: TPB helps to better understand the development of global competence making an original contribution to the field, especially the focus on mediation analysis. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).