Behavioral Intention of Poor People in Professional Education Obtaining, Family Forming and Full-Time Working

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate behavioral intention of the poor to perform professional education, family formation, and full-time work which are as crucial behavioral aspects of poverty based on the replication of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The survey was conducted in the 2 districts with higher poverty rate of Ulaanbaatar (UB), Mongolia, in 2021, when 240 poor and 270 non-poor who live in the same areas were interviewed in their living areas. Data were analyzed based on descriptive statistics, correlations, and the structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the correlations revealed that the intentions of the poor were moderately positive for the three behaviors, and these results were slightly more positive on each of the key predictor variables for the non-poor sample. Also, the result of SEM analysis showed that attitude and subjective norm positively affected intention to perform the aforementioned three areas for both the poor and non-poor, but the perceived behavioral control didn't affect intention. The findings indicate opportunities for early interventions. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Theory of planned behavior, behavioral intention, poor, non-poor people

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/14-8-05

Publication date: April 30^th 2022