International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research (IJSSAR)

ABSTRACT Background: The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented public health challenges worldwide, prompting governments and health authorities to promote preventive measures such as mask wearing, hand hygiene, physical distancing, and vaccination. Despite widespread public health campaigns, compliance with these preventive protocols remained inconsistent, particularly among young adults in developing countries such as Nigeria. This has raised concerns about the behavioural factors influencing individuals' intentions to adopt COVID-19 safety measures. Although the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has been widely used to explain health-related behaviours, limited empirical evidence exists on the predictive role of its constructs, alongside moral attitude, in shaping COVID-19 preventive behavioural intentions among Nigerian university students.
Objective: This study examined the extent to which the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and moral attitude predict intentions to adopt COVID-19 safety protocols among undergraduates of Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria.
Method: The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 400 undergraduate students selected from a population of approximately 16,000. Inferential statistical techniques were employed to test the predictive effects of health attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and moral attitude on intentions to adopt COVID-19 preventive measures. Results: The findings revealed that moral attitude was a stronger predictor of behavioural intention than health attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. The results suggest that individuals' internalised sense of moral responsibility exerts a greater influence on their intentions to adopt COVID-19 preventive measures than the traditional constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.
Conclusion: The study concludes that the traditional constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour were not significant predictors of intentions to adopt COVID-19 safety protocols in the study context. Instead, moral attitude emerged as the most significant determinant of behavioural intention, highlighting the importance of moral considerations in promoting preventive health behaviours.
Unique Contribution: The study extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour by demonstrating the explanatory value of moral attitude in predicting preventive health intentions within a public health emergency. It also contributes to health communication scholarship by providing empirical evidence that moral framing offers additional explanatory power beyond the traditional TPB constructs in influencing health-related behavioural intentions among university students.
Key Recommendation: The study recommends that future public health communication campaigns on infectious disease prevention incorporate moral framing by presenting compliance with preventive measures as a civic and moral responsibility. Such messages should be culturally and religiously sensitive to enhance their relevance, acceptance, and persuasive effectiveness among target audiences.