Comparing the Power of Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognition Theory in Predicting Stockmen's Intention and Behavior regarding Animal Welfare in Sirjan

Recently, the role of stockmen’s behavior in animal welfare and productivity of dairy cattle has received more acknowledged by researchers. Without any doubt, they have pivotal effects on welfare and productivity of animal. Therefore, understanding stockmen’s intention and behavior and recognizing the factors affected them is of great importance. One way to understanding and studying human behavior is application of the psychology and social-psychological model. The purpose of this study was to compare the theory of planned behavior with social cognitive theory to predicting stockmen’s intention and behavior. The population of interest consisted of stockmen in Sirjan district, Kerman Province. The study sample consisted of 252 persons selected through a multistage, quota- random and stratified sampling method. After confirming the reliability and validity of the instrument, then, data was collected. The results of this study showed that the theory of planned behavior was able to predict 35 percent of stockmen’s intention as well as 38 percent of stockmen’s behavior, while at the same time the prediction power of social cognitive theory was lower