Booknotes: Remembering Dr. Fishbein

The Annenberg community is deeply saddened by the passing of Martin Fishbein, the Harry C. Coles, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication.

Dr. Fishbein is best known for his landmark theories in the field of social psychology, namely the expectancy-value theory which he developed in the early 1970s, and later, the theory of reasoned-action. The concepts of the former theory can be found in the monograph, Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research (1975), which he co-authored with Icek Ajzen. It is out of print but can be found at Dr. Ajzen's website in its entirety (broken up into chapters).

Later, in the 1970's and early 80's, EVT was expanded into the theory of reasoned action (TRA), credited to Drs. Fishbein and Ajzen. Their work could not be more contemporary however, as the the two had just published Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach (2010, Psychology Press,Taylor & Francis). Copies of the book can be found in Van Pelt and ASC Reserve.

These 1975 and 2010 titles bookend a prolific and astonishingly influential career that nourished the diverse fields of health communication, marketing, child psychology, consumer psychology, organizational communication and audience studies. Dr. Fishbein will be sorely missed around the School and University, but his work is here to stay.