Background: We examined effects of trait self-control, constructs from social cognition theories, and intentions on health behaviours. Trait self-control was expected to predict health behaviour indirectly through theory constructs and intentions. Trait self-control was also predicted to moderate the intention-behaviour relationship. Methods: Proposed effects were tested in six datasets for ten health-related behaviours from studies adopting prospective designs. Participants (N = 3,249) completed measures of constructs from social cognition theories and self-control at an initial time point and self-reported their behaviour at followup. Results: Results revealed indirect effects of self-control on behaviour through social cognition constructs and intentions for eight behaviours: eating fruit and vegetables, avoiding fast food, dietary restrictions, binge drinking, physical activity, walking, out-of-school physical activity, and pre-drinking. Self-control moderated the intention-behaviour relationship in four behaviours: dietary restriction, and alcohol-related behaviours. Conclusions: Mediation effects suggest that individuals with high self-control are more likely to hold beliefs and intentions to participate in future health behaviour, and more likely to act. Moderation effects indicate that individuals with high self-control are more likely to enact healthy intentions and inhibit unhealthy intentions, but findings were restricted to few behaviours. Training self-control and managing contingencies that derail goaldirected action may be effective intervention strategies.

Participants were asked to assess personality traits of a typical individual with high or low academic or practical abilities. Opinions about the perceived relationships between personality and intelligence strongly converged. A typical intelligent person was believed to be emotionally stable, extraverted, open to new experiences, and conscientious, differing on these traits diametrically from a typical individual endowed with low abilities. The perceived associations between ability and personality traits contrast with the typically weak correlations found between psychometrically measured intelligence and personality. Despite a considerable overlap between ability-related personality stereotypes and social desirability ratings of the personality traits, there was a discrepancy in the attitudes towards agreeableness. Although the facets of agreeableness were regarded as socially advantageous, participants did not believe that trust, straightforwardness and altruism are necessarily characteristic of a smart person.

The aim of the present study was to test the validity of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS; Tangney, Baumeister and Boone 2004) including its dimensional structure based on competing one- and two-factor models, discriminant validity from the conceptually-related self-discipline construct, invariance across multiple samples from different national groups, and predictive validity with respect to health-related behaviors. Samples of undergraduate students (total N = 1282) from four national groups completed the brief self-control scale, the self-discipline scale from the NEO-PI-R, and self-report measures of binge drinking, exercise, and healthy eating. Confirmatory factor analytic models supported a two-factor structure of self-control encompassing restraint and non-impulsivity components. The model exhibited good fit in all samples and invariance of factor loadings in multi-sample analysis. The restraint and non-impulsivity components exhibited discriminant validity and were also distinct from self-discipline. Structural equation models revealed that non-impulsivity predicted binge drinking in three of the samples, and restraint predicted exercise in two samples, with no role for self-discipline. Results point to a multi-dimensional structure for trait self-control consistent with previous theory separating impulsive- and control-related components.

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