Dynamics in Self‐Regulation: Plan Execution Self‐Efficacy and Mastery of Action Plans

Abstract

This study investigated whether an individual's plan execution self‐efficacy precedes mastery of the respective action plan or vice versa. Study participants were 122 cardiac rehabilitation patients. Plan execution self‐efficacy and mastery of a personal action plan on physical activity were assessed each week for 6 weeks after discharge from rehabilitation. Physical exercise was assessed 2 months after discharge. Multilevel cross‐lagged panel analyses resulted in a positive effect of mastery on subsequent self‐efficacy, whereas self‐efficacy did not predict subsequent mastery at the within‐person level. At the between‐person level, however, self‐efficacy predicted following physical exercise. Thus, the predictive power of self‐efficacy was developed in relation to mastery of personal action plans over time. Implications for behavior change interventions are discussed.

Self‐Efficacy and Planning as Predictors of Physical Activity in the Context of Workplace Health Promotion

“…Exploring age associations with the key variables under study, the findings resembled those by Scholz et al. () and indicated that older persons reported higher planning at baseline. A longer lifetime and a more extensive accumulated history of initiating and adapting to changes are likely associated with a greater experience in planning in older individuals (Freund & Baltes, ; Reuter et al., ).…”

“…A study with individuals at increased risk of type‐two diabetes (Hankonen, Absetz, Ghisletta, Renner, & Uutela, ) also did not find any gender differences in baseline self‐efficacy nor in planning. Regarding associations with age, a planning intervention study with cardiac rehabilitation patients by Scholz, Sniehotta, Burkert, and Schwarzer () found that older patients showed significantly higher baseline planning levels compared to younger patients. A representative epidemiologic study with N = 8,152 German adults aged 18 to 79 years found that younger persons reported being more physically active than older individuals, whereas men reported higher physical activity than women (Krug et al., ).…”

Towards a theory of intentional behaviour change: Plans, planning, and self‐regulation

“…Taking a within‐subject perspective, Scholz and colleagues (2007) show how initial mastery in implementing individual activity plans predicts increase in specific self‐efficacy which after two months turned out to be a good predictor of general physical activity. An alternative explanation of successful planning is that it reinforces the use of planning as a self‐regulatory strategy.…”

Comparing different boosters of planning interventions on changes in fat consumption in overweight and obese individuals: A randomized controlled trial

“…In terms of self‐efficacy, social‐cognitive theory postulates that the most important source of self‐efficacy is mastery experience (Bandura, 1997). As recent research shows, mastery experience (indicated by successful behavior change) seems to be triggered by planning, which in turn promotes higher self‐efficacy (Scholz et al., 2007). The fact that we did not find an effect of the experimental treatment on fat consumption (as an indicator of mastery experience) is not necessarily a contradiction to this interpretation, as we did not have a direct measure of mastery in this study.…”

“…According to the HAPA, volitional variables serve as mediators of planning interventions due to the volitional nature of the planning construct. More precisely, repeated planning interventions might affect self‐efficacy by enabling mastery experiences (e.g., Scholz, Sniehotta, Schüz, & Oeberst, 2007). Moreover, self‐reported action and coping planning as a self‐administered self‐regulatory strategy should be promoted by repeated planning interventions which thereby unfold their effects on behavior change (e.g., Luszczynska et al., 2007).…”