Habit in the Physical Activity Domain: Integration With Intention Temporal Stability and Action Control

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of habit in predicting physical activity with the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The study extended previous research by (a) including a measure of temporal intention stability in the regression equation, and (b) unpacking the intention × behavior × habit relationship. Participants were 153 undergraduate students who completed a habit measure and measures of the TPB at Time 1 followed by measures of intention and behavior 2 weeks later. Results using regression analysis demonstrated that habit explained 7% additional variance after accounting for the TPB and temporal stability of intention and its interaction with intention. Follow-up analyses showed considerable asymmetry in the three-way relationship between intention, behavior, and habit, where high habit participants were composed primarily of intenders (i.e., intended to be active >3 times/week at 30 min) who engaged in regular physical activity (70%, n = 28) and low habit participants were inactive nonintenders (i.e., did not intend to be active >3 times/week at 30 min and were subsequently not active; 69%, n = 25). The results support the notion that some properties of physical activity may have an automatic component and that habits may be important to physical activity action control.

A Daily Process Analysis of Intentions and Physical Activity in College Students

“…It is worth noting that, in these analyses, motivation ratings for moderate and vigorous intensity activities were combined to create general intention and self-efficacy scores. Consistent with Rhodes, de Bruijn, and Matheson (2010), the large correlation between ratings at those intensities suggests that these items were capturing motivational processes for a very intentional form of PA, namely exercise.…”

Moderators of the intention-behaviour relationship in the physical activity domain: a systematic review

“…The results provided support for moderation in only one of these studies 50. Three studies,51 54 55 however, have also measured habit with the self-reported habit index56; a measure of habit that includes the assessment of uncontrollability, lack of awareness and efficiency, which is likely to be a much better measure of the automaticity underlying the concept of habits than past behaviour. Two of these three studies found support for habit as a moderator of either exercise54 or commuting to work via cycling 55.…”

“…The construct has been proposed as a measure of the motivational flux or the strength of commitment to an intention. Nine samples have evaluated the moderating effect of intention stability on the I-PA relationship29 46–51 and another paper has focused on intention commitment, which represents a conceptually similar construct 52. Of these, only two studies have shown null findings 47 49.…”

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Applications of the Self-Report Habit Index to Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviours

“…One study of leisure-time activity found no moderation effect when controlling for habit, TPB variables, intention stability, and an interaction between intention and intention stability (p=0.12 [58]). Beta coefficients for intention at each level of habit were not reported.…”