The Interplay between Conscious and Automatic Self-Regulation and Adolescents' Physical Activity: The Role of Planning, Intentions, and Lack of Awareness

Citation

Dombrowski SU & Luszczynska A (2009) The Interplay between Conscious and Automatic Self-Regulation and Adolescents' Physical Activity: The Role of Planning, Intentions, and Lack of Awareness. Applied Psychology, 58 (2), pp. 257-273. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00335.x

Abstract
This study investigated the interplay between conscious and automatic self-regulatory variables and adolescents' physical activity. It was hypothesised that intention, planning, and lack of awareness would predict adolescents' behaviour. One hundred and fifty-five individuals (aged 13 to 17 years) completed questionnaires in two waves (with a time gap of 10 days). The results of cross-lagged panel analysis suggested that both past behaviour and planning predicted physical activity at follow-up, whereas physical activity predicted intention. Although lack of awareness, a facet of automatic processes, was negatively related to physical activity, the nested model comparison analysis indicated that the relation between lack of awareness and physical activity might be negligible. Among the self-regulatory processes, planning was found to be the most important predictor of adolescents' physical activity, although past behaviour remained the strongest predictor of future behaviour.

Journal
Applied Psychology: Volume 58, Issue 2

People

Dr Stephan Dombrowski

Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Psychology