From intentions via planning and behavior to physical exercise habits

Objectives: Individuals who enact a health behavior effortlessly with minimal conscious deliberation can be assumed to have formed a healthy habit. This can be reflected by increases in self-reported habit strength of a behavior. We examined whether physical exercise intentions facilitate changes in exercise. habit strength by increasing the use of action planning and exercise. Design: Two field studies investigated the effect of behavioral intentions on changes in habit strength through a sequential path from action planning to exercise. Method: Exercise intentions, action planning, habit strength, and exercise were assessed at two measurement points in time in 231 university students (Study 1), and at four points in time in 134 rehabilitation patients (Study 2). Results: In multiple-step mediation models in both samples, there were indirect effects of intentions on habit strength through action planning and behavior. Conclusion: Action planning and behavior operated as sequential mediators to bridge the gap between intentions and habit strength. Exercise habit strength may increase as a result of conscious action planning and frequent behavior enactment. Including these constructs jointly into behavior change models may improve the understanding of the mechanisms involved in behavior maintenance. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.