Ethnicity and the theory of planned behavior in the exercise domain

Objective: To examine the moderating influence of ethnicity on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in the exercise domain and to generate common and ethnic-specific underlying accessible beliefs. Methods: 90 Caucasian and 94 African American undergraduate students completed a TPB questionnaire. Results: Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that ethnicity and gender interacted by moderating the relationships between exercise intention and effective (beta=-0.44) and instrumental (betaeta=0.39) attitudes. Furthermore, common and ethnic-specific underlying accessible beliefs were identified. Conclusion: When exercise interventions are developed, ethnicity and gender may need to be considered when dealing with affective and instrumental attitudes.