Research noteDisentangling motivation, intention, and planning in the physical activity domain
Section snippets
Participants and Procedure
Two hundred and fifty-two students participated in the study for extra credit in their introductory psychology courses. Informed consent was obtained from the participants. Participants attended large group sessions during February and March 2004, completing self-report measures of the theory of planned behaviour and implementation intentions. Two hundred and thirty participants returned to complete a two-week follow-up measure of physical activity behaviour. Thus, the total sample for the
Convergent/discriminant validity of motivation, intention, and planning items
Results of our confirmatory factor analysis among the proposed motivation, intention, and implementation intention/planning constructs showed that motivation and implementation intentions were discriminant (Δχ2=162.08, p<0.001), but intention was convergent with both motivation (Δχ2 (1)=2.33, p>0.05) and implementation intentions (Δχ2 (1)=0.99, p>0.05).
Incorporating motivation and planning into the theory of planned behaviour
Based on the confirmatory factor analysis findings, we included the motivation and planning constructs into the theory of planned behaviour (
Discussion
Planning/implementation intentions has received support as a post-motivational construct across many behavioural domains but limited research has integrated the construct into a theoretical structure. The theory of planned behaviour seems most suited to integrate implementation intentions into its structure because it lacks a planning construct, while theories like social cognitive theory and the transtheoretical model include volitional planning strategies within their frameworks. Still,
Acknowledgements
Ryan E. Rhodes is supported by a scholar award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and with funds from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge and Development Fund, British Columbia Ministry of Health, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Chris M. Blanchard is supported by an Ontario research scientist award.
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