An integrated social cognitive model for the prediction of physical activity participation: Preliminary development and validation

Regular physical activity has been implicated in a variety of health outcomes encompassing both physiological and psychological benefits. Despite the wisdom of engaging in a regular program of exercise, the overall participation rates are quite low. This state of affairs has made research into the determinants of physical activity an increasingly important field of inquiry. The present study proposed and tested an integrated social cognitive model for the prediction of physical activity participation. The model incorporated theoretically relevant and empirically validated constructs from divergent theoretical approaches. Five constructs were selected as important for the physical activity domain following a review of eight major theoretical approaches: (1) behavioral intention/expectation, (2) perceived capability, (3) expected value, (4) affect or emotion, and (5) past behavior or habit. The proposed model tentatively hypothesized that physical activity is determined by behavioral expectation. It was further postulated that expectation is determined by affect, expected value, and perceived capability. Subjects for the study were 170 (81 males; 89 females) undergraduate students who completed the Survey of Thoughts and Behaviors Regarding Physical Activity and also follow-up self-reports of physical activity at two and four weeks. The results indicated that behavioral expectation was a better predictor of physical activity than behavioral intention. It was further determined that behavioral expectation, habit, and perceived capability had direct effects on physical activity levels. Finally, expected value and perceived capability had direct effects on behavioral expectation whereas the impact of affect was mediated by these two constructs. Some of these results were qualified by a number of sex differences. Many of the empirical results were interpreted within Bandura's (1986) social cognitive framework. The discussion focused on revising the model based on the empirical outcomes of this study and offering theoretical and empirical directions for future research. The basic conclusion was that integrating theoretical constructs from a variety of approaches is a promising avenue for providing a more complete understanding of the determinants of physical activity participation.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio