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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
Beyond behavioural intentions: planning mediates between intentions and physical activity
Urte Scholz1, Benjamin Schüz, Jochen P Ziegelmann
1Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. urte.scholz@psychologie.uzh.ch
Action and coping planning significantly improve physical activity prediction beyond intentions alone. Coping planning is key for maintaining activity, especially for those already active.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Self-Regulation
Background:
- Behavioral intentions alone are insufficient predictors of health behavior change.
- Self-regulatory strategies like action and coping planning can bridge the intention-behavior gap.
- Understanding planning's role is crucial for promoting physical activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if action planning and coping planning enhance physical activity prediction.
- To investigate which planning type aids behavior initiation versus maintenance.
- To examine if intentions moderate the planning-behavior relationship.
Main Methods:
- A 5-week longitudinal online study with 354 participants.
- Multigroup structural equation modeling to compare prediction patterns.
- Latent interaction analyses to test intention moderation effects.
Main Results:
- Planning factors significantly increased behavior variance prediction compared to intentions alone.
- Coping planning mediated the intention-behavior link for formerly active individuals only.
- Intentions moderated the impact of both action and coping planning on behavior.
Conclusions:
- Action planning predicts behavior effectively with high intentions.
- Coping planning is a vital self-regulation strategy for maintaining physical activity.
- Tailoring planning strategies based on individual characteristics and intention levels is recommended.
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