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Published on: September 27, 2020
Self-efficacy moderates the mediation of intentions into behavior via plans
Sonia Lippke1, Amelie U Wiedemann, Jochen P Ziegelmann
1Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. s.lippke@fu-berlin.de
Objective:
To examine the putative moderating role of self-efficacy in the intention-planning-behavior relationship.
Methods:
In N=812 individuals, intentions (independent variable) were assessed at baseline, whereas action plans (mediator), self-efficacy (moderator), and physical activity (dependent variable) were measured again 4 weeks later. We examined a moderated-mediation model.
Results:
Self-efficacy moderates the mediation process: the strength of the mediated effect increased along with levels of self-efficacy. The results remain valid after accounting for baseline physical activity.
Conclusions:
For plans to mediate the intention-behavior relation, people must hold sufficiently high levels of self-efficacy. If they lack self-efficacy, planning may be in vain.
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