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Felt Ambivalence Weakens the Attitude-Intention Pathway for Regular Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Chinese
Yaogang Han1, Yubing Wang2, Pan Li3
1School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China.
Abstract:
Background: Favorable attitudes toward regular leisure-time physical activity may not always translate into intention if adolescents feel ambivalent about the behavior. This study tested whether felt ambivalence weakens the prospective attitude-intention association and the indirect effect of attitude on later behavior through intention. Methods: Chinese adolescents (N = 1714; Grades 7-12; mean age = 15.0 years) completed a three-wave survey at approximately two-week intervals. Wave 1 assessed attitudes toward regular leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, felt ambivalence, and physical activity habit; Wave 2 assessed intention; and Wave 3 assessed leisure-time physical activity. Moderated mediation was tested in a structural equation model adjusting for habit, gender, and grade. Results: More favorable baseline attitudes predicted stronger intention two weeks later, and intention predicted greater self-reported leisure-time physical activity at follow-up. Felt ambivalence significantly moderated the attitude-intention pathway such that the association was weaker at higher levels of ambivalence. The conditional indirect effect of attitude on later leisure-time physical activity through intention was significant at low, mean, and high ambivalence, but decreased as ambivalence increased. Conclusions: Favorable attitudes may be insufficient when adolescents remain conflicted about physical activity. The present study provides prospective support for a theoretically relevant moderation pattern in which felt ambivalence weakens the attitude-intention pathway, but it does not establish ambivalence as a key explanatory mechanism.
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