Relative Contribution of Affective and Cognitive Attitudes in Predicting Physical Activity

ABSTRACT There is a growing interest in investigating the role of affective and cognitive bases of attitude on intention and subsequent behavior, within a Theory of Planned behavior (TPB) framework. This research attempts to investigate the relative effects of cognitive versus affective attitudes on physical activity (PA), in two related studies. Thirty-five undergraduate students took part in the first study in which we assessed the classic TPB components, together with cognitive and affective attitudes. The second study, designed as a randomized controlled trial (RCT) employed an intervention using either cognitive persuasion messages (N=21), affective messages (N=21) or no messages (N=20), delivered via leaflets to a sample of students. The results of first study show that affective attitudes significantly predict intention to exercise while the other variables have no effect. Also, people with higher levels of PA held more positive affective attitudes towards exercise than sedentary ones, while for cognitive attitudes or other TPB variables no such differences occurred. For the second study, results show that the affective persuasion messages had an effect on intention and affective attitudes immediately after the intervention, but effects were no longer evident two weeks after the intervention delivery. Neither of the interventions had any effects on exercise. Although no effect of interventions was observed, there is enough evidence from both studies to infer that affective attitudes might hold a central role in the prediction of intention and subsequent behavior and further studies should unraveled mechanism by which these attitudes influence behavior. KEYWORDS: affective attitudes, cognitive attitudes, exercise, intervention INTRODUCTION There is considerable evidence supporting the well-established benefits of regular physical activity (PA) at physiological and psychological levels. Keeping physically active can prevent major illness, given that moderate PA is associated with low incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and cancer (Bauman, 2004; Byers, Nestle, McTiernan, Doyle, Currie-Williams, & Gansler, 2002). It is generally recommended that adults should do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on five or more days of the week (British Heart Foundation, 1998; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). Despite these recommendations, in 2005, over 40% of adults in European Union-15 (EU) countries reported that they had no moderate level physical activity in the past week, 16% no episodes of walking for 10 minutes or more, and 66% spent in excess of 4 hours each day sitting. Also, regarding work related PA, The Eurobarometer survey showed that almost half (59%) of the EU population get little or no physical activity at work (British Heart Foundation Statistic Website). In predicting and explaining health behavior and PA in particular, different theoretical approaches have been used in the past decades, among which, Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and its extension, Theory of Planned behavior (TPB) stand out (Godin, 1993, 1994; Godin & Kok, 1996; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, & Biddle, 2002). According to TPB, the decision to engage in a particular behavior is proximaly determined by the intention to perform a given behavior. Under the TPB, Ajzen contended that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are proximal predictors of the intention to engage in a particular behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991, 2001). The central premise of this model is that people make decisions after a rational weighting of the pros and cons of performing a behavior. This lead to numerous critiques, centered around the idea that human behavior is not only a function of rational pondering of different sources of information, but it also draws on more emotional evaluations of the decision target (Manstead & Parker, 1995; Van der Pligt, Zeelenberg, van Dijk, de Vries, & Richard, 1998). …