Reducing overestimated intentions and expectations for physical activity: The effect of a corrective entreaty

Abstract

We assessed whether intentions and expectations formed in a hypothetical physical activity situation are different from those formed in a real situation; and whether the intentions and expectations of participants who are hypothetically given a free pass to attend a fitness class to better match their behaviour if they are administered a corrective entreaty (CE), than if they are not. In two separate studies, undergraduate university students were randomised into three groups: (a) Hypothetical (H); (b) Hypothetical with CE (HE) and (c) Real (R), and were asked to rate their intention and expectation to use a fitness pass. As hypothesised, significantly more participants expected that they would use the free fitness pass in the H group compared to the R group in both studies. Significantly fewer participants in the HE condition expected to use their free pass compared to the H group in Study 2. Also, significantly more corresponding expectation–behaviour relationships were found in the HE and R groups compared to the H group in both studies. Administering a CE influenced expectations formed in a hypothetical situation making them more similar to expectations formed in a real situation, and increased the specificity of tests of correspondence between expectation and behaviour.

Keywords:

• physical activity
• exercise
• bias
• behaviour
• intention