The role of implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema in the prediction of exercise behaviour

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Abstract

Objectives

This study investigated implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema and their role in the prediction of exercise behaviour. In addition, the effect of implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema on intention to exercise was examined. Moderation and mediation effects involving exerciser self-schema, in both its implicit and explicit forms, were investigated.

Method

Members of fitness centres and other regular exercisers (N = 98, nmales = 37, nfemales = 65) completed a written questionnaire to measure explicit exerciser self-schema and exercise intentions. An exercise Implicit Association Test (IAT) was also administered to measure implicit exerciser self-schema. Actual exercise occurrence was measured one week and two weeks following the initial testing phase.

Results

Correlations indicated that implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema were related but distinct constructs. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that high levels of both implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema improved absolute levels of exercise behaviour. Regression analyses examining the possibility that self-schema moderated the intention–behaviour relationship were not significant for implicit or explicit forms of self-schema. Forced entry regression analyses provided evidence for explicit exerciser self-schema being mediated by intention in its relationship with behaviour.

Conclusions

It is beneficial to consider both implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema when attempting to understand and predict exercise behaviour. Both implicit and explicit exercise self-schema have a direct effect on behaviour, although explicit self-schema also indirectly influences behaviour via intention to exercise.

Introduction

Physical activity is a salubrious behaviour which is associated with a variety of physical and psychological rewards (for a review see Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1999). Despite the numerous benefits of a physically active lifestyle, global figures show that the proportion of adults who are sedentary or nearly sedentary ranges from 60% to 85% (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2006). Moreover, preliminary findings from a WHO study suggest that sedentary lifestyle is one of the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world (WHO, 2006). A significant component of the physical inactivity problem is poor adherence to exercise regimes, with over 50% of new exercisers likely to withdraw from their exercise regime within 6 months (Weinberg & Gould, 2007). It seems that many individuals hold good intentions but ultimately fail in their quest to incorporate exercise into their everyday lives. An understanding of the reasons for high attrition in exercise programs is becoming an increasing concern among researchers of exercise psychology.

A central tenet of Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TpB, 1985) is that voluntary behaviour is a product of behavioural intentions. Although this tenet has been empirically tested and supported in numerous domains, most research in health related domains shows that the variance observed in behaviour is less than 50% attributable to intentions (e.g., Sheeran & Orbell, 2000). Some studies have found that intentions may account for as little as 20% of the variance in exercise behaviour (e.g., Dzewaltowski, 1989, Hagger et al., 2002). Experimentally, it has been shown that, within the exercise domain, a relatively large change in intention only results in a small change in behaviour (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2005). In their 2006 meta-analysis, Webb and Sheeran (2006) showed that a medium to large increase in intention leads to a small to medium increase in actual behaviour. It would appear that other variables moderate the tendency for individuals to act on their exercise intentions. One proposed moderator to the relationship between exercise intentions and behaviour is exerciser self-schema (e.g., Kendzierski, 1994, Sheeran and Abraham, 2003; Sheeran & Orbell, 2000).

Markus (1977) defined self-schema as cognitive generalisations about the self, derived from past experience, that organise and guide the processing of self-related information. Self-schema are domain specific and are relatively stable and enduring self-conceptions (Kendzierski and Whitaker, 1997, Markus, 1977, Sheeran and Abraham, 2003). In a given domain, an individual may be schematic, aschematic or nonschematic. A schematic will display enhanced sensitivity to information significant to their schema and will therefore be more efficient when selecting and processing this information (Markus, 1977). This leads to improved efficiency in response to stimuli and behaviour related to the schema (Markus, 1977, Markus et al., 1987). Self-schema was incorporated into the exercise domain when Kendzierski (1988) built on the theorising and empirical findings of Markus (1977) to identify exerciser schematics. These individuals find exercise and exercise related concepts to be descriptive of themselves. Exerciser schematics also highly value these descriptions and find them to be important to their self-image (Kendzierski, 1988, Whaley and Ebbeck, 2002). In the domain of exercise, aschematic individuals would not describe themselves as an exerciser or value exercise related descriptions. A non-exerciser schematic would find exercise related concepts to be highly undescriptive and they would rate these descriptions as being very important to their self-image (Kendzierski, 1988). In relation to the manifestations of self-schema in behaviour, Kendzierski and Whitaker (1997) found that there is a higher correlation between exercise intentions and behaviour for exerciser schematics and an overall greater stability of exercise intentions. Exerciser schematics generally show a higher level of exercise behaviour than non-exerciser schematics and aschematics (Estabrooks and Courneya, 1997, Kendzierski, 1988) and can recall more instances of schema-related behaviour from past experiences (Kendzierski, 1990).

The role of exerciser self-schema within the TpB (Ajzen, 1985) is still subject to investigation, although the evidence is growing that it moderates the intention–behaviour relationship in the exercise domain (e.g., Kendzierski & Whitaker, 1997; Sheeran & Abraham, 2003). A moderating role for exerciser self-schema in the relationship between exercise intentions and actual behaviour has conceptual appeal. Among exerciser schematics, motivation to engage in one's exercise intentions may stem from acting in a way that is in accordance with the exerciser self-schema and from a desire to avoid behaviour that conflicts with this schema, such as remaining inactive for an extended period of time. The theory of cognitive dissonance indicates that an individual is likely to attempt to align their attitudes, behaviours, opinions and values (Festinger, 1957). When an individual is not forced to engage in certain behaviour, and the attitudes regarding the behaviour and its consequences are not complementary to the resultant behaviour, cognitive dissonance is likely to increase (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). In the case of physical activity, an exerciser schematic will have positive attitudes regarding exercise and choosing not to exercise will produce feelings of cognitive dissonance. Chatzisarantis, Hagger, and Wang (2008) found that freely (as opposed to being forced) engaging in behaviour which is not aligned with personal values will cause greater mental frustration. In relation to exerciser self-schema, not performing exercise behaviour may produce this same mental frustration when individuals freely decide not to exercise. This mental frustration may encourage exerciser schematics to fulfil their exercise intentions.

Using the TpB (Ajzen, 1985) as a guide, self-schema may also affect behaviour by influencing the antecedents to intention. Kendzierski (1988) found that exerciser schematics make more plans to exercise and develop strategies to help them realise their exercise intentions. Given that individuals with a self-schema tend to recall more instances of past behaviour within a certain domain (Markus, 1977), they are more likely to feel competent in that behaviour, increasing their self efficacy which is an important component of perceived behavioural control (Ajzen, 2002). Greater perceived behavioural control will improve exercise intentions according to the TpB (Ajzen, 1985).

Exerciser self-schema has typically been measured using an explicit rating scale developed by Kendzierski (1988). In this measure, six statements are given to respondents to determine the extent to which exercise describes them and to gauge how important exercise is to them. This scale has been used in a number of studies to empirically demonstrate that exerciser self-schema is an important moderator to the relationship between exercise intention and behaviour (e.g., Courneya, 1994). A growing research trend, however, is to evaluate implicit components of cognition, in addition to the explicit components, to assess any differences between the two and to investigate the impact that these differences may exert on behaviour (e.g., Jordan et al., 2005, Steffens and Schulze-Konig, 2006). In contrast to the measurement of explicit cognition, measures of implicit cognition are not heavily influenced by artefacts such as impression management. A further justification for the need to measure implicit exerciser self-schema is provided by the seminal work of Markus (1977), in which schemata is discussed and measured as an implicit construct. The present research aims to investigate both the implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema.

Social psychologists have consistently recognised that self-reported (explicit) measures of cognition may be vulnerable to several biases, including self-presentation, self-deception, and self-ignorance (Gregg, Banaji, & Seibt, 2006). Recently, implicit measures of cognition have been developed to overcome these problems and they have subsequently contributed to the prediction of a variety of social behaviours. Measures of implicit cognition capitalise on respondents' non-declarative responses to attitude objects to determine respondents' automatic associations toward those objects (Gregg et al., 2006). A host of empirical studies have now demonstrated that implicit cognition and explicit cognition are relatively independent (Harju and Reed, 2003, Jordan et al., 2005, Steffens and Schulze-Konig, 2006).

Self-presentation bias was discussed in early work on the measurement of schema by Markus (1977), who noted that a mark on a self-rating scale may not be the product of a well-specified schema, but may instead be the result of the favourability of the trait term, the context of the situation, the necessity for a response, or other experimental demands. To illustrate this problem, Markus (1977) indicated that “a person who does not really think about herself as conscientious, yet would not object to labelling herself as such, cannot be expected to react to being late for an appointment in the same way as one who actively conceives of herself as conscientious, who can readily describe numerous displays of conscientiousness in the past, and who can enumerate the way she insures future conscientious behaviour on her part” (p. 65). An analysis of patterns of response on both implicit and explicit tasks was endorsed by Markus (1977) as a means to assess self-schema.

It is likely that explicit exerciser self-schema and implicit exerciser self-schema are related but independent constructs. Exercise is widely regarded as a positive behaviour and many individuals may be inclined to overestimate their association with exercise in explicit rating scales (e.g., Conroy et al., 2000, Hausenblas et al., 2004). Many new exercisers may also genuinely believe that they are exercisers and indicate an explicit exerciser self-schema on an explicit rating scale. Despite their explicit beliefs, however, these individuals may not have engaged in enough exercise to develop a strong association between self and exercise at less conscious levels. Such conditions may lead to a divergence in scores between explicit and implicit exerciser self-schema.

Recent empirical work has supported Markus' (1977) original assertion that the interaction of implicit and explicit aspects of self is important for the prediction of behaviour. It has been found, for instance, that individuals who consciously feel positively about themselves, but who harbour self-doubts and insecurities at less conscious levels, are particularly defensive in social contexts (Jordan et al., 2005). Furthermore, Greenwald and Farnham (2000) found that high levels of implicit and explicit self-esteem decreased the occurrence of racial prejudice among participants. Individuals for whom implicit and explicit self-esteem scores were divergent tended to display increased levels of prejudiced behaviour. It is from these findings that ideas on the contribution of explicit and implicit exerciser self-schema on exercise behaviour can be based. Individuals that explicitly rate themselves as exerciser schematics, but who do not associate exercise with self at less conscious levels, may be less likely to adhere to exercise than individuals who are high in both implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema.

The first aim of the present study is to determine whether implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema are differentiable. The influence of these constructs on absolute levels of exercise behaviour will then be examined. Finally, we will investigate whether implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema moderate the intention–behaviour relationship and whether intention mediates the effect of self-schema on exercise behaviour. Four hypotheses are offered: First, similar to other areas of self, it is hypothesised that implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema will be related but unique facets of cognition. Secondly, both implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema are hypothesised to relate positively to absolute levels of exercise behaviour in addition to the contribution from intentions. It is also hypothesised that explicit and implicit exerciser self-schema will moderate the intention–behaviour relationship. Finally, given that intentions are consciously held, a significant amount of the effect of explicit (but not implicit) exerciser self-schema on exercise behaviour is expected to be mediated by intentions.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 102 adults who were currently exercising at least once a week. Current exercisers were chosen because they were likely to hold at least some intention to exercise in the near future. Most participants were recruited from fitness centres in a large Australian city. In addition to these, 14 participants were recruited through the university on the basis that they engaged in fitness activities at the university. The recruiting system allowed researchers to assume that

Implicit vs. explicit exerciser self-schema

The first hypothesis was assessed by examining the correlation between implicit exerciser self-schema and explicit exerciser self-schema. This correlation (r = 0.216, p = 0.032) supported our hypothesis that these constructs would be related but distinct elements of self-schema.

Exerciser self-schema and absolute exercise levels

Hierarchical linear regression procedures were used to investigate the effects of self-schema on exercise behaviour. In line with regression analyses performed by Grove and Heard (1997) the unique contribution of implicit

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between implicit and explicit components of exerciser self-schema. We also sought to determine the influence of these constructs on exercise behaviour and investigate their role in the TpB. As hypothesised, we obtained a weak correlation between implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema. The magnitude of the correlation in this study was similar to those observed for relationships involving other implicit and explicit aspects of

Conclusions

Based on the findings from this research, future investigations examining the development of self-schema should consider both implicit and explicit elements to the construct. Both implicit and explicit exerciser self-schema directly predict exercise behaviour. Explicit exerciser self-schema was also shown to be mediated by exercise intention in its prediction of exercise behaviour.

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