Habit Facilitates Actioning Sun Protective Behavior Intentions.
Behav Med
; 48(4): 313-319, 2022.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33978561
ABSTRACT
Skin cancer is highly burdensome, but preventable with regular engagement in sun protective behaviors. Despite modest effectiveness of sun-protective behavior promotional efforts thus far, rates of engagement in sun-protective behaviors remain low. More is needed to understand motivation for using sunscreen, wearing sun-protective clothing, and seeking shade. This study tested whether the links of intention and habit strength with behavior differed between sun-protective behaviors. It was hypothesized that sun protective behaviors would be predicted by both habit and intention and that intention-behavior associations would be weaker for people with stronger habits. Participants residing in Queensland, Australia (N = 203; 75.96% female; M age = 37.16 years, SD = 14.67) self-reported their intentions and habit strength about sun-protective behavior for the next 7 days. Participants were followed-up 7 days later to self-report their sun-protective behavior. Multilevel modeling, accounting for nesting of multiple behaviors within-person, revealed that habit moderated the intention strength - behavior association and this moderation effect did not differ as a function of which behavior was being predicted. People with strong or moderate habit strength tended to act in line with their intentions; however, for people with very weak habits (2 SD < M), there was less alignment between their intention and behavior. These findings suggest that habit plays a facilitative role in the implementation of strong sun protective behavior intentions. Interventions should consider how to encourage intention and habit to enhance sun-protective behaviors and reduce the burden of skin cancer from sun exposure.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https//doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2021.1903380 .
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Neoplasias Cutâneas
/
Intenção
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Behav Med
Assunto da revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
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PSIQUIATRIA
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article