title: Acting on intentions: the role of anticipated regret.
abstract: Three studies tested the hypothesis that anticipated regret (AR) increases consistency between exercise intentions and behaviour. Study 1 employed a longitudinal survey design (N = 384). Measures specified by the theory of planned behaviour, past behaviour, and AR were used to predict self-reported exercise behaviour 2 weeks later. AR moderated the intention-behaviour relationship such that participants were most likely to exercise if they both intended to exercise and anticipated regret if they failed to exercise. Study 2 used an experimental design to examine the effect of focusing on AR prior to reporting intentions (N = 229). Exercise was measured 2 weeks later and the AR-focus manipulation was found to moderate the intention-behaviour relationship in a similar manner to that observed in Study 1. In Study 3 (N = 97), moderation was replicated and was shown to be mediated by the temporal stability of intention.
authors.affiliation: University of Sussex, UK. s.c.s.abraham@sussex.ac.uk
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: Paschal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheeran
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D004644:Emotions; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom