Why does asking questions change health behaviours? The mediating role of attitude accessibility.
OBJECTIVE
The question-behaviour effect (QBE) refers to the finding that measuring behavioural intentions increases performance of the relevant behaviour. This effect has been used to change health behaviours. The present research asks why the QBE occurs and evaluates one possible mediator-attitude accessibility.


METHODS
University staff and students (N = 151) were randomly assigned to an intention measurement condition where they reported their intentions to eat healthy foods, or to one of two control conditions.


METHODS
Participants completed a response latency measure of attitude accessibility, before healthy eating behaviour was assessed unobtrusively using an objective measure of snacking.


RESULTS
Intention measurement participants exhibited more accessible attitudes towards healthy foods, and were more likely to choose a healthy snack, relative to control participants. Furthermore, attitude accessibility mediated the relationship between intention measurement and behaviour.


CONCLUSIONS
This research demonstrates that increased attitude accessibility may explain the QBE, extending the findings of previous research to the domain of health behaviour.
a Department of Psychology , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK.
Chantelle
C
Wood
Mark
M
Conner
Tracy
T
Sandberg
Gaston
G
Godin
Paschal
P
Sheeran
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult