title: Mind the Gap? An Intensive Longitudinal Study of Between-Person and Within-Person Intention-Behavior Relations.
abstract: Despite their good intentions, people often do not eat healthily. This is known as the intention-behavior gap. Although the intention-behavior relationship is theorized as a within-person process, most evidence is based on between-person differences.
  
  
  
  The purpose of the present study is to investigate the within-person intention-behavior association for unhealthy snack consumption.
  
  
  
  Young adults (N = 45) participated in an intensive longitudinal study. They reported intentions and snack consumption five times daily for 7 days (n = 1068 observations analyzed).
  
  
  
  A within-person unit difference in intentions was associated with a halving of the number of unhealthy snacks consumed in the following 3 h (CI95 27-70 %). Between-person differences in average intentions did not predict unhealthy snack consumption.
  
  
  
  Consistent with theory, the intention-behavior relation for healthy eating is best understood as a within-person process. Interventions to reduce unhealthy snacking should target times of day when intentions are weakest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 219 Schermerhorn Ext, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA. ji2230@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Inauen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Shrout
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 219 Schermerhorn Ext, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Niall
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bolger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 219 Schermerhorn Ext, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Gertraud
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stadler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Urte
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Scholz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D062410:Snacks / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ecological momentary assessment; Health behavior; Intention-behavior gap; Intraindividual and interindividual associations; Snack consumption