Wood, C, Conner, M, Sandberg, T et al. (2 more authors) (2014) Why does asking questions change health behaviours? The mediating role of attitude accessibility. Psychology and Health, 29 (4). pp. 390-404. ISSN 0887-0446
Abstract
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. Design: 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.Main outcome measures: 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. Conclusion: This research demonstrates that increased attitude accessibility may explain the QBE, extending the findings of previous research to the domain of health behaviour.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2013 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted. |
Keywords: | question-behaviour effect, mere-measurement, attitude accessibility, intentions, behaviour change, healthy eating |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jun 2016 10:44 |
Last Modified: | 11 Apr 2018 13:22 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2013.858343 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/08870446.2013.858343 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:97094 |