Social Cognitive Theory and Physical Activity

1. Social Cognitive Theory and Physical Activity EPHE 348

2. Rise of Social Cognition • History in phobia research • Understanding of • 1) behavioural expectation • 2) value placed on the expectation • 3) the perception of capability to execute the behaviour

3. Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura) • Mix of operant learning, social learning, and cognitive theory • Theory postulates that behaviour, the environment, and personal factors all interact continuously

4. Behavior (Type, Frequency, Duration, etc.) Environmental Factors (Group, Equipment, Facility, etc.) Personal Factors (Cognition, Attitude, Mood, etc.) Figure 12.1

5. Behavior Performance Experiences Vicarious Experiences Self-Efficacy Expectancies Verbal Persuasion Physiological States Cognition Emotional States Figure 12.2

6. Efficacy Measurement • General efficacy • Barrier/coping efficacy • Task efficacy

7. Research Focus • Self-efficacy is theorized as specific but confidence to overcome various barriers are usually summed to create self-efficacy scales • What if efficacy also differs by barrier?

8. Research Focus Cont… • 683 Canadian adults sampled by measuring SE and PA across three time periods • Results suggested that barriers differed by mean and variance (thus not interchangeable) • Individual barriers explained 7-8% more variance in PA than the aggregate scales • Rhodes, R.E., Plotnikoff, R.C., & Spence, J.C. (2004). Creating parsimony at the expense of precision? Conceptual and applied issues of aggregating belief-based constructs in physical activity research. Health Education Research, 19, 392-405.

9. Self-efficacy and PA • Arguably the most validated and consistent construct associated with PA • Associated with intention, mood states, and behaviour (McAuley et al. 1999)

10. Research Focus • SE has a remarkably wide measurement domain • Often measured using confidence appraisal • What if people answer confidence items in terms of motivation independent of ability?

11. Research Focus • Several samples (adult & undergraduate) measured with confidence items, confidence if motivated, intention, etc. • Results all show that confidence items are redundant with intention unless “if I wanted to…” is included

12. Research Focus • Confidence items have a measurement domain beyond SE – often measuring motivation in entirety • Rhodes, R.E., & Courneya, K.S. (2004). Differentiating motivation and control in the theory of planned behavior. Psychology, Health, and Medicine, 9, 205-215. • Rhodes, R.E. & Courneya, K.S. (2003). Self-efficacy, controllability, and intention in the theory of planned behavior: Measurement redundancy or causal independence? Psychology and Health, 18, 79-91. • Rhodes, R.E. & Blanchard, C.M. (2007). What do confidence items measure in the physical activity domain? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 753-768.

13. Research Focus • E.g., Blanchard et al. & Rodgers et al. (2004-2009) • Task and Barrier efficacy may have importance at different times during the exercise adoption and maintenance process – particularly in rehabilitation populations

14. Task • Develop your gold standard 1) self-efficacy enhancing program for sedentary: • Children • Adults • Older Adults • Use the principles of efficacy building!