How Attitudes Influence Behavior-Jogging and Engaging in Physical Activity

How Attitudes Influence Behavior-Jogging and Engaging in Physical Activity

For this exercise, I reflected on the beginning of last year when I decided to spare 15 minutes to jog and engage in physical activity. The following were identified during this reflection.

My attitude towards the behavior was enthusiastic.

My behavior control was the promise and threat. The promise was that I would be healthy and minimize the risks of illnesses. The threat was that failure to jog and exercise would make me unhealthy and increase my risk of diabetes, obesity, or coronary diseases.

The subjective norm related to this behavior was that everyone, including doctors, approved of 15 minutes of running or jogging.

My behavioral intention was the trust that this behavior would bring forth better health outcomes. In other words, it is the right thing for my body.

The resultant behavior was a good feeling about my body, physical appearance, and health.

Enthusiasm encouraged me to start the new behavior as soon as possible. Therefore, it helped me overcome procrastination. Promises and threats helped me see the importance of the behavior on my health. The subjective norm motivated me to believe this behavior was correct and recommended (Ashford et al., 2018). The behavior intention gave me endurance since making running a habit is difficult. The resultant behavior also intensified my desire to endure the process of changing into this new behavior. In my opinion, subjective norms had the most influence because the behavior was supported by doctors and approved by everyone (Ashford et al., 2018). Therefore, I knew that I was doing the right thing. The resultant behavior had the least influence since I intended to be healthy and not build my body.

If a client faced a similar decision, the knowledge acquired would influence how I help the client in the initial steps and normalize the behavior. I would help the client find intrinsic motivation in the initial steps since attitude formation requires some intrinsic motivation (Ashford et al., 2018). I would then proceed and use reward to shape the behavior as described in operant conditioning.

References

Ashford, J. B., Lecroy, C. W., & Williams, L. R. (2018). Human behavior in the social environment: A multidimensional perspective (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

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Textbook link: Chapter 2
https://ebooks.cenreader.com/#!/reader/5b8ca428-a1a4-4440-a3f4-c4663aaf5cae/page/fbcdf1214f1c8f3f080f9bda05ad31ac

Reflect upon a behavioral decision you have made (e.g., dieting, making changes in your sleep schedule, reading more, etc.…). Consider the attitudes you had regarding that decision.

Identify:
a. Your attitude toward the behavior,
b. your perceived behavioral control,
c. The subjective norms,
d. Your behavioral intention, and
e. The resultant behavior.

How did each of the above elements contribute to your behavior? Which variables had the most (or least) influence? Why?
How did each of the above elements contribute to your behavior? Which variables had the most (or least) influence? Why?
If one of your clients were facing a similar decision, how might your knowledge of the research on attitude formation and change influence your approach to working with them?