Relations among Exercise Imagery, Self-Efficacy, Exercise Behavior, and Intentions

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether exercise imagery contributed to the prediction of exercise behavior and intentions over and above self-efficacy. Whereas self-efficacy has been demonstrated to be a robust predictor of exercise intentions and behavior such a role of imagery has not been examined. Imagery, however, has been postulated to be a potential source of self-efficacy beliefs, therefore, it is possible that the influence of these two variables might not be independent. Recently, different types of self-efficacy (task, coping, and scheduling) and different types of imagery (appearance, technique, and energy) have been proposed and associated with different levels of exercise involvement. The relative influence of these types of self-efficacy and imagery was assessed in two samples of exercisers ( n = 388, n = 223) using hierarchical regressions. Results indicated that scheduling and coping efficacy were important predictors of exercise behavior, and that two types of self-efficacy and appearance imagery were significant predictors of behavioral intention. These results offer support for different functions of the different types of self-efficacy and imagery. They also suggest that influence of self-efficacy and imagery on behavioral intentions is not redundant.

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