Executive functions and trait self-control help people to realize their physical activity intentions

What is it about?

Self-control is the ability to alter one’s responses (e.g., thoughts, and behaviors) based on goals, ideals, or other standards. This paper examines the interplay of executive functions (cognitive operations that enable control of behavior over lower-level cognitive processes) and trait self-control to explain why people fail or succeed in translating their physical activity intention into action.

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Why is it important?

Our comprehensive model incorporating measures of self-report trait self-control and three executive function domains (inhibition, updating, and shifting) supports the idea that combining different operationalizations of self-control leads to more sophisticated predictions of health behaviors.