Changing environmentally harmful behaviors: A stage model of self-regulated behavioral change

This article takes the model of action phases (MAP, Heckhausen & Gollwitzer, 1987) as a theoretical basis for conceptualizing behavioral change as a transition through a time-ordered sequence of four qualitatively different stages: predecisional, preactional, actional, and postactional. The constructs of goal intention, behavioral intention, and implementation intention provide the criteria for when an individual transits from one stage to the next. However, because MAP does not describe in detail psychological factors contributing to stage progression, constructs taken from the norm-activation model (Schwartz & Howard, 1981) and the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) are integrated. Results of a first correlational study (N = 908) identified four homogeneous stage subgroups. As expected, the probability of stage assignment was associated significantly with the three intention types marking the transition from one stage to the next. The proposed sets of stage-specific social-cognitive variables were powerful predictors of these three intention types. Potential implications of the model for systematic intervention development are discussed.

► Stage models are introduced as frameworks for explaining behavioral change.
► The model of action phases is used as a rational for stages of behavioral change.
► Constructs taken from the NAM and TPB are integrated as stage determinants.
► Two statistical models appropriate for testing stage models are introduced.
► Implications of the stage model for tailored intervention development are discussed.