Improving Consistency of Goal Attainment to Increase Physical Activity

Researchers have successfully increased physical activity with self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback. Goal attainment is a crucial part of what makes goal setting successful; however, it is often unreported in the literature or implied that goals were not reached consistently. A potential way...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Solley, Elizabeth Anne
Format: Others
Published: Scholar Commons 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5314
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6510&context=etd
Description
Summary:Researchers have successfully increased physical activity with self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback. Goal attainment is a crucial part of what makes goal setting successful; however, it is often unreported in the literature or implied that goals were not reached consistently. A potential way to achieve this consistency is to create an action plan, or a detailed account of exactly how and when the individual will engage in the desired physical activity to reach his or her goal. This study evaluated whether making a detailed action plan would allow individuals to reach their physical activity goals more consistently than when using goal setting and self-monitoring alone. Action planning increased goal attainment for all participants but only resulted in increased physical activity for 2 of 3 participants. Future research should replicate this study to validate these findings and further explore methods for improving the success of goal setting as an intervention.