Past behaviour guides future responses through 2 processes. Well-practiced behaviours in constant contexts recur because the processing that initiates and controls their performance becomes automatic. Frequency of past behaviour then reflects habit strength and has a direct effect on future performance. Alternately, when behaviours are not well learned or when they are performed in unstable or difficult contexts, conscious decision making is likely to be necessary to initiate and carry out the behaviour. Under these conditions, past behaviour (along with attitudes and subjective norms) may contribute to intentions, and behaviour is guided by intentions. These relations between past behaviour and future behaviour are substantiated in a meta-analytic synthesis of prior research on behaviour prediction and in a primary research investigation. (A)
Samenvatting