Intention and Habit as Predictors of Physical Activity Attendance: An EMA Study in University Sports

Attendance to physical activity courses may depend on both reflective intentions and automatic habit processes. These processes are best examined close to concrete opportunities for action. This study used an intensive longitudinal design to examine whether intention and habit predict attendance across repeated weekly sports-course episodes. Adults enrolled in university or fitness-center sports courses in Germany (N = 55) completed daily pre-session assessments of intention and post-session assessments of attendance and habit across five weeks. Multilevel logistic regression models tested whether daily within-person fluctuations in intention predicted attendance, whether this association varied by temporal proximity to the session, and whether episode-level within- and between-person intention and habit predicted attendance. Episode-level models used multiple imputation for missing attendance and habit data. At the daily level, higher-than-usual intention predicted greater odds of attendance, OR = 1.92, 95% CI [1.56, 2.38], p < .001. This association was strongest on the day of the session, OR = 3.00, 95% CI [2.03, 4.43], and weakened with increasing temporal distance, interaction OR = 0.84, 95% CI [0.76, 0.93], p = .001. ... mehrAt the episode level, both higher average intention and higher-than-usual episode-level intention predicted attendance in the joint model. Habit did not independently predict attendance, and between-person habit did not moderate the intention–attendance association. Attendance was primarily intention-driven, especially when intentions were assessed close to the behavioral opportunity. Habit showed no reliable association with attendance, possibly because the study captured an early phase of habit formation.