1. Participants' enactment of behavior change techniques: a call for increased focus on what people do to manage their motivation and behavior
- Author
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Nelli Hankonen, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty Common Matters (Faculty of Social Sciences), Social Psychology, Research Group of Nelli Hankonen, Academic Disciplines of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, and Unit of Social Research
- Subjects
515 Psychology ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social and Personality Psychology|Interventions ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Health Psychology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social and Personality Psychology ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social and Personality Psychology|Self-regulation ,Complex problems ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social and Personality Psychology|Motivational Behavior ,Focus (computing) ,Motivation ,030505 public health ,business.industry ,Behavior change ,Behavior change methods ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Health Psychology|Health-related Behavior ,Public relations ,PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,5144 Social psychology ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Health Psychology ,5141 Sociology ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Social Psychology ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Personality and Social Contexts ,InformationSystems_MISCELLANEOUS ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Intervention effectiveness does not only depend on fidelity of intervention delivery, but also the enactment, or use, of behavior change techniques (BCTs) by the participants. For example, it is not sufficient that intervention provider prompts an intervention participant to self-monitor their physical activity, but crucially, the participant enacts self-monitoring. Theoretical and conceptual work integrating various strands of research into ‘what a person can do for oneself’ to change behavior is needed. This paper argues how this would aid in designing for, assessing, and promoting the use individuals’ self-management techniques, and ultimately, our understanding of sustained behavior change. The recently published, integrative compendium of self-enactable techniques to change and self-manage motivation and behavior can act as a useful starting point for this work. An increased focus on the enactment of BCTs would help clarify intervention processes, help explain trial outcomes, and potentially enhance intervention effectiveness.
- Published
- 2020