Theory of planned behaviour (TPB), implementation intentions (IMIs) from unwanted inner states, study intentions and behaviours, and academic performance: An integrative model

Intention is considered as a key determinant of
behaviour in goal theories and theories of
attitude-behaviour relations (e.g., Theory of
Planned Behaviour (TPB)). However, the
intention-behavior relation is relatively weak,
largely a consequence of people having good
intentions but failing to act on them. A
distinction must be made between forming an
intention, a motivational process, and
implementing it, a volitional one. Volition
addresses the regulation of behavior after the
intention has been formed. Problems of goal
implementation involve action initiation or
ongoing goal striving from getting derailed.
Implementation Intentions (IMIs) are a specific
volitional tool which consists of specifying an
anticipated cue (‘If’ component) as a condition
for initiating or protecting goal-directed
responses (‘then’ component). These kinds of
intentions lead to more frequent goal
attainment compared to setting mere goal
intentions. In the health domain, IMIs were
specifically proved to increase the likelihood of
realizing intentions when shielding ongoing goal
pursuits from disruptive inner states. In the
present field of research, it was investigated in
the academic domain whether some inner
states, which could impair study, could be
specified in the ‘if’ component of IMIs and linked
to an effective shielding response in the ‘then’
part. These intentions were also assumed to
trigger not only motivational control actions, but
also intentions of learning behaviours and to
mediate the effects of the classical variables of
the TPB on academic performance. 207
freshmen students completed longitudinal
questionnaires and Structural Equation
Modelling was employed (Lisrel; Robust
Maximum Likelihood Method). IMIs geared at
controlling interfering motivational inner states
enhanced the rate of actions protecting goalstriving
and triggered intentions of learning
strategies, which were positive antecedents of
study behaviors. IMIs totally mediated the effect
of classical variables of TPB. The whole model
increased the amount of explained variance of
academic performance above the contribution
of the constructs of the TPB (R2 =.35). In the
academic domain, use of unwanted motivational
inner states as initiators of goal-shielding
responses through IMIs maximizes the effects of
simple intentions to make good marks. IMIs are
also a self-regulating tool capable of inducing
intentions and behaviors of applying learning
strategies, which are positive antecedents of
academic performance.