The Relation Between Past Behavior, Intention, Planning, and Quitting Smoking: The Moderating Effect of Future Orientation

Abstract

The present study examined the moderating effects of two measures of future orientation on the relation between intention, planning, and past behavior on the one hand, and quitting smoking on the other. The degree of future orientation was assessed by the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) Scale and the Stanford Time Perspective Inventory (STPI). Both CFC and STPI significantly moderated the intention-quitting behavior and past behavior-quitting behavior relationships. CFC also moderated the relation between planning and quitting behavior, whereas STPI failed to moderate the planning-quitting relation. The results indicate that the extent to which a person is future oriented represents an important moderating variable when it comes to the relation between deliberative processes and actual behavior. The implications of the results are discussed.

A Neural Mechanism Mediating the Impact of Episodic Prospection on Farsighted Decisions

“…The impact of episodic prospection was particularly strong for those individuals who are usually less prone to consider the future consequences of their actions. This variable has been shown to mediate, among others, socioeconomic inequalities in health behaviors (Adams, 2009), the relationship between beliefs regarding environmental consequences of commuting by car and the preference to take public transport (Joireman et al, 2004), and between planning and actually quitting smoking (Kovač and Rise, 2007). Directed episodic prospection might accordingly have a beneficial impact on decision making in these domains.…”

Bidirectional Associations Between Future Time Perspective and Substance Use Among Continuation High-School Students

“…FTP may be an important part of a causal chain in the initiation or cessation of substance use. Although no formal discussion of FTP as a mediator was found, we located two intervention studies that successfully targeted FTP for change (Hall & Fong, 2003; Marko & Savickas, 1998); meanwhile the vast majority of studies have considered it an individual difference variable and discussed ways that program effects may differ or program messages may need to be tailored to accommodate an individual’s time perspective (Carey, Henson, Carey, & Maisto, 2007; Keough et al, 1999; Kovac & Rise, 2007). …”

Time perspective as a predictor of smoking status: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in Scotland, France, Germany, China, and Malaysia

“…Only a few studies have specifically examined the role of time perspective in the domain of tobacco use [12,13,21,22], but the evidence thus far indicates that time perspective can predict both smoking initiation among youth and cessation behavior among adult smokers. For instance, in a sample of high school students who completed the North American Student Smoking Survey (NASSS), scores on a time perspective scale were shown to predict smoking status as well as likelihood of initiation among those who had never smoked [8].…”