CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 417Behavioral Health and InterventionsPhysical Activity and HealthMotivation and Self-Concept in Sports

Physical exercise habit: on the conceptualization and formation of habitual health behaviours

Open access
Aarts, Henk, Paulussen, Theo, Schaalma, Herman·1997·Health Education Research
DOI 10.1093/her/12.3.363
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

An observation one can make when reviewing the literature on physical activity is that health-enhancing exercise habits tend to wear off as soon as individuals enter adolescence. Therefore, exercise habits should be promoted and preserved early in life. This article focuses on the formation of physical exercise habits. First, the literature on motivational determinants of habitual exercise and related behaviours is discussed, and the concept of habit is further explored. Based on this literature, a theoretical model of exercise habit formation is proposed. More specifically, expanding on the idea that habits are the result of automated cognitive processes, it is argued that physical exercise habits are capable of being automatically activated by the situational features that normally precede these behaviours. These habits may enhance health as a result of consistent performance over a long period of time. Subsequently, obstacles to the formation of exercise habits are discussed and interventions that may anticipate these obstacles are presented. Finally, implications for theory and practice are briefly discussed.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/her/12.3.363

Cites

57 of 57 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Habits are behavioural patterns learned through context-dependent repetition; repeated performance in unvarying settings reinforces context-behaviour associations such that encountering the context is sufficient to automatically cue the habitual response.

    “Habits are behavioural patterns learned through context-dependent repetition [17][18][19][20]: repeated performance in unvarying settings reinforces context-behaviour associations such that, subsequently, encountering the context is sufficient to automatically cue the habitual response [21].”

    From A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Applications of the Self-Report Habit Index to Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviours (2011) · cites this paper as [18]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Aarts, H., Paulussen, T., Willemse, C, Schaalma, H., Bolman, C. and De Nooyer, J. (1997) Prevention of cardiovascular diseases: a review of international studies on the promotion of physical activity among youth. The Hague/Woerden/ Maastricht: Dutch Heart Foundation, NIGZ, Maastricht University.
  2. Uleman, J. S. and Bargh, J. A. (eds), Unintended Thought. Guilford Press, New York.
  3. Bijnen, F. C. H., Caspersen, C. J. and Mesterd, W. L. (1993) Physical activity as a risk factor for coronary hearth disease. A WHO/SFC statement for governments, heart foundations, societies of cardiology and other health professionals. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 71, 71-76.
  4. Pekka, O. (1996) What are the criteria for health-enhancing physical activity? Paper presented at the Conference on Promotion of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity: A Preparatory European Meeting, April 12-14. Tampere, Finland.
  5. Verplanken, B., Aarts, H. and van Knippenberg, A. (1997) Habit, information acquisition, and the process of making travel mode choices. European Journal of Social Psychology, in press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Aarts, H., Paulussen, T., & Schaalma, H.
Affiliations
  • Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
  • Maastricht University (NL)
ORCID
Venue
Health Education Research
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1997
Volume
12
Issue
3
Pages
363-374
ISSN
  • 0268-1153 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-3648
DOI
10.1093/her/12.3.363
OpenAlex
W2120255154
Cited by
417
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 18
FWCI
5.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Health Education Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
Keywords
exercise habits, habit formation, motivational factors, adolescent physical activity, barriers to exercise, exercise intervention
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Child, Habits, Humans, Mental Processes, Motivation, Psychological Theory, Exercise

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review