THE ROLE OF SELF-SCHEMA IN LINKING INTENTIONS WITH BEHAVIOR

It was hypothesized that self-schema would moderate the relationship b etween dieting female undergraduates' dieting intentions and their beh avior. The predicted pattern was found: Schematics showed a significan t correlation between their intentions and their dieting behavior over 8 weeks, but aschematics did not. This finding held even when dieting experience was taken into account. Although the groups showed similar stability of specific dieting intentions, schematics had more stable general dieting intentions. The pattern of correlations over time show ed that schematics and aschematics were comparable in initial attempts to act on their intentions, both lapsed during semester break, but on ly schematics recovered from their lapse. Implications for the role of the self in the implementation of ''costly'' intentions are discussed .