Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 2017, 39, 43-55
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2015-0330
© 2017 Human Kinetics, Inc.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Applying the Integrated Behavior Change Model to
Understanding Physical Activity Among Older Adults:
A Qualitative Study
Urska Arnautovska, Frances O’Callaghan, and Kyra Hamilton
Griffith University
We explored older adults’ experiences of physical activity (PA) and related decision-making processes
underlying PA. Twenty Australians (Mage = 73.8 years) participated in semistructured interviews. Data were
analyzed using thematic analysis, and identified themes were matched deductively within motivational,
volitional, and implicit processes of the integrated behavior change model for PA. Motivational influences
such as participants’ time orientation toward health and perceptions of what PA should be like were frequently
featured in participants’ narratives. Volitional processes were also identified, with participants reporting
different ways of coping with competing priorities. Physical surroundings and habitual PA were the identified
themes within implicit processes. Together, these findings contribute to a better understanding of subjective
experiences of older adults regarding PA. They also add to a more contextual understanding of multiple
decision-making processes underpinning older adults’ PA engagement. Identified concepts may be used in
future research and PA interventions targeting older adults.
Keywords: aged, exercise, integrated behavior change model, older adults, physical activity, qualitative
approach
In response to the aging of the global population and
the significant implications for current health systems
(WHO, 2012), governments have been encouraged to
facilitate physical activity (PA) as one of the key drivers
supporting healthy aging (WHO, 2002). There is evidence that PA has significant benefits for older adults
specifically. These benefits extend to physical health
(Williams, Eastwood, Tillin, Hughes, & Chaturvedi,
2014), including reducing the risk of age-related illness
such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease
(Lee et al., 2012), as well as to mental health, such as
buffering the decline in cognitive functioning and
associated changes in one’s mood and psychological
well-being (Norton, Matthews, Barnes, Yaffe, &
Brayne, 2014). Despite initiatives promoting PA, a large
proportion of older adults remain inactive (Harvey,
Chastin, & Skelton, 2013). Given the complexity of
influences that can affect health behavior in later life
(Ziegelmann & Knoll, 2015), it is vital to capture a
comprehensive picture of influences specific to PA in
older adults that will reflect their subjective experiences
and perspectives about PA.
The authors are with the School of Applied Psychology and
Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane,
Australia. Address author correspondence to Urska Arnautovska at
urska.arnautovska@griffithuni.edu.au.
Researchers have recently suggested adopting a
theoretically integrative approach toward understanding
human behavior (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2014;
Hagger et al., 2016), including health behaviors such as
PA (Fishbein & Yzer, 2003; Hamilton, Cox, & White,
2012). The integrated behavior change (IBC) model
(Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2014), based on the theory of
planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991), provides a useful
model for understanding PA among adults generally. In the
IBC, the TPB was extended to include autonomous motivation (i.e., performance of a given behavior out of inherent
interest and enjoyment; see Deci & Ryan, 2008) as the
antecedent of the core TPB constructs. It is proposed that
attitudes, perceptions of others’ approval (i.e., subjective
norms), and control beliefs (i.e., perceived behavioral
control) about PA—which represent proximal determinants of intentions—are expected to be facilitated by an
individual’s sense of autonomous motivation.
In addition, to bridge the intention–behavior gap, the
IBC includes a volitional phase in which action plans,
consistent with a large body of empirical evidence
(Hamilton, Cox, et al., 2012; Hamilton, Bonham, Bishara,
Kroon, & Schwarzer, 2016; Thomson, White, & Hamilton,
2012; Wiedemann, Schüz, Sniehotta, Scholz, & Schwarzer,
2009; Zhou, Sun Knoll, Hamilton, & Schwarzer, 2015;
Zhou et al., 2015), are proposed to facilitate recall and
translation of intentions into behavior. However, inconsistent findings on the role of self-regulatory strategies,
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Arnautovska, O’Callaghan, and Hamilton
such as planning, remain within the literature on older
adults’ PA (Caudroit, Stephan, & Le Scanff, 2011; Fleig
et al., 2013). For instance, in contrast to some studies that
demonstrated the importance of planning in facilitating
PA in older adults (e.g., Wolff, Warner, Ziegelmann,
Wurm, & Kliegel, 2016), researchers in other studies
found no effects of planning on older adults’ PA behavior
(Caudroit et al., 2011; Warner, Wolff, Ziegelmann,
Schwarzer, & Wurm, 2016).
Furthermore, in the IBC model, Hagger and
Chatzisarantis (2014) considered the impact of nonconscious processes to explain why a person may find
themselves engaging in PA without prior intention or
plan. For example, individuals’ PA may be triggered by
environmental cues (Hamilton, Cuddihy, & White,
2013; Rhodes, de Bruijn, & Matheson, 2010), such as
exercise equipment or time of day. This can prompt a
pre-existing schema (e.g., habitual pattern) and, by
means of automaticity, result in a spontaneous activation
of the represented behavior (e.g., kicking a ball with
grandchildren or going for a walk). However, given that
interest in the role of nonconscious processes on health
behavior has only recently re-emerged (Rebar et al.,
2016; Sheeran, Gollwitzer, & Bargh, 2013), the processes by which behavior is triggered and, thus, becomes
habitual are currently unclear (Gardner, 2015).
The value of the IBC model is in integrating conscious, reflective processes with nonconscious, implicit
processes. The conscious pathway includes effects of
autonomous motivation on TPB constructs, namely
attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention (i.e., motivational processes). It also
includes the moderating effects of action planning on the
intention–behavior relationship (i.e., volitional processes). Behavior that is influenced by any of these constructs is characterized by conscious action, forethought,
and planning. In contrast, the nonconscious pathway
involves the effects of implicit attitudes and implicit
motivation. These are considered to operate beyond a
person’s conscious awareness and are typically activated
by a specific schema, which prescribes ways of behaving
(i.e., implicit processes). While several researchers
have found nonconscious processes to be important
for PA (e.g., Allom, Mullan, Cowie, & Hamilton,
2016; Rebar et al., 2016; Rhodes et al., 2010), literature
investigating implicit processes alongside other
more conscious motivational and volitional processes
is emerging (Arnautovska, Fleig, O’Callaghan, &
Hamilton, 2017). One way of gaining an understanding
of the multiple cognitive processes guiding older adults’
PA is by exploring their subjective experiences and
perspectives via a qualitative paradigm (Braun &
Clarke, 2013). Qualitative methods are well suited to
help uncover ideas and constructs that are poorly
understood or novel, producing rich and complex accounts of the underlying processes impacting individual
behavior.
Qualitative studies facilitate an understanding of
older adults’ perspectives on PA and offer valuable
insight into the subjective experiences of some specific
groups (McDonald, O’Brien, White, & Sniehotta, 2015;
Thøgersen-Ntoumani et al., 2016). For instance, in a
sample of older adults living with multiple chronic illnesses, Clarke and Bennett (2013) found that age and
gender norms were important for participants. Men’s
stories indicated norms of stoicism, control, and selfreliance, while female narratives indicated a more accepting view of their physical limitations. Similarly, Craciun,
Gellert, and Flick (2015), focusing on the experience of
aging within uncertain socioeconomic contexts (e.g., lack
of pension benefits), highlighted the role of the living-inthe-moment, autonomous self, which is responsive to
changes and socially active. The themes of empowering
and disempowering contexts also appeared dominant in a
review of qualitative studies exploring experiences of PA
among South Asian older adults (Horne & Tierney, 2012).
There is also a line of qualitative research where
researchers have given voice to physically active older
adults (Dionigi, Horton, & Baker, 2013; Fisken, Keogh,
Waters, & Hing, 2015; Phoenix & Orr, 2014). For
example, using a narrative social constructionist approach, Phoenix and Orr (2014) indicated that the experience of enjoyment and pleasure is a complex concept,
extending beyond the actual time and space of engagement in the activity. While this combined research has
been invaluable for providing further insight into more
intrinsic aspects of PA motivation, understanding of
experiences in older adults of varying PA levels and
across multiple decision-making processes is currently
limited. Further, qualitative studies, grounded in constructivist epistemology, have indeed enabled unique
understandings of PA as constructed through the experiences of older adults (Hamilton, Chambers, Legg, Oliffe,
& Cormie, 2015). However, given that older adults are
often faced with realistic limitations of age-related illness
and disease (Williams et al., 2014), it seems vital to
acknowledge that these too can shape a person’s meaning
of their subjective experience (Clarke & Bennett, 2013).
It is useful, therefore, that the epistemological underpinnings of a study by Bhaskar (1978), exploring older
adults’ personal experiences of PA, account for both the
agentic role of a person (constructivist position) and the
reality of their personal and social influences (realist
position), as in the case of critical realism.
The purpose of the current study was to explore older
adults’ views and experiences of PA participation, with a
specific focus on the perceived sociocognitive and motivational influences that impact their decisions about PA.
The identified themes were then analyzed with reference to
the three behavioral decision-making processes (motivational, volitional, and implicit), based on the IBC model.
Method
This study represents the first study within a larger
program of research exploring the influences on, and key
predictors of, older adults’ PA. The aim of the current
paper is to understand and identify, through the
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Integrative Approach to Older Adults’ Physical Activity
subjective reality of older adults, key sociocognitive and
motivational influences on PA in old age. A subaim to
the aforementioned overarching aim was to explore
older adults’ understanding of PA within the process
of aging; these findings are reported in Arnautovska,
O’Callaghan, and Hamilton (2017). This subaim was
decided during the design process and was deemed
advantageous in gaining insight into how older adults
themselves view PA. Specifically, it allowed us to understand if and how their views on PA and PA behavior had
changed as they aged. In addition, this latter subaim was
considered important in guiding our further research,
where findings would be applied to a future PA intervention for older adults.
The current study, while independent of other studies in the broader research program, was used to inform
the development of subsequent studies. The interviews
were conducted between October 2013 and May 2014
in South East Queensland, Australia, before the commencement of the subsequent studies within this program of research. Older adults participating in the
current study were invited to be recontacted regarding
their participation in the subsequent study, which included a community-based survey including 215 older
adults (see Arnautovska, Fleig, et al., 2017). Ethics
approval was obtained from the university human research ethics committee.
Critical Realism Research Philosophy
Positioned between realism and constructivism, critical
realism (Bhaskar, 1978), which is akin to contextualism
(Braun & Clarke, 2013), is used by researchers to argue
that people’s behavior is guided by their understanding
and meaning about the behavior, which has been shaped
within a specific social or historical context. The meaning exists regardless of whether the observer or researcher is aware of it or not. In addition, by adopting critical
realism, researchers recognize the transient nature of
knowledge about these objects, which is embedded
within the context of structural or situational constraints
(e.g., physical illness). This means that “complete
explanations of social events and processes cannot be
reduced to the intentions of agents without reference to
structural properties or to structural forms without reference to the intentions and beliefs of agents” (Scott, 2007,
p. 15). Adopting this position, qualitative methods can
be complemented with quantitative approaches. Given
that this study forms part of a larger mixed-methods
project with a common focus, this seems particularly
appropriate.
Participants
Individuals were eligible to participate if they were aged
65 years or older, lived independently in the community,
reported no cognitive impairment, and had no medical
restriction on engaging in PA of at least moderate
intensity. Maximum variation sampling (Patton, 2002)
45
was employed to allow for a diversity of views and
experiences regarding gender, PA level, and socioeconomic status (SES) as indicated by the Socio-Economic
Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), a measure of an area’s
relative advantage or disadvantage (Australian Bureau
of Statistics, 2013). A low SEIFA score, among other
things, indicates that an area has many households with
low income and many people in low-skilled occupations
or with no formal qualifications. A high score, in general,
indicates that there are few households with low income
and few people in low-skilled occupations or with no
formal qualifications. Four participants lived in an area
with SEIFA 1–3 (including 30% of the lowest areas),
five in an area with SEIFA 4–7, and 11 in an area with
SEIFA 8–10 (including 30% of the highest areas).
Participants were recruited through a variety of methods
including word of mouth, face-to-face presentations at
community events and organizations (e.g., leisure centers), and fliers in local newspapers.
Participants included 9 women and 11 men, aged
67–87 years (mean age 73.8 years), and all were White.
Ten participants were married, 6 widowed, and
4 single. In terms of education, 11 had completed high
school or less, 2 had a diploma or trade certificate, and
7 had completed at least an undergraduate tertiary
degree. Seventeen participants were retired, while 3
were still employed (full time). According to the
Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health for
Older Australians (Department of Health, 2014), half
of the participants were sufficiently physically active
(i.e., 5 or more days of a minimum of 30 min of
at least moderate PA each week) and half were insufficiently active.
Data Collection
Older adults participated in 30–60-min semistructured
interviews conducted by the first author at a location
convenient to the participant. At the beginning of each
interview, the participants were familiarized with the
recommended amount of PA, as per national guidelines
(Department of Health, 2014). Moderate-intensity PA
was described as activity that causes faster heartbeat and
some shortness of breath while still being able to talk
comfortably. Participants received a 20 AUD gift voucher to thank them for their participation. Each participant
first completed a short questionnaire that assessed their
demographic information (e.g., age, education level,
suburb of residence) and level of current PA behavior.
PA was measured with a single item that assessed the
number of days in an average week participants
accumulated (in bouts of 10–15 min) at least 30 min
of at least moderate intensity PA (Hamilton, White, &
Cuddihy, 2012).
The main part of the interview consisted of interview questions and probes that were designed to elicit
discussions about influences on PA, including questions
that allowed for consideration of specific circumstances
that impacted PA engagement (i.e., “What different
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Arnautovska, O’Callaghan, and Hamilton
contexts and circumstances make you more/less likely
to do PA?” “What helps/limits you in being physically
active?”). To enhance qualitative credibility (Tracy,
2010), participants were prompted to recall a specific
situation when they felt strongly encouraged to do PA
and a time when they felt strongly discouraged (i.e.,
“What were you thinking in that moment and how did
you feel?”). Formulation of questions was informed by
prior qualitative research on PA in general (Hamilton &
White, 2010a) and, more specifically, in older adults
(Horne & Tierney, 2012). This process was also guided
by several criteria of good practice in qualitative research
(Tracy, 2010), including worthiness of the topic, sincerity (the interviewer practicing being self-reflective),
as well as the research having rich rigor, credibility,
and relational ethics. Upon completion, the interviewer
summarized the discussion to ensure the qualitative
validation of collected information (Braun & Clarke,
2013) and invited each participant to modify or elaborate
on this summary. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim and then imported in NVivo software
(NVivo, 2012) to facilitate coding.
Data Analysis
Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013) was
employed to facilitate the emergence of themes. Such an
approach is not necessarily bound to a specific theoretical framework and so could be used as a contextualist
method. This method, embedded within the frames
of critical realism, allows researchers to “acknowledge
the ways individuals make meanings of their experience
and, in turn, the ways the broader social context
impinges on those meanings” (Braun & Clarke, 2006,
p. 81). The thematic analysis approach was used to
identify, analyze, and report patterns (themes) across the
data. This process involved several steps: data familiarization through reading, rereading, and relistening of
transcripts; generation of initial codes; identification of
themes based on codes; review of themes to ensure
validity of emerging codes into meaningful constructs;
and defining and naming the overarching themes. All
themes were then reviewed, refined, and named, and any
inconsistencies in coding assignment were resolved in
discussions with all the authors. Interviews were then
systematically reviewed, in combination with the relevant
notes that were made during the interview. This process
served as a means of retaining the authenticity of participants’ voices, to ensure that data supported the name
and meaning of the theme, and also to ensure no themes
were missed. Through this iterative process, the point of
data saturation was established. To check for consistency
in allocation of the themes to an individual data item,
author F. O’Callaghan recoded 20% of the data; the interrater percent of agreement (assessed by dividing the
number of coding instances in agreement by the number
of coding instances) was 89%.
Finally, identified themes were organized according to the categories of motivational, volitional, and
implicit processes, based on the IBC model (Hagger &
Chatzisarantis, 2014). This process involved all authors
reflecting on each theme, in terms of whether the
concepts pertaining to the theme were theoretically
underpinned by motivational (i.e., involving factors
impacting the process of forming a conscious intention
to engage in PA), volitional (i.e., involving factors
involved in the translation of intention to behavior),
or implicit processes (i.e., involving factors that are not
under a person’s conscious control but impact their
behavior spontaneously, via an automatic route). It
should be acknowledged that certain parts of participants’ narratives that were outside the scope of the
current research question and referred to their perceptions of the meaning of PA as experienced within the
process of aging are reported elsewhere (Arnautovska,
O’Callaghan, et al., 2017). This information was collected at the start of the interview and consisted of a
small section of the interview as a whole. These initial
questions focused on older adults’ perceived meaning
of PA and any temporal changes in their views on PA
and PA behavior. Participant responses to these initial
questions were analyzed and interpreted within the
framework of the continuity theory of aging (Atchley,
1989) to better understand what PA means to older
adults and how this meaning and experience of PA
may have been shaped by the aging process. In contrast, in the current paper, data were analyzed and
interpreted through the lens of the IBC model (Hagger
& Chatzisarantis, 2014) in order to explore the key
influences on older adults’ PA.
The distinct questions pertaining to both aims
enabled the data from both interview sections to be
analyzed and subsequently interpreted separately. These
distinct processes followed the unique aims of both
papers as well as the underlying philosophical perspectives. These perspectives included the continuity theory
of aging, which emphasizes the evolving and dynamic
process of understanding one’s internal and external
world, including health behavior over time, and the IBC
model, which considers multiple levels of processes by
which PA is influenced and triggered in the present.
Results
Seven main themes emerged from the analysis: (a) time
orientation toward health, (b) mismatch between age and
PA, (c) intrinsic–extrinsic motivation, (d) social support,
(e) making time, (f) habit and routine, and (g) physical
surroundings. The first four themes were classified as
motivational processes, fifth theme (making time) as a
volitional process, and the last two themes as implicit
processes. Results were similar across individual interviews and, thus, are organized around the three processes of the IBC model. Furthermore, the occurrence
of themes was relatively consistent across activity
level. Given that the aim of the study was to identify
commonly held perspectives of older adults toward
PA pertaining to each decision-making process, the
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Integrative Approach to Older Adults’ Physical Activity
most salient emerging themes expressed across all participants are presented here. Each theme is presented in
detail, and subthemes are supported with relevant
quotes. For each quote, relevant participant details are
presented for sex (F = female; M = male), age, SEIFA
score (S1–S10), and PA level (ACT = sufficiently active
and NACT = insufficiently active, according to the
Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health for
Older Australians; Department of Health, 2014). Refer
to Table 1 for an overview of the main themes, subthemes, and selected quotes across the full sample.
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Motivational Processes
Time orientation toward health. Three subthemes of
time orientation toward health were future-oriented,
present-oriented, and past-oriented. For over half of the
participants, the predominant orientation was toward the
future. They viewed their PA engagement as preventing
potential age-related illness and disease, or in three
cases, they aimed to minimize their risk of developing
a specific illness (e.g., coronary heart disease). These
participants also engaged in PA to stay alive and enjoy
life as long as possible: “keep healthy because I’m
looking at the future” (M, 75, S9, ACT). In addition to
accruing future physical benefits, these participants also
engaged in PA to “create a feeling of [psychological]
well-being” (M, 68, S9, ACT) and to help them manage
mental health issues (e.g., depression): “I mean initially
you feel tired, but then you feel invigorated, not just
physically but mentally you feel invigorated, you’re in a
better space because of it” (M, 73, S9, ACT). In contrast,
other participants were more present-oriented. They
perceived their current health status, specifically the
absence of any significant health issues, as a justification
for their present (low) PA levels and did not express
concern about their future health. Rather, they were
satisfied with their current activity that did not require
any effort: “If you go out of your comfort zone, if you
started to do longer walks, you are going to tire yourself
and then it : : : becomes a chore” (M, 75, S9, ACT).
About a third of participants also tended to focus more
on present negative states (e.g., pain, fear, worry over
their safety) around PA engagement rather than positive
future outcomes of PA. Indeed, three participants who
were predominantly past-oriented ceased engaging in
PA because of a negative self-appraisal that made them
believe they could not perform PA at a level they were
used to: “As I got old I think I realized my limitations.
I just don’t suppose I can do everything : : : I realized
I can’t do things that I wanted to do before” (M, 68, S3,
NACT). While they justified their inactivity by citing
age-related health changes such as shortness of breath,
they also admitted they might still be able to do PA but
would feel defeated for not performing at a similar level
to their past performance.
Mismatch between age and PA. About a third of
participants discussed their perceptions of what older
47
age (and the place of PA within older age) should be
like: “You just look a bit silly, don’t you, at my age
running around the place” (M, 68, S6, ACT), reflecting
the ageist beliefs of the broader society. A few participants considered being active as inappropriate for
older adults and were concerned at being ridiculed by
others for exercising. Other negative responses included perceptions of older adults as frail and slow in their
activities and hence inactive in older age. Such accounts were often intertwined with participants noticing the mismatch between their declining physical
capacities and an ideal of their past (higher) PA level,
which was discussed with a sense of disappointment.
Their advanced age was perceived as a barrier to PA,
separate to health issues. In this context, three participants seemed to have stopped doing PA because they
deemed their current capacities as insufficient for maintaining the same types of exercise at previous intensity
level: “I don’t think I’d be up for it [playing football]
now. I don’t think I’d be as fast as what I was” (M, 68,
S3, NACT). Two participants, however, discussed
more positive responses, such as acceptance of older
age as a time of “just a general slowing down : : : [when]
you probably don’t want to do it [PA] so often”
(M, 75, S4, NACT). The same participant also referred
to PA as the ability to “lead a normal everyday life,”
and when a person can “just carry on doing what you
can do,” without the “need to consciously probably
try and do extra physical activities”; rather, a person
should “realize that you can’t do as much as you
used to.”
Intrinsic–extrinsic motivation. Participants’ motivations for PA were intrinsic as well as extrinsic, and
these were not mutually exclusive. Ten participants
discussed intrinsic motivators (e.g., enjoyment over
being active: “it [walking] gives me pleasure”; F, 83,
S8, ACT; “I just love bike riding : : : you’re out in nature,
it’s just a good feeling”; M, 73, S9, ACT). Others (about
one quarter), however, seemed more extrinsically
motivated, by obtaining rewards such as a feeling of
pride over “succeeding at beating everybody in a similar
position, notwithstanding age, so in other words, we do
a degree, I want to be on top. We go to the gym, I have to
be one of the heavy lifters” (M, 71, S9, ACT). Indeed,
the enjoyment for two active men resulted from pursuing
and achieving a challenge, such as lifting heavier
weights than their younger counterparts (i.e., 18- to
30-year-olds). A strong extrinsic motivation was also
derived from expecting to obtain health benefits of
regular PA. A couple of these participants felt responsible for maintaining their health as they age (to not
become a burden on others) and felt guilty when being
inactive: “Those that don’t exercise feel guilty if they are
reminded of it by somebody who is exercising : : : I’ve
noticed it every time. I feel guilty by stopping. They feel
guilty by being reminded” (M, 73, S9, ACT).
The role of social support for PA
engagement was discussed by nearly all participants,
Social support.
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Table 1
Themes and Subthemes, With Selected Quotes to Support the Themes
Main Theme
Subthemes
Examples of Quotations From Participants
Motivational processes
1. Time orientation
toward health
Past-oriented
I suppose I can’t do anymore what I like to do, although I didn’t want to try it, I
just knew I couldn’t do it, so I didn’t bother. (M, 69, NACT)
What I do now is not what I could do 20-30-40 years ago, I realize that. : : :
I couldn’t take the buck and all the rest of it that I used to take : : : that would be
the worst part. I used to be able to do this, now I can’t. (M, 68, NACT)
If you are comfortable doing two km a day, do two km a day. Don’t suddenly
start to do four or five. : : : Doing too much can be counterproductive. (M, 75,
NACT)
I’m very, very aware that after a week without exercises my spring in my step
goes down, stepping on a step ladder [is] not as good as it would be, I
spring off the chair more slowly, I get tired quicker : : : . When I’m fully fit as I
am, I don’t get the tightness, I’m fine. (M, 73, ACT)
Basically it stops the aches and pains that are starting. As you get older it seems to
be getting worse. (F, 70, S7, NACT)
The prospect of various diseases that you’re likely to experience, physical
exercise seems to be one of the things you can do to try to prevent those things,
like heart disease, like diabetes, possibly dementia. : : : Ensure that your
health remains as good as it can, as you age you become more vulnerable to these
things. (M, 68, ACT)
I sort of lost the urge to play there [football club] because of me age. : : : I couldn’t
handle it I don’t think. : : : It would be a disappointment to me because I
couldn’t do it. (M, 68, NACT)
Well it’s something that sort of creeps up on you. You gradually realize that it
takes you longer to get from A to B, um, and you probably don’t want to do
it so often, it’s just a general slowing down. : : : you can’t expect to do this
same when you’re eighty as when you are 8. (M, 75, NACT)
I think the biggest thing is my lack of motivation : : : not just to get up and get
going and do PA, but also to join a group of people. (F, 72, S10, NACT)
My son’s always on my back to go for a walk, but if I didn’t go for a walk I
wouldn’t feel guilty because he said that, but I suppose in a very general way,
I want to stay healthy because I personally enjoy life and I’d like to stay alive, but
also because I don’t want to become a burden on others, which I could if I
contract some chronic disease, then I’d feel guilty if there was something that I
could have done to have prevented that and I didn’t do it. (M, 68, ACT)
I did it [walking] longer when I knew, because everybody tell me I couldn’t
do it : : : People just don’t tell me I can’t do things, I don’t like that. : : : I’d make it
to prove them wrong. I would still do it. (F, 78, ACT)
If doctors said to me you can’t do that walk that would be a challenge for me to do
it. (M, 69, NACT)
What has the impact is the information that they provide, but their opinion or
attitude about it is really of no particular consequence. I don’t need to have
the approval of my GP. I just need good advice. (M, 68, ACT)
Now that I’m going down to the [seniors center] three days a week I do find that
that’s a big help. Because you’ve got company, you’ve got people to talk to,
one day they have a gentle exercise program, which I am able to do, and I find
very good. But it’s mainly just having social contact. (F, 85, NACT)
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Present-oriented
Future-oriented
2. Mismatch between
age and PA
3. Intrinsic–extrinsic
motivation
4. Social support
Volitional processes
5. Making time
Flexible adjustment The preferred time is 4 pm, but that often doesn’t happen. Like yesterday
for example I did it at 2 pm because I had a couple of cancelations. (M, 71,
NACT)
Take it as it comes If I have to go out in the evening or I come home very late because of some
commitment then it will probably be too late to walk, because I like to walk
before I have dinner, so there’s sort of a period there from about 4:30 through to
about 6:30 that I try to fit the walk in, and if something interferes with that, then
I’ll miss the walk that day. (M, 68, ACT)
(continued)
48
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Integrative Approach to Older Adults’ Physical Activity
49
Table 1 (continued)
Main Theme
Subthemes
Implicit processes
6. Habit and routine
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7. Physical surroundings Access
Esthetics
Safety
Weather
Examples of Quotations From Participants
I just think it’s part and parcel as to what I have to do in my day. I don’t think of it
as anything, you know, that’s what I do. (F, 78, ACT)
I just think I’m off now, tell my wife I’m going over to the gym, I’m not saying
there’s no unconscious process happening, but I just do it. It’s planned,
that’s just me, I do it. (M, 71, NACT)
You could do as little or as much as you wanted to but I set a goal each time of
what I’d do, and cause I couldn’t drive so I stopped doing that. : : : But now,
[husband] has got the bike, and I’ll get onto that. (F, 72, NACT)
I would join a group, if I was able to get to those places. They are all away, you’ve
got to get in the car and go to them. Something not handy : : : if it was just around
the corner within sort of easy distance that would be good. (F, 72, NACT)
Obviously if the scenery is good, you’re more likely to walk longer or go back
there. (M, 75, NACT)
I wouldn’t just simply want to walk up and down the streets, unless there were
streets with nice gardens, then I’d look at the palm trees and the gardens
and things like that. (M, 71, NACT)
A lot of crime in [residential neighborhood] : : : a lot of people around there are on
drugs : : : I never felt comfortable, and if I had people around me that
walked, you know, that would . . .that would make me feel comfortable, if
somebody’s walking with me : : : So you don’t feel safe : : : . I need to feel safe, in
walking. (F, 68, NACT)
I stopped swimming in April, the 30 of April. So that meant it was May, June,
July, August that’s really four and a half months I didn’t swim for, that’s
all. (F, 83, ACT)
But now that the weather gets hot, I do slacken off a bit. Then I might go in the
evening, but sometimes I’m lazy and I might not go for a few days. (F, 67, ACT)
Note. PA = physical activity; F = female; M = male; ACT = active (the participant met the recommended amount of PA); NACT = nonactive (the
participant did not meet the recommended amount of PA).
with different types of influence mentioned. For over
half of participants, the most influential type of support
was information about the importance of regular PA,
either obtained from media (e.g., newspapers or TV) or
received by their doctor. This typically occurred in the
context of a specific health issue, which served as a cue
for the need to increase PA levels. However, although
such advice may have facilitated PA initiation, it was
insufficient for maintaining exercise, which also coincided with the person’s condition getting better: “My
doctor says I should do back exercises and hand exercises, for arthritis, but I don’t do that on a regular
basis : : : I did them for quite a while, then my back got
better and I gradually stopped doing the exercises. At the
moment I don’t need them” (M, 76, S10, ACT).
Important sources of social support were friends (or
same-aged peers) and/or family who would engage in
PA with the participant. Activities with others were
performed either in a group (e.g., gentle exercise program) or in pairs (e.g., walking with a friend or spouse):
“I might go for a walk and then pick her [a friend] up,
even if she’s been for a walk, she’ll go for another one
and we’ll do the rounds” (F, 67, S6, ACT). In addition,
being active provided social opportunities such as looking after grandchildren and volunteering (e.g., cleaning a
church or building a community garden): “I like to be
doing things for people and I help my neighbor : : : I used
to help her in the garden” (F, 67, S6, ACT).
Volitional Processes
Making time. Nearly all participants experienced competing priorities when discussing PA. These priorities
presented an undeniable time constraint to an individual’s daily schedule and, by extension, to engaging in
PA more frequently. They ranged from doctors’ appointments, to volunteer or paid work commitments, to
housework chores. Two different processes of coping
with such constraints emerged and are captured in the
following subthemes: flexible adjustment and take it as it
comes. For three participants (all of whom were still
employed), planning in terms of where, when, and how
to do PA in the context of other engagements involved
flexible adjustment of their schedule, which typically
occurred spontaneously in response to circumstances at
the time. Alternatively, a couple of participants planned
PA at the most secure time, for example in the morning:
“The main reason is that it doesn’t interfere with your
coming day. Everything is completed by a certain time”
(M, 76, S10, ACT). A quarter of participants, however,
were more accepting of competing priorities that limited
their time for PA: “I just got to take it as it comes. If I
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50
Arnautovska, O’Callaghan, and Hamilton
can do something, I’ll do it. If I can’t, I can’t” (M, 68,
S3, NACT).
probably a plus, because the winters are so good [warm]”
(F, 72, S10, NACT).
Discussion
Implicit Processes
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Habit and routine. For about half the participants, PA
represented a fixed part of their daily timetable. They had
become “used to it, it’s become part of life over a period
of time” (M, 76, S10, ACT). These participants perceived their PA engagement as an automatic activity
requiring no conscious effort, which they referred to as
“that’s just what happens” (F, 78, S9, ACT). The concept
of regular and habitual engagement in PA was, for three
participants, clearly related to the perception of PA as
something unquestionable and needed, “something you
have to do : : : like eating or drinking” (M, 73, S9, ACT).
There was a sense that doing PA in a routine and/or
monotonous way was helpful and important for maintaining regular PA, and these participants seemed to
engage in PA regardless of whether they felt mentally or
physically ready for it: “I program myself, so I don’t
need to think, I’m programed in the direction, I will go to
the gym, so I don’t need to think about it” (M, 71,
S8, NACT).
Physical surroundings. The physical environment also emerged as important for PA irrespective of conscious, intentional decisions to be active. This included
four aspects: access, esthetics, safety, and weather. Of
particular importance was access to formal facilities
(e.g., swimming pool), which enabled three participants
to engage in PA regularly. However, for others, perceived proximity to informal facilities (e.g., cycling
path, park, beach) and local non-PA facilities (e.g.,
shops, post office, bank) seemed to serve as a reminder
or encouragement to walk both for leisure and specifically for transport purposes (e.g., to and from shops).
The esthetics of the surroundings, such as the presence of
parks, trees, and birds, as well as water (e.g., a lake or
creek), also prompted participants to engage in more PA
than initially intended. Safety was also a prominent
theme, discussed in the context of high levels of crime
or a negative past experience (e.g., being scared by an
unleashed barking dog), as well as in relation to neighborhood walkability. For participants with health issues
such as back problems or a previous fall, uneven footpaths and hilly terrain appeared too dangerous to walk,
while they would find themselves walking easily on a
flat terrain. In contrast, other participants preferred to
walk where “you got a mix of straight up-hill and
downhill,” where they were challenged to “sort of push
ourselves a bit” (M, 68, S9, ACT). Finally, weather also
appeared to spontaneously affect participants’ PA engagement. The influence of changing weather conditions
was noted both on a daily basis and on a more seasonal
level. Generally, cooler times of day and particular
seasons were more conducive to PA, as expressed by
one participant who would regularly engage in PA in
winter but less often during summer: “the weather is
The aim of the current study was to explore the views
and experiences of older adults and associated decisionmaking processes guiding their PA. The findings
demonstrate that a range of processes (e.g., future perspective, flexible adjustment to time constraints, habitual
PA) facilitated older adults’ PA engagement, while
others (e.g., past or present orientation toward health,
mismatch between age and PA) hindered PA in later life.
Overall, older adults’ experiences corresponded with the
motivational, volitional, and implicit processes of the
IBC model (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2014) and appear
to reflect a variety of cognitive and behavioral constructs. Specifically, data referring to concepts of intention formation were categorized as motivational processes, concepts pertaining to the process of translating an
intention into behavior were categorized as volitional
processes, and data related to the concepts that were
deemed not under a person’s conscious control but
impacted behavior spontaneously were categorized as
implicit processes.
Motivational Processes
The positive association between health-related outcome
expectations and PA in older adults has been supported
by several previous researchers (Koeneman, Verheijden,
Chinapaw, & Hopman-Rock, 2011). In addition to
contributing additional evidence to this association, we
also found that the motivational aspect behind this
relationship involved a more temporal dimension. The
relationship between motivation and time orientation has
previously been explained by reference to the theory of
socioemotional selectivity (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, &
Charles, 1999). The theory proposes that when time is
perceived as limited, older adults shift their attention
from future to present, with the engagement in meaningful activities that facilitate positive feelings in the
present becoming more salient. Indeed, in an earlier
study, Hamilton, Kives, Micevski, and Grace (2003)
reported that older adults whose predominant orientation
was past-negative and present-fatalistic (perception of
present as hopeless) engaged in greater amounts of PA.
In contrast to this research, narratives of older adults in
our study indicated that anticipation of accruing health
benefits of PA in the future motivated them to engage in
PA even when they did not enjoy it. This finding is consistent with Tasdemir-Ozdes, Strickland-Hughes, Bluck,
and Ebner (2016), who found that greater global future
time perspective is associated with making healthy lifestyle choices, such as engaging in physical exercise.
In the health behavior change literature (Schwarzer
& Fuchs, 2005), a person’s belief in their ability to
perform a behavior, a central component of self-efficacy,
is one of the dominant predictors of PA behavior
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Integrative Approach to Older Adults’ Physical Activity
(Hamilton, Warner, & Schwarzer, 2017; Sniehotta,
Scholz, & Schwarzer, 2005). Perceptions of control are
also integral in the TPB (Ajzen, 1991) and were also
strongly reflected in the narratives of older adults in
the current study. Participants’ beliefs surrounding
satisfactory, appropriate, or safe conduct of PA were
regularly featured in the participants’ narratives and
were intertwined with several different themes,
highlighting their importance for older adults’ PA, consistent with previous research (Warner, Ziegelmann,
Schüz, Wurm, & Schwarzer, 2011). Narratives of participants who ceased their PA due to a perceived inability
to perform at a satisfactory level reflected negative
societal aging stereotypes rather than actual limitations
of their aging bodies. According to Levy (2003), older
adults’ behavior is influenced by their perception of
older age, which is culture-bound and, if characterized
by passive acceptance of increasing age-related illnesses
and disabilities, can take precedence over the actual
experience. This concurs with a study demonstrating
that negative expectations about aging can, indeed, impair the use of self-regulatory strategies regarding health
(Wurm, Warner, Ziegelman, Wolff, & Schüz, 2013). The
present findings are consistent with these accounts in
illustrating how older adults’ negative expectations about
older age and PA, shaped by ageist cultural beliefs of
what an aging body can and cannot do, undermine their
PA. This leads them to not even try to engage in PA nor
consider any adjustments or alternatives.
The concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
are key features in the self- determination theory (Deci &
Ryan, 2008) and have also been identified in this study.
The finding that older adults can and do enjoy engaging
in PA, which corresponds with intrinsic motivation, is
consistent with a study by Phoenix and Orr (2014), who
reported several aspects of older adults’ inherent enjoyment in PA engagement. At the same time, older adults
in the current study were also guided by autonomous
aspects of extrinsic motivation. As such, the identity of
“physically active older bodies” (Phoenix & Orr 2014,
p. 96), embedded within autonomous motivation, seems
to be driving older adults’ cognitions, intentions, and
behaviors associated with PA. Consistent with studies
demonstrating the effectiveness of motivational interviewing in increasing PA in older adults (Lilienthal,
Evans, Holm, & Vogeltanz-Holm, 2014), and based on
our findings, we suggest that future PA interventions
targeting older adults could benefit by increasing extrinsic motivation for PA (e.g., by providing information
about a range of health benefits of regular PA). In turn,
experiencing positive feelings over mastering the skills
and thus engaging in the activity itself may then
strengthen intrinsic motivation, which has previously
been shown to predict PA (Keatley, Clarke, &
Hagger, 2012).
Given that for participants in the current study, PA
advice received either by healthcare professionals or
public media was an important motivator, another strategy to increase motivation may be through provision of
51
PA information, which is in line with previous research
(Hamilton & White, 2010b). Our findings indicate that
health messages should be future-oriented and highlight
a wide range of health benefits for older adults. Consistent with previous studies (Horne & Tierney, 2012), our
findings suggest that the PA advice was generally provided once an individual’s health was already compromised and/or illness developed, thus potentially missing
the preventive benefits of an active lifestyle and making
adoption of PA more difficult. In response to previous
research demonstrating the significant benefits of PA for
prevention of age-related illness and disease (Williams
et al., 2014), we argue for health messages to be shifted
toward a more primary preventive level and provide
older adults with information about the preventive role
of PA at younger ages, prior to illness developing.
Regarding the supportive role of friends and family,
engaging in PA with others made the activity enjoyable,
and social contact did not appear to be the primary
motivation for older adults’ PA. Indeed, in a qualitative
study, Henwood, Tuckett, Edelstein, and Bartlett (2011)
found that social interactions during exercise are an
added rather than a primary benefit of PA for older
adults. We propose, therefore, that although social
support appears to encourage older adults to increase
PA levels, it may be insufficient to achieve the recommended level of PA, which may be attributed to a greater
importance of self-efficacy beliefs for PA in older adults
(Warner et al., 2011).
Volitional Processes
Within the volitional processes leading to PA, current
findings indicate that the notion of flexible adjustment to
time may help to facilitate older adults’ PA. Consistent
with the concept of action and coping planning
(Sniehotta et al., 2005), participants made plans about
when, where, and how to do PA and also discussed
strategies to overcome potential time constraints resulting from competing priorities. In contrast, for other
participants, self-regulatory strategies regarding PA
seemed to have limited meaning, as noted previously
in relation to retired older individuals (Caudroit et al.,
2011). It is possible that older adults, once retired, are
somewhat freed from competing activities (McDonald
et al., 2015) and hence have less need to use planning
strategies to fit activities into their schedules. Indeed,
analysis showed that participants who reported making
flexible adjustments to their schedules to find time for
PA were still employed.
Furthermore, it is possible that different types
of planning have distinct values for older adults’ PA.
For example, in our subsequent quantitative study
(Arnautovska, Fleig, et al., 2017), planning where,
when, and how to engage in PA (action planning) was
more influential for realizing older adults’ PA intentions
into behavior than planning how to cope with potential
constraints to PA (coping planning). Current findings
add more context to these quantitative results by
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Arnautovska, O’Callaghan, and Hamilton
indicating that time constraints resulting from competing
priorities are an important barrier to regular PA in later
life. This could suggest that the relationship between
behavioral barriers (such as time) and behavior may
depend on the level of planning. Specifically, if older
adults believe there are many barriers to participating in
PA, then they will be less inclined to do so; however, if
they invest energy into making plans for PA, then this
might help to compensate against those behavioral
barriers. If limited behavioral barriers are perceived,
then planning might not be as necessary. While the role
of specific aspects of volitional processes may become
less salient for PA in older age, it is also not possible to
exclude the reverse mechanism where individuals are
less active because they use fewer self-regulatory strategies (Sniehotta et al., 2005). Therefore, further research
on the role of strategies used to facilitate translation of
intentions into PA behavior is needed.
Automatic Processes
Habits are considered important to behavioral performance and have been applied to a range of health
behaviors, including PA (Allom et al., 2016; Mullan
et al., 2016; Verplanken & Melkevik, 2008). Consistent
with earlier definitions of habit, our findings indicated
that older adults experience PA as something done
automatically, embedded within their everyday lives
through repetition. However, the role of habit in actioning behavior is controversial, and conscious as well as
nonconscious processes are most likely at play (Gardner,
2015; Gardner, de Bruijn, & Lally, 2011). Indeed, such
a dual-process pathway of influences is useful for
understanding PA specifically among older adults, as
demonstrated by the results of our subsequent study
(Arnautovska, Fleig, et al., 2017). Using such a conceptualization implies that habits are a process through
which action is cued, and once activated, they may be
overridden prior to translation into action. The accounts
of older adults’ experiences in the current study offer a
more in-depth understanding of the processes by which
the impulse, generated by the habit, is translated into
action, despite any competing impulses or conflicting
intentions.
The role of environmental cues is believed to
facilitate formation of PA habits (Rhodes et al., 2010).
For instance, the availability of positive environmental
cues such as exercise equipment, proximity of parks,
and well-maintained walking tracks might motivate
older adults to engage in PA regardless of their current
PA patterns. In contrast, participants’ experiences associated with environmental cues implied that uneven
footpaths seem too threatening for walking due to a
fear of falling and injury. While designing walkable
neighborhoods has been recognized as important in
increasing PA among older adults (WHO, 2007), designers of such passive initiatives may need to consider
adding a more cognitive-based component by highlighting the importance of exercise itself for fall
prevention (Sherrington, Tiedemann, Fairhall, Close,
& Lord, 2011).
Older adults’ experiences with PA in this study
demonstrate the important role of cues, such as a specific
time to go for a walk, as an additional facilitator for
aiding the process of PA becoming automatic. Indeed,
the role of planning for habit formation has been wellrecognized. Specifically, the event- or time-based cue,
albeit activated with conscious processes (Sheeran et al.,
2013), can enable “automatic retrieval of habit associations due to the heightened cue accessibility achieved
by formulating implementation intentions” (Lally &
Gardner, 2013, p. 142). As such, interventions designed
to habituate regular PA in older adults could be aimed
toward strengthening the impulse leading to behavior by
providing environmental cues for PA, such as sign posts
indicating the exact time required to complete a specific
walking track, along with expected health benefits,
while ensuring minimal inhibition of the habitual
response (e.g., by providing a planner/calendar with time
for PA blocked out).
Strengths and Limitations
Our findings contribute to the extant literature on older
adults’ PA in several important ways. First, we explored
sociocognitive processes that may underpin PA from the
perspective of older adults. As such, these unique perspectives can inform PA interventions specifically
targeting older adults. Second, exploring PA by means
of in-depth narrative discussions highlights concepts that
may be crucial for regular PA engagement in older
adults but which are as yet only beginning to appear in
the extant empirical literature. Using a qualitative approach, embedded within the critical realism epistemological position, we may overcome the limitations of
understanding or predicting phenomena based on quantitative data and without insight (Toomela, 2007).
Third, the findings were framed within the theoretically
integrative approach involving the IBC model (Hagger
& Chatzisarantis, 2014), which meant that conscious and
nonconscious processes were considered. Integrating
different levels of decisional processes and theoretical
approaches offers a more comprehensive understanding
of health behaviors and has been considered an appropriate strategy in informing models of behavioral
prediction (Fishbein & Yzer, 2003).
Several limitations should also be considered. First,
participation was voluntary, which might attract those
more interested in PA. It is therefore possible that the
findings do not capture older adults with very low PA
levels or those from culturally diverse backgrounds,
despite the use of a maximum variation sampling
method. Second, we relied on a sample of participants
residing in metropolitan areas of South East Queensland,
Australia. We did, however, recruit participants from
various SES areas to obtain experiences of participants
living in different SES-level localities. Third, the crosssectional design of the study limits researchers’ ability to
JSEP Vol. 39, No. 1, 2017
Integrative Approach to Older Adults’ Physical Activity
consider the identified concepts as true determinants of
PA in older adults that would be able to imply a causal
relationship with PA engagement.
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Conclusion
The predominant social-cognitive approach to understanding PA has its limitations in considering PA as a
conscious behavior because it potentially neglects nonconscious processes highlighted in recent integrative
models of PA. Our findings provided insights into older
adults’ experiences with PA, some of which seem to
facilitate their PA, while others seem to act as barriers
to regular PA engagement. Overall, the findings indicated that the application of an integrative theoretical
approach, which examines multiple processes of decision-making, such as the IBC model, is appropriate for
the understanding of PA in older adults. This approach
highlights the range of interrelated concepts within
motivational, volitional, and implicit processes. Further
research is needed to empirically test the relationships
among constructs within these multiple processes and
also to explore strategies to appropriately utilize such
concepts in future PA interventions.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the participants for their
contribution to this research.
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