Intention stability: Literature and methodological review

IntroductionIt has been argued that intention stability is a pre-eminent determinant of individuals’ ability to direct their behaviour over time.ObjectiveThe aim of the review was to detail the existing literature and examine whether the relationships described are reliably indexed by the array of operationalisations of the construct.MethodsWeb of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and EMBASE were searched for English language articles reporting use of the construct in moderating a relationship between an IV and behaviour.ResultsEleven studies met the inclusion criteria. We identified six methods of estimating intention stability. The ostensible finding of the review was that greater intention stability associated with a stronger positive relationship between intention and behaviour. These findings are, however, largely invalidated by the serious flaws in measurement methods.ConclusionFurther thought must be given to the construct as an attribute of the individual, and how this attribute should be operationalised. The usefulness of “intention stability” will not be able to be evaluated prior to definition of a measurement model and its psychometric validation.