Self‐Efficacy and Planning Predict Dietary Behaviors in Costa Rican and South Korean Women: Two Moderated Mediation Analyses

Dietary planning is supposed to mediate between intentions and dietary behaviors. However, if a person lacks self‐efficacy, this mediation might fail. A cross‐sectional study in Costa Rica and a longitudinal study in South Korea were designed to examine the moderating role of self‐efficacy in the intention–planning–behavior relationship. Intentions, planning, self‐efficacy, dietary behaviors, and baseline diet were assessed. Study 1 included 245 women; Study 2 included 358 women. Moderated mediation models were specified in which planning served as a mediator between intentions and behavior. Self‐efficacy was specified as a moderator of the intention–planning–behavior relationship. Intentions were translated into dietary behavior by planning. However, levels of self‐efficacy moderated this mediation process: The strength of the mediated effect increased along with levels of self‐efficacy, even when accounting for baseline dietary behaviors. For planning to mediate the intention–behavior relation, people must harbor sufficient levels of self‐efficacy. If they lack self‐efficacy, either intentions are not well translated into planning, or planning is not well translated into behavior. Further research needs to clarify under which circumstances the moderator effect of self‐efficacy operates in the first phase or the second phase of the mediation process.