It was hypothesized that self-schema would moderate the relationship between dieting female undergraduates' dieting intentions and their behavior. The predicted pattern was found: Schematics showed a significant correlation between their intentions and theirdietingbehaviorover8 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 showed that schematics and aschematics were comparable in initial attempts to act on their intentions, both lapsed during semester break, but only schematics recovered from their lapse. Implications for the role of the self in the implementation of "costly" intentions are discussed.
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