To examine the relationship between physical activity stages of change and preferences for financial risk and time.
Design.
A cross-sectional, community-based study.
Setting.
A low-income, urban, African-American neighborhood.
Subjects.
One hundred sixty-nine adults.
Measures.
Self-reported physical activity stages of change—precontemplation to maintenance, objectively measured body mass index and waist circumference, and economic preferences for time and risk measured via incentivized economic experiments.
Analysis.
Multivariable ordered logistic regression models were used to examine the association between physical activity stages of change and economic preferences while controlling for demographic characteristics of the individuals.
Results.
Individuals who are more tolerant of financial risks (odds ratio [OR] = 1.31, p < .05) and whose time preferences indicate more patience (OR = 1.68, p < .01) are more likely to be in a more advanced physical activity stage (e.g., from preparation to action). The likelihood of being in the maintenance stage increases by 5.6 and 10.9 percentage points for each one-unit increase in financial risk tolerance or one-unit increase in the time preference measure, respectively.
Conclusion.
Greater tolerance of financial risk and more patient time preferences among this low-income ethnic minority population are associated with a more advanced physical activity stage. Further exploration is clearly warranted in larger and more representative samples.
Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Ga: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 1996.
4.
Prevalence of regular physical activity among adults—United States, 2001 and 2005. Atlanta, Ga: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2007.
5.
GlanzKRimerBKViswanathK. Health Behavior and Health Education; Theory, Resaerch and Practice. 4th ed.San Francisco, Calif: John Wiley & Sons Inc; 2008.
6.
MarcusBForsythLH. Motivating People to Be Physically Active. 2nd ed.Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics; 2009.
7.
Gine-GarrigaMMartinCMartinC. Referral from primary care to a physical activity programme: Establishing long-term adherence? A randomized controlled trial. Rationale and study design. BMC Public Health. 2009;9:31. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-31.
8.
van SluijsEMFvan PoppelMNMvan MechelenW. Stage-based lifestyle interventions in primary care: Are they effective?Am J Prev Med.2004;26:330–343.
9.
DumithSGiganteDDominguesM. Stages of change for physical activity in adults from Southern Brazil: A population-based survey. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2007;4:25. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-4-25.
10.
GarberCEAllsworthJEMarcusBH. Correlates of the stages of change for physical activity in a population survey. Am J Public Health. 2008;98:897–904.
11.
CamererCFLoewensteinG. Behavioral economics: Past, present, future. In: CamererCFLoewensteinGRabinM, eds. Advances in Behavioral Economics. New York, NY: Princeton University Press; 2004:3–51.
12.
ThompsonDEdelsbergJKinseyKLOsterG. Estimated economic costs of obesity to U.S. business. Am J Health Promot. 1998;13:120–127.
13.
FinkelsteinEFiebelkornCWangG. The costs of obesity among full-time employees. Am J Health Promot. 2005;20:45–51.
14.
ColditzGA. Economic costs of obesity and inactivity. Med Sci Sports Exerc.1999;31:S663–S667.
15.
BhattacharyaJBundorfMK. The incidence of the healthcare costs of obesity. J Health Econ.2009;28:649–658.
16.
AllenderSScarboroughPPetoVRaynerM. European cardiovascular disease statistics. European Heart Network: Brussels; 2008.
17.
KatzmarzykPTGledhillNShephardRJ. The economic burden of physical inactivity in Canada. CMAJ. 2000;163:1435–1440.
18.
OldridgeNB. Economic burden of physical inactivity: Healthcare costs associated with cardiovascular disease. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2008;15:130–139.
19.
CawleyJDanzigerS. Morbid obesity and the transition from welfare to work. J Policy Anal Manage. 2005;24:727–743. doi:10.1002/pam.20135.
20.
KagelJHRothAE. Handbook of Experimental Economics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1995.
21.
FriendIBlumeME. The demand for risky assets. Am Econ Rev.1975;65:900–922.
22.
FrederickSLoewensteinGO'DonoghueT. Time discounting and time preference: A critical review. J Econ Lit.2002;40:351–401.
23.
JohnLLoewensteinGTroxelA. Financial incentives for extended weight loss: A randomized, controlled trial. J Gen Intern Med.2011;26:621–626.
24.
LoewensteinGBrennanTVolppKG. Asymmetric paternalism to improve health behaviors. JAMA. 2007;298:2415–2417.
25.
VolppKGAschDAGalvinRLoewensteinG. Redesigning employee health incentives—lessons from behavioral economics. N Engl J Med.2011;365:388–390.
26.
HastingsJWashingtonE. The first of the month effect: Consumer behavior and store responses. Am Econ J Econ Policy. 2010;2:142–162. doi:10.1257/pol.2.2.142.
ZhangLEIRashadI. Obesity and time preference: The health consequences of discounting the future. J Biosoc Sci.2008;40:97.
29.
KomlosJSmithPKBoginB. Obesity and the rate of time preference: Is there a connection?J Biosoc Sci.2004;36:209.
30.
SmithPKBoginBBishaiD. Are time preference and body mass index associated?: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Socio Econ Correlates Overweight Obes.2005;3:259–270.
31.
ChamberlinEH. An experimental imperfect market. J Pol Econ.1948;56:95–108.
32.
DavisDDHoltCA. Experimental Economics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1993.
33.
MurphyJAllenPStevensTWeatherheadD. A meta-analysis of hypothetical bias in stated preference valuation. Environ Resour Econ.2005;30:313–325.
34.
SmithVL. Experimental economics: Induced value theory. Am Econ Rev.1976;66:274–279.
35.
SmithVL. Game theory and experimental economics: Beginnings and early influences. Hist Pol Econ.1992;24(suppl):41.
36.
LeonardTCMCaughyMMurdochJCMaysJ. Systematic neighborhood observations at high spatial resolution: Methodology and assessment of potential benefits. PLoS. 2011;6(6): e20225. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020225.
37.
LeonardT. US Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2005–2009, detailed tables generated using Data Ferret at http://dataferrett.census.gov. Unpublished data.
MooreLLBradleeMLSingerMR. BMI and waist circumference as predictors of lifetime colon cancer risk in Framingham Study adults. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004;28:559–567.
41.
DaveCEckelCJohnsonCRojasC. On the heterogeneity, stability and validity of risk preference measures. Dallas, Tex: Center for Behavioral and Experimental Economic Sciences University of Texas at Dallas; 2007.
42.
HarrisonGWJohnsonEMcInnesMMRutströmEE. Temporal stability of estimates of risk aversion. Appl Financ Econ Lett.2005;1:31–35.
43.
MeierSSprengerC. Stability of Time Preferences. Bonn, Germany: Institute for Labor Economics; 2010.
44.
AndersonLMellorJ. Are risk preferences stable? Comparing an experimental measure with a validated survey-based measure. J Risk Uncertainty. 2009;39:137–160.
45.
KhwajaASilvermanDSloanF. Time preference, time discounting, and smoking decisions. J Health Econ.2007;26:927–949.
46.
MarcusBHRossiJSSelbyVC. The stages and processes of exercise adoption and maintenance in a worksite sample. Health Psychol. 1992;11:9.
47.
PereiraMFitzergeraldSGreggE. A collection of physical activity questionnaires for health-related research. Med Sci Sports Exerc.1997;29(S1):205.
48.
WolinKHeilDAskewS. Validation of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short among Blacks. J Phys Act Health. 2008;5:14.
GreeneWH. Econometric Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall; 2008.
51.
WilliamsR. Generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models for ordinal dependent variables. Stata J.2006;6:58–82.
52.
ShuvalKDeVahlJTongL. Anthropometric measures, presence of metabolic syndrome, and adherence to physical activity guidelines among African American church members, Dallas, Texas, 2008. Prev Chronic Dis.2011;8:A18.
53.
CarlsonSAFultonJEGaluskaDA. Prevalence of self-reported physically active adults—United States, 2007. MMWR, 2008;57(48):1297–1300.
54.
AndersonLRMellorJM. Predicting health behaviors with an experimental measure of risk preference. J Health Econ.2008;27:1260–1274.
55.
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Medicaid—a program with special significance for African Americans. Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; January 2006.
56.
NguyenQ.Does nurture matter: Theory and experimental investigation on the effect of working environment on risk and time preferences. J Risk Uncertain. 2011;43(3):245–270.
57.
BenjaminDChoiJJStricklandJ. Social identity and preferences. Am Econ Rev.2010;100:1913–1928.
58.
LoewensteinG. Emotions in economic theory and economic behavior. Am Econ Rev.2000;90:426–432.
BertrandMKarlanDMullainathanS. What's advertising content worth? Evidence from a consumer credit marketing field experiment. Q J Econ.2010;125:263–306.
61.
MilkmanKLRogersTBazermanMH. Harnessing our inner angels and demons: What we have learned about want/should conflicts and how that knowledge can help us reduce short-sighted decision making. Perspect Psychol Sci.2008;3:324–338.
62.
AshrafNKarlanDYinW. Tying Odysseus to the mast: Evidence from a commitment savings product in the Philippines. Q J Econ.2006;121:635–672.
63.
BertrandMMullainathanSShafirE. A behavioral-economics view of poverty. Am Econ Rev.2004;94:419–423.
64.
LaibsonD. Golden eggs and hyperbolic discounting. Q J Econ.1997;112:443–477.
65.
ParksSEHousemannRABrownsonRC. Differential correlates of physical activity in urban and rural adults of various socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57:29–35.
66.
PlotnikoffRCMayhewABirkettN. Age, gender, and urban-rural differences in the correlates of physical activity. Prev Med.2004;39:1115–1125.
67.
ThalerRHSunsteinCR. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness. New York, NY: Penguin Books; 2009.
68.
DellaVignaS. Psychology and economics: Evidence from the field. J Econ Lit.2009;47:315–372. doi:10.1257/jel.47.2.315.
69.
BeshearsJChoiJJLaibsonDMadrianBC. The importance of default options for retirement savings outcomes: Evidence from the United States. In: KaySJSinhaT, eds. Lessons From Pension Reform in Americas. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press; 2008:59–87.
70.
KongASSussmanALNegreteS. Implementation of a walking school bus: Lessons learned. J School Health. 2009;79:319–325. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2009.00416.x.
71.
MarcusBHSimkinLR. The stages of exercise behavior. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1993;33:83–88.
72.
TroianoRPBerriganDDoddKW. Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc.2008;40:181–188.
