Paradoxical Effects of Experience: Past Behavior Both Strengthens and Weakens the Intention-Behavior Relationship

Experience has a paradoxical effect on intention-behavior consistency. In some studies greater experience is associated with weaker intention-behavior relations (due to habit formation), whereas in other studies experience strengthens the relationship between intention and behavior (by stabilizing intentions). The present research tests the idea that both of these findings are possible—because experience produces a quadratic relationship between intentions and behavior. Findings from a longitudinal study of blood donors (N = 2,389) indicated that the intention-behavior relation exhibited the predicted inverted U-shaped curve as a function of lifetime donation experience. Greater experience of donation enhanced the predictive validity of intention up to a point; thereafter, increasing experience was associated with weaker prediction of donation behavior by intention. These findings are consistent with the idea that experience both strengthens and weakens the intention-behavior relation and helps to resolve a long-standing paradox in research on behavioral prediction.