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There is an established link between socioeconomic status (SES) and performance of health behaviors with more health protective and fewer health-risking behaviors in higher SES groups. This research is novel in testing the moderating effect of SES on the relationship among intention, self-efficacy, and subsequent behavior. Effects were tested on data from three prospective correlational studies examining smoking initiation in adolescents (N = 826), breastfeeding in primiparous women (N = 202), and physical activity in working adults (N = 509). Despite examining different behaviors, samples, time intervals, and measures of SES, each study showed significant interactions between intention and SES in predicting behavior. In all three tests, the intention–behavior relationship was attenuated among individuals from lower SES groups. No moderation effects of SES were found for self-efficacy. The intention–health behavior relationship can be attenuated in lower SES samples. This finding may contribute to our understanding of SES differences in health behaviors.

This study investigated the impact of conscientiousness and its facets on health behaviors and daily hassles (stressors) and the moderating effects of conscientiousness on the hassles–health behavior relationship Four hundred and twenty-two employees completed daily diaries over 4 weeks. Day-to-day within-person effects of daily hassles on health behaviors were examined, together with the influence of conscientiousness. Using hierarchical multivariate linear modeling, the results showed that conscientiousness was associated with lower consumption of high-fat snacks and more fruit and higher caffeine intake and smoking (in smokers) across the 28-day study period. Facets of conscientiousness were also found to moderate the effects of daily hassles on vegetable consumption, smoking, and likelihood of exercising each day. Participants with higher levels of order exercised more on days when they experienced daily hassles, whereas participants with lower levels of self-efficacy consumed less vegetables on stressful days. Among smokers, those with higher levels of self-discipline reported smoking more on days when they encountered hassles. These findings indicate that conscientiousness and its facets may influence health status directly via changes in health behaviors and indirectly through influencing stress–health behavior relations.