From Awareness to Action: The Influence of Daily Physical Activity Awareness on Health Beliefs, Intentions, and Physical Activity Levels

Many people perceive physical activity solely as structured exercise, overlooking the benefits of daily activities like walking for transportation. This study explores office workers' perceptions of physical activity and evaluates an intervention aimed at broadening their understanding to include non-leisure contexts, thereby laying a foundation for future health promotion programs. In the first study, 20 office workers (12 males, 8 females; Mage = 35.4) participated in in-depth interviews, revealing that most perceived physical activity exclusively as leisure and failed to distinguish it from exercise. The second study involved 30 office workers randomly assigned to an experimental group (9 males, 6 females, Mage = 32.8) or a control group (5 males, 10 females, Mage = 29.6). The experimental group received an intervention designed to enhance awareness of physical activity across four domains. After the intervention, participants in the experimental group reported increased perceived benefits and decreased perceived barriers to physical activity. Both groups showed improvements in physical activity levels, but the effect size was larger in the experimental group (Cohen’s d = 0.62) than in the control group (Cohen’s d = 0.34), suggesting that improved awareness contributed to greater behavioral change. These findings underscore the importance of broadening perceptions of physical activity to promote engagement and actual activity levels, and they support the development of targeted intervention strategies to foster healthier lifestyles.