Examination of the Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Affect at Varying Levels of Aerobic Exercise Intensity

Although proposed as an explanation for increases in positive and decreases in negative affect, little evidence supports the notion of a stronger efficacy-affect relationship as acute aerobic exercise intensity increases. Relationships between self-efficacy (SE), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) were examined with respect to 3 randomly assigned conditions: (a) no exercise (control), (b) cycling at 55% VO_2max, and (c) cycling at 70% VO_2max. Twenty subjects (age = 22.6 years; M VO_2max= 47.8 ml · kg⁻¹· min⁻¹) participated in each. Preexercise SE predicted in-task NA and postexercise PA in the 55% condition and postexercise PA in the 70% condition ( ps < .05). Although SE significantly increased from pre- to postexercise, in-task affect failed to predict these increases in SE. These data suggest that in a fit college-aged population, a stronger reciprocal relationship between preexercise SE, in-task affect, and postexercise SE does not exist with increasing levels of exercise intensity. Contrary to self-efficacy theory, no evidence was found for a reciprocal relationship. However, the relationship between efficacy and affect was such that when collapsed across conditions and time, subjects with higher SE scores reported lower NA ( p < .05).     

The cognitive load of physical activity in individuals with high and low tolerance to effort: An ecological paradigm to contrast stepping on the spot and stepping through space

Performing a physical activity means dealing with the challenges and difficulties occurring during the task. The more a person possesses the cognitive ability to deal with the complexity of the task, the more that person will be able to face the difficulties in activity regulation. However, no studies have been designed to investigate the cognitive dimension of physical activity. In the present study, we present an original in-task methodology that offers the means to assess the cognitive and physical load of a physical activity. Through the application of a dual task paradigm, we report in-task changes in cognitive abilities and physiological experiences in low and high tolerant individuals during the practice of one of two whole-body stepping tasks. The findings confirmed that stepping through space is a physical activity that requires more cognitive resources and is perceived as more cognitively and physically challenging than stepping on the spot. We demonstrated also that the tolerance to effort, which is a psychological factor, plays a non-negligible role in the way the activity sessions were experienced. The affective states in low tolerant individuals were always more negative than those reported by high tolerant individuals. Our findings argue for the existence of a cognitive dimension to physical activity with tolerance to effort being a moderator of individuals’ affective experience to exercise.     

Moderators of the Exercise/Feeling-State Relationship: The Influence of Self-Efficacy, Baseline, and In-Task Feeling States at Moderate- and High-Intensity Exercise

The present study examined the moderating influence of self-efficacy, baseline feeling states, and in-task feeling states on exercise-related feeling-state changes at moderate- and high-intensity exercise. Physically active females ( N = 60) participated in 1 of 5 conditions: (a) attention control for 30 min, (b) exercise at 50% heart rate reserve (HRR) for 15 min, (c) exercise at 50% HRR for 30 min, (d) exercise at 85% HRR for 15 min, and (e) exercise at 85% HRR for 30 min. The Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (EFI; Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993) was completed pre-, during, and post-exercise, while self-efficacy was completed pre-exercise. Multilevel modeling (Bryk & Raudenbaush, 1992) revealed that pre-exercise self-efficacy and in-task tranquility moderated the change in tranquility for high-intensity exercise. Furthermore, baseline feeling states moderated the change in all 4 feeling states. It is recommended that baseline and in-task feeling states and self-efficacy be considered when examining high-intensity exercise.     

Self-Efficacy,Perceptions of Success,and Intrinsic Motivation for Exercise1

A number of investigators have attempted to identify the determinants of continued participation in exercise regimens. Within a social cognitive framework, the present study examined the relationships among self-efficacy cognitions, perceptions of success, and multidimensional intrinsic motivation in the exercise domain. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that highly efficacious individuals were more intrinsically motivated toward aerobic dance than were their less efficacious counterparts. However, multiple regression analyses revealed both perceptions of success and self-efficacy to account for significant variance in intrinsic motivation at both the composite and dimensional levels. Moreover, perceptions of success were considerably stronger predictors than were efficacy cognitions. The results are discussed in terms of the need for multiple measures of perceived success, the employment of longitudinal designs to determine the direction of causality among these variables, and possible implications for adherence issues.     

Analysis of heart rate variability amongst cyclists under perceived variations of risk exposure

Cycling as a mode of travel provides an opportunity for many people to increase their levels of regular physical activity and contribute to their mental and physical health. Heart rate is often used as a means of measuring the intensity and energy expenditure of physical activity. However, heart rate is also linked to emotional factors such as anxiety and fear. Perceptions of risk due to external factors such as other road users and infrastructure may arouse such emotions in urban cyclists. The present study set out to investigate whether or not perceptions of risk among urban cyclists may lead to increased heart rates. Cyclists completed a test route in normal traffic conditions in Cork, Ireland and heart rates and self-reported risk ratings were recorded in real time. Evidence was found of a link between perceptions of risk and heart rates. This raises questions regarding the use of heart rate to estimate exercise intensity and energy expenditure during urban cycling. The perceptions of cyclists of their safety in relation to various road elements on familiar routes were also assessed, as well as specific events which they perceive to be high in risk. The results indicate that incidents involving car traffic and busy roads which offer no protection from interaction with car traffic are associated with greatest perceptions of risk.     

Protection Motivation Theory and Adolescents' Perceptions of Exercise1

Coping strategies endorsed by adolescents in dealing with a potential threat to their health were assessed in a study which investigated components of protection motivation theory. Year 9 and 10 high school students were presented with information about cardiovascular disease risk and the role of exercise in maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness. Three components specified by the theory were manipulated: response efficacy (effectiveness of exercise in preventing cardiovascular disease), response costs (costs associated with taking up a regular program of exercise) and self-efficacy (belief in ability to carry out a program of exercise) in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design with two levels (high vs. low) of each variable. It was hypothesized that such information would affect participants' perceptions of response efficacy, response costs, self-efficacy, and their selection of coping strategies. Six dependent variables were investigated: two adaptive coping strategies (behavioral intention to exercise, rational problem solving) and four maladaptive strategies (avoidance, wishful thinking, hopelessness, arid fatalism). Manipulation checks found significant differences between the high and low conditions of each independent variable. Adaptive strategies were strongly endorsed, whereas endorsement of the maladaptive strategies ranged from minimal to complete disagreement. Participants in the high self-efficacy condition indicated stronger intentions to exercise. Students in the low response efficacy condition demonstrated more endorsement of hopelessness and fatalism than did students in the high response efficacy condition. When exercising status was included as a fourth independent variable, it was found that active adolescents endorsed the adaptive coping strategies more strongly than did inactive adolescents. The cognitive coping strategies adopted by adolescents when dealing with perceived threats to their health may be influenced by information on the efficacy of relevant behavior, by perceptions of their ability to perform such behavior, and by their actual involvement with the behavior of concern.     

Manipulating self-efficacy in the exercise environment in women: influences on affective responses.

Self-efficacy was experimentally manipulated in an exercise context, and its effect on affective responses was examined. College women (N = 46) were randomly assigned to a high- or low-efficacy condition, and efficacy expectations were manipulated by means of bogus feedback and graphs depicting contrived normative data. The manipulation successfully influenced affective responses, with participants in the high-efficacy group reporting more positive and less negative affect than did the low-efficacy group. Efficacy was significantly related to feeling-state responses during and after activity but only in the high-efficacy condition. The results suggest that self-efficacy can be manipulated and that these changes are related to the affective experience associated with exercise. Such findings may have important implications for the roles played by self-efficacy and affect in exercise adherence.     

Attachment anxiety,intra‐group (dis)respect,actual efforts,and group donation

The current study examines attachment‐style differences in responses to inductions of group respect and disrespect. Participants completed a scale assessing attachment anxiety and avoidance, performed group tasks, and received high, average, or low respect feedback from group members. Then we assessed commitment to this group, actual effort expenditure on behalf of the group, and money donation to the group. For participants scoring relatively high on attachment anxiety, high group respect heightened group commitment and effort expenditure on behalf of the group, whereas group disrespect led to lower group commitment but to more money donation to the group and higher effort expenditure. Participants who scored relatively low on attachment anxiety were not significantly affected by group respect or disrespect. The implications of attachment theory for group dynamics were discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validity and reliability of a Cantonese-translated rating of perceived exertion scale among Hong Kong adults

This study assessed the validity and reliability of the Cantonese-translated version of the Borg 6-20 Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale during continuous incremental cycle ergometry by Hong Kong adults. A total of 54 participants (25 males and 29 females), ages 22.2 +/- 4.7 yr., volunteered to participate. They performed two trials of identical continuous incremental cycling exercise 1 wk. apart for the reliability test. The objective measures of exercise intensity (heart rate, power output, and oxygen consumption) and the subjective measure of effort (RPE) were obtained during the incremental exercise. Significant (p < .01) Pearson correlations were found when RPE values were correlated with heart rate (rs > or = .73), power output (rs > or = .69), and oxygen consumption (rs > or = .68). The overall test-retest intraclass correlation (R = .92) indicated that the scale was reliable. In conclusion, this Cantonese scale for rating of perceived exertion appears to be a valid and reliable psychophysiological tool to measure perceptions of exertion during controlled cycle ergometer exercise by Hong Kong adults.     

Self-regulatory efficacy's role in the relationship between exercise identity and perceptions of and actual exercise behaviour

Identity theory posits that when people endorse an identity they maintain or alter their behaviour in order to behave consistently with that identity. This assertion is supported in the exercise context where strength of exercise identity relates to exercise behaviour. Less is known about self-regulatory constructs that may aid individuals in behaving consistently with their exercise identity. Self-regulatory efficacy may mediate the relationship between exercise identity and exercise given the influence of this variable on exercise self-regulation; this relationship has not been examined. Exercise identity research has focused on the relationship between identity and behaviour; yet, identity theory recognizes perceptions of identity-behaviour consistency as theoretically important. Through influencing how identity-relevant information is processed, self-regulatory efficacy may also mediate the relationship between exercise identity and perceptions of identity-behaviour consistency.ObjectiveIdentity and social cognitive theories were used to examine self-regulatory efficacy as a mediator between exercise identity and i) exercise behaviour and ii) perceptions of identity-behaviour consistency.Method/designUndergraduate students (n = 311) were followed for 8 weeks. At baseline, participants completed demographic, exercise identity and exercise measures. After 4 weeks they reported their self-regulatory efficacy and after 8 weeks they reported their perceptions of identity-behaviour consistency and their exercise behaviour.ResultsConsistent with theory, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between exercise identity and both outcomes.ConclusionsFindings extend the exercise identity literature by providing empirical support for self-regulatory efficacy as a mechanism through which exercise identity strength leads to exercise behaviour and the perception of behavioural consistency with exercise identity meanings.     

Cultural variations in pre-emptive effort downplaying

Pre-emptive effort downplaying (PED) occurs when people publicly downplay their effort expenditure on test preparation prior to taking a test for the sake of managing the social evaluation of the self in the face of a challenging performance task. Thirty Asian Americans and 29 European Americans had two opportunities to publicly report their effort expenditure on a practice exercise. They also completed measures of self-evaluations and concern for performance before working on the practice exercise, and the self-evaluation measure again at the completion of the actual test. Only European Americans showed PED. Additionally, concern for performance was positively associated with and mediated cultural variations in PED. The implications of these results are discussed.     

The effect of choice of exercise mode on psychological responses

Objectives: Choice has been linked to both motivation and psychological responses to exercise. This paper investigates participants’ psychological responses when they completed an exercise session where there was a high-preference exercise mode as opposed to a low-preference exercise mode. High- and low-preference were established by participants indicating their preferred choice of exercise from three standard modes used for aerobic work.Method: Participants were 20 low-active adults who exercised for 20 min on each mode of exercise (high-preference versus low-preference). Affect, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) were recorded every 5 min during exercise, and affect and HR were assessed pre-exercise and 5 min post-exercise.Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed condition and time main effects for affect sub-scales and RPE and a time main effect for HR. Affect sub-scales, RPE and HR generally increased over time. RPE, Fatigue and Psychological Distress were higher in the low-preference condition and positive well-being was higher in the high-preference condition.Conclusions: Affect and RPE were influenced by the preferred choice manipulation. Affect was more positive, and RPE lower, in the high-preference versus low-preference condition while work rate remained constant across conditions.     

Children's perception of parental exercise: influence of sex and age

The purpose of the study was to document children's perception of parental exercise, relating these perceptions to (1) the self-reported parents' habits of exercise, and (2) the children's own activity patterns. The subjects were 198 students of both sexes, aged 12 to 14 yr. and enrolled in school Grades 7 to 9. A standard questionnaire assessed their perceptions of parental and personal physical activity. Both parents of each subject also reported their respective levels of habitual physical activity. Congruence between the children's perceptions and the self-reported exercise habits of the opposite-sex parent differed for boys and girls, increasing for boys and decreasing for girls between Grades 7 and 9. No significant associations were observed between the children's perception of parental exercise patterns and their own like habits. This suggests that during adolescence parental influences are minimized by other factors, personal or environmental.     

Affective responses to stretching exercises: Exploring the timing of assessments

Affective responses during exercise have been identified as a predictor of exercise adherence. However, research has been mostly limited to aerobic and resistance exercise. Considering that stretching activities are also an important component of physical fitness, this quasi-experimental study was designed to: 1) compare affective responses during and immediately after stretching exercises in apparently healthy adults, and 2) assess the consistency and repeatability of affect ratings obtained one week apart. For this purpose, we analyzed the Feeling Scale (FS) and Felt Arousal Scale (FAS) ratings using Time (during and after stretching) x Intensity (light, moderate, vigorous) x Stretched Muscle Group (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, latissimus dorsi, triceps) with repeated measures analysis of variance (ANCOVA) in 34 participants (21 males; aged 32.8 ± 8.6 years). The repeatability of FS and FAS ratings was assessed using two-way random-effects models, Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), and Bland-Altman plots. FS scores were higher following the stretching exercises, whereas FAS scores were lower, particularly in the vigorous intensity. In general, the inter-day repeatability for FS and FAS measurements was good across muscle groups. ICC tended to be higher at vigorous intensities. Ratings of core affect can be collected during static passive stretches using the FAS and FAS in ecologically valid settings. These results suggest that an adequate assessment of core affective responses to stretching activities should be performed during the exercises.     

That looks easy! Evidence against the benefits of an easier criterion of success for enhancing motor learning

OPTIMAL theory predicts providing learners with a relatively easier criterion of success during practice enhances motor learning through increased self-efficacy, perceptions of competence, and intrinsic motivation. However, mixed results in the literature suggest this enhancement effect may be moderated by the number of successes achieved by learners practicing with the difficult criterion. To investigate this possibility, we manipulated quantity of practice to affect the absolute number of successes achieved by learners practicing with different success criteria. Eighty participants were divided into four groups and performed 50 or 100 trials of a mini-shuffleboard task. Groups practiced with either a large or a small zone of success surrounding the target. Learning was assessed 24 h after acquisition with retention and transfer tests. In terms of endpoint accuracy and precision, there were no learning or practice performance benefits of practicing with an easier criterion of success, regardless of the number of trials. This absence of a criterion of success effect was despite the efficacy of our manipulation in increasing the number of trials stopping within the zone of success, self-efficacy, perceptions of competence, and, for participants with 100 trials, intrinsic motivation. An equivalence test indicated that the effect of criterion of success was small, if existent. Moreover, at the individual level, intrinsic motivation did not predict posttest or acquisition performance. There were no benefits of easing the criterion of success on pressure, effort, accrual of explicit knowledge, or conscious processing. These data challenge key tenets of OPTIMAL theory and question the efficacy of easing criterion of success for motor learning.     

Physical effort biases the perceived pleasantness of neutral faces: A virtual reality study

The role of affective responses to effort in the regulation of physical activity behavior is widely accepted. Yet, to investigate these affective responses during physical activity, most studies used direct self-reported measures that are prone to biases (e.g., social desirability, ability to introspect). To reduce these biases, we used an indirect measure (i.e., an affect misattribution procedure) that assessed the implicit affective valence elicited by physical effort in 42 healthy young adults. Specifically, participants rated the pleasantness of neutral human faces presented in a virtual environment while cycling at different intensities. We used this rating as an indicator of implicit affective valence. Results showed that higher perceived effort was associated with lower pleasantness ratings of neutral faces, with this effect only emerging at moderate-to-high levels of perceived effort. Further analyses showed that higher actual effort was also associated with lower pleasantness ratings of neutral faces. Overall, these findings suggest that higher levels of perceived effort are associated with decreased affective valence during physical activity. Finally, this study presents a new indirect measure of affective valence during physical activity.     

Effects of Exposure to Physique Slides on the Emotional Responses of Men and Women

The purpose of this study was to examine high and low body dissatisfied (BD) men's and women's in-task emotional responses to the acute exposure of sex-specific physique slides of the aesthetic ideal (i.e., ideal slides) and themselves (i.e., self-slides). Participants were 35 male and 30 female university students who reported their immediate in-task emotional responses (i.e., pleasure and arousal) to viewing the self- and ideal slides. It was found that the (a) high BD women reported the least amount of pleasure while viewing the self- and ideal slides; (b) women reported less pleasure while viewing the self-slides than did the men; (c) The high BD group reported less pleasure while viewing the self- vs. the ideal slides than did the low BD group, and (d) the high BD men reported the most arousal of any of the groups while viewing the self- and ideal slides. The differing emotional responses of the men and women and the high and low BD groups to viewing the self- vs. ideal slides are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.     

Exercise environment,self-efficacy,and affective responses to acute exercise in older adults

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that regular physical activity can have considerable psychological, as well as physical, benefits in the elderly. Although factors such as exercise dosage may be implicated in exercise-induced affect responses, it has also been suggested that social and psychological factors might influence this relationship. This study examined the roles played by exercise environment (group versus alone) and self-efficacy in affective change in 80 older adults (M age = 66 yrs) over the course of three acute exercise bouts. Using latent growth curve methodology and statistically controlling for duration and intensity of exercise, we were able to demonstrate that social (group) environments resulted in statistically significant improvements in feeling state responses when contrasted with a condition in which the participants exercised alone. In addition, increases in self-efficacy were associated with more positive and less negative feeling states. Environmental factors that might influence the exercise-affect response are discussed and recommendations for subsequent exercise, efficacy, affect research made.     

Higher chronic psychological stress is associated with blunted affective responses to strenuous resistance exercise: RPE,pleasure, pain

The aim of this study was to determine whether mental stress moderates perceptions of muscular pain, exertion, pleasure and arousal during a bout of strenuous resistance exercise. Two hundred and ten undergraduate students recruited from resistance exercise classes were screened with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Fifty-seven individuals (age = 20.1 ± 1.2 y) were invited to complete the Undergraduate Stress Questionnaire (USQ), a measure of life event stress, and fitness testing. They later performed a two-phase, acute heavy-resistance exercise protocol: first phase: 10-repetition maximum (RM) leg press test; second phase: six sets at 80–100% of 10-RM. During exercise, participants responded to the Feeling Scale (pleasure), Felt Arousal Scale, Omni-RPE and the Pain Intensity Scale. Affective responses and heart rate were analyzed with a hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) growth curve analysis. USQ moderated the trajectories of affective responses and heart rate during exercise. Higher stress (USQ) levels were significantly related to lower rise in RPE (time², p = .002; time³, p < .001) and heart rate (time², p < .001; time³, p < .001). USQ had a main effect on pleasure and arousal (p values < .001), in which higher levels of stress were related to less affect. Models using the PSS scale produced similar results. PSS, but not USQ, interacted with time to predict pain (time², p = .048; time³, p = .024). Relationships held even after adjusting for covariates, such as depression. Future research should determine if differential responses to exercise by stress have implications for behavioral interventions and mental health outcomes.