Psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between commercial physical activity app use and physical activity engagement

PurposePrevious studies have indicated a relationship between the use of commercial physical activity apps (e.g., Fitbit, Strava) and physical activity engagement. The use of social components of such apps, in particular app-specific communities (connecting with other app users) and existing social networking platforms (e.g., Facebook) have the potential to enhance physical activity. This study aimed to explore the psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between the use of commercial physical activity apps (and their social components) and physical activity engagement.MethodAn online cross-sectional survey assessed physical activity, use of commercial physical activity apps (and their associated social components), and psychological constructs (social support, self-efficacy, motivation, trait competitiveness, trait social comparison).Results1274 adults aged 18–83 years (M_age = 34.1 ± 13.5 years, 87.6% female) participated. App use was positively associated with physical activity engagement. The relationship between app use and physical activity was fully mediated by social support, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation and identified regulation. Trait competitiveness, but not trait social comparison, moderated the relationship between app use and physical activity. Most features (e.g., sharing posts, providing or receiving encouragement) of the social components of apps were positively associated with psychological constructs linked to engagement in physical activity. Mediation pathways linking features of existing social networking platforms with physical activity were found. Specifically, sharing posts was linked to higher engagement in physical activity via positive associations with self-efficacy, and receiving encouragement with linked to higher engagement in physical activity via positive associations with both self-efficacy and identified regulation. In addition, engagement in comparisons was associated with lower self-efficacy and higher external regulation, and in turn, lower physical activity.ConclusionsThe relationship between the use of commercial physical activity apps and physical activity is underpinned by social support, self-efficacy and autonomous motivations. The findings highlight the importance of trait competitiveness, which should be taken into consideration when leveraging physical activity apps. Overall, the present study demonstrated that commercial physical activity apps (and their social components) hold great potential to increase physical activity engagement given their associations with psychological constructs strongly linked with physical activity.     

Higher inhibitory control is required to escape the innate attraction to effort minimization

Recent evidence suggests humans have an automatic attraction to effort minimization. Yet, how this attraction is associated with response inhibition is still unclear. Here, we used go/no-go tasks to capture inhibitory control in response to stimuli depicting physical activity versus physical inactivity in 59 healthy young individuals. Higher commission errors (i.e., failure to refrain a response to a “no-go” stimulus) indicated lower inhibitory control. Based on the energetic cost minimization theory, we hypothesized that participants would exhibit higher commission errors when responding to physical inactivity stimuli rather than physical activity stimuli. Mixed effects models showed that, compared to physical activity stimuli, participants exhibited higher commission errors when responding to stimuli depicting physical inactivity (odds ratio = 1.59, 95% Confidence Interval = 1.18 to 2.16, p = .003). These results suggest that physical inactivity stimuli might require high response inhibition. This study lends support for the hypothesis that an attraction to effort minimization might affect inhibitory processes in the presence of stimuli related to this minimization. The study pre-registration form can be found at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RKYHB.     

Efficacy of a 7-week dance (RCT) PE curriculum with different teaching pedagogies and levels of cognitive challenge to improve working memory capacity and motor competence in 8–10 years old children

ObjectivesThis study examined how learning a dance choreography with different teaching pedagogies and different cognitive challenge influenced the development of working memory capacity and motor competence in primary school children.DesignRandomised-controlled trial.MethodsEighty primary school children (8.8 ± 0.7 years old; 61% females) were recruited and randomly assigned to two experimental groups – a high-cognitive and a low-cognitive group – and a control group. The two experimental groups practiced dance for 7 weeks, twice a week, learning a choreography, while the control group participated in the school standard PE curriculum. In the high-cognitive group, the dance teachers limited visual demonstrations and encouraged children to memorise and recall movement sequences to increase the cognitive challenge.ResultsWhile the pre-to post-test improvements did not statistically differ between experimental groups, the analysis showed that the high-cognitive group statistically improved their working memory capacity (p < 0.01; d = 0.51), while the low-cognitive (p = 0.04; d = 0.48) and control groups did not (p = 0.32; d = 0.17). All three groups improved their motor competence from pre-to post-test, and there was a significant group*time effect (p < 0.01, η_p² = 0.13) with the high-cognitive group showing larger improvement than the control.ConclusionsThe results of this study provide initial support that dance practice coupled with a high cognitive challenge could improve working memory capacity and motor competence in children; however, the difference between groups was not statistically significant, and future research is necessary to examine the generalization of this finding.     

青少年早期身体攻击与关系攻击的异质性共发模式、稳定性及其与同伴关系的联系

采用整群抽样法选取1967名青少年被试（平均年龄13.22±0.36岁,男生1018人）进行三年追踪,运用个体定向方法考察青少年早期身体攻击和关系攻击的异质性共发模式及其稳定性、与同伴关系间联系。结果发现三时间点均存在5个身体—关系攻击共发模式组：高身体—关系攻击组、中等身体—关系攻击组、中下身体且低关系攻击组、低身体且中下关系攻击组、低身体—关系攻击组,表明两类攻击总体上表现出水平一致或类似的共发模式,且具跨年龄一致性。各共发模式身份表现出有差异的跨时间稳定性,低攻击组稳定性最高,其次是高攻击组、中等攻击组,低身体且中下关系攻击组转变概率最高。高攻击组同伴拒绝水平最高、同伴接纳最低,低攻击组反之,其他组同伴拒绝水平均显著高于低攻击组,为两类攻击亚组共发模式提供了效度证据。     

The effects of gormone manipulations on aggressive target-biting in mice

Aggressive biting of an inanimate target by mice was studied. Males attacked the bite-target more frequently than females, but this difference disappeared after castration when the response rate of the males approached that of the females. Ovariectomizing the females had little effect on their bite-attack frequencies. Subsequent androgen injections restored the biting-attack frequency of the castrated males to preoperative levels but had little effect on the intact males. Estrogen had little effect on the response frequency of the females, whereas androgen produced a slight increase in their bite-attack frequency. Results indicate that androgen is critical for the maintenance of this aggressive response and that the single subject paradigm utilized in this study was a sensitive measure of aggressive tendencies in mice.     

Dominance assertion in male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

The social relations of three adult males in a captive chimpanzee group were evaluated for 12 months. The observations encompassed a period of transition in the dominance hierarchy providing an opportunity to assess behavioral patterns involved in the initiation of status changes. This study shows that dominance in the chimpanzee is expressed primarily through ritualized and non-contact behavior rather than by overt aggression. In particular, display behavior is important for indicating dominance rank, in communicating aggressive intent, and as a prelude to status struggles. The functional relationships between status, displays and other socio-sexual behavior patterns are presented.     

Fighting in female mice in lines selected for laterality

Male and female mice from the Collins HI and LO laterality strains were isolated for 3–5 days. Thereafter on Day 1 each was given the Intruder Test followed by a Training Test; the latter was repeated 1 week later. All males of 36 days or older fought vigorously, but without line differences. Females of the HI strain showed higher numbers of fighters and greater intensity of fighting than those of the LO strain, and by the second Training Test these differences were significant at p < 0.01. The HI and LO laterality strains thus provide useful tools for investigating the functions of female agonistic behavior and the possible relationship between laterality and the expression of aggression.     

The assessment of individual “Aggressiveness” in pigeons by a variety of means

Pigeons attack or threaten animate and inanimate targets. The assessment of their aggressiveness was studied by exposing them in their home cages to three different stimuli: the experimenter's hand, a live pigeon, and a rear-projected conspecific image when the birds were exposed to intermittent access to food. A positive correlation between the hand test and live pigeon test was evident, but no relationship between either of these responses and the response to a pictorial image was observed. These results combined with other ethological observations cast doubts on the usefulness of schedule-induced responses to pictorial targets in the assessment of the individual aggressiveness in pigeons, but suggest that the hand test is an adequate and reliable procedure for such evaluations.     

Effects of fluprazine (DU 27716) upon aggressive and sexual behavior of testosterone-treated female rats

Female rats, chronically treated with Testosterone Propionate (TP), were injected with Fluprazine (DU 27716) or saline and tested for social aggression, masculine and feminine sexual behavior. Fluprazine-treated females were less aggressive than saline-treated females, as indicated by a shift from offensive to less offensive parameters of aggression. At the same time, mounting in Fluprazine-treated females was almost totally abolished, both in aggression tests and in tests for sexual behavior. Feminine sexual responses increased during aggressive encounters but were slightly inhibited when females were confronted with sexually active males. Females treated with Fluprazine and tested for mounting with a receptive female showed a substantial increase of offensive aggression directed at the receptive stimulus female. It is concluded that Fluprazine does not selectively inhibit offensive aggression in TP-treated female rats.     

Various relationships between predatory dominance and aggressive behavior in Pairs of cats

The experiments were performed on adult male cats selected initially as good mousekillers. Cats were tested in pairs and each pair was introduced separately to the experimental compartment. The attitude toward the partner before and during the predatory competition test as well as superiority in catching and killing the mice, considered as an index of dominance, were registered. In the course of experiment five types of relations between the predatory dominance and aggressive behavior were observed. The concept of dominance as an outcome of several factors was discussed. It was concluded that predatory dominance is not based exclusively on aggressive mechanisms, as it may be formed and sustained without overt aggression.