Affective response to exercise as a component of exercise motivation: Attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, and temporal stability of intentions
Open accessAbstract
PROBLEM: A positive affective response is associated with increased participation in voluntary exercise, but the mechanisms by which this occurs are not well known. Consistent with a Theory of Planned Behaviour perspective, we tested whether affective response to exercise leads to greater motivation in terms of attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy and intentions to exercise. We were also specifically interested in whether a positive affective response leads to more temporally stable intentions. METHOD: Participants (N = 127) self-reported Theory of Planned Behaviour constructs and exercise behavior at baseline and three months later, and provided reports of exercise-related affect during a 30-minute bout of moderate intensity treadmill exercise at baseline. RESULTS: We show that participants who experience greater improvements in positive affect, negative affect and fatigue during exercise tended to report more positive attitudes, exercise self-efficacy and intentions to exercise three months later. Affective response was not predictive of subjective norms. As hypothesized, positive affective response was associated with more stable intentions over time. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a positive affective response to acute bouts of exercise can aid in building and sustaining exercise motivation over time.
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- Authors
- Kwan, B. M., & Bryan, A. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kwan, Bethany M.
- ORCID
- Bryan, Angela D.
- Venue
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-01
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 71-79
- ISSN
- 1469-0292 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2782828
- OpenAlex
- W2108678848
- Cited by
- 218
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 10.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychology of sport and exercise (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH079636)
- National Cancer Institute (R03CA097870)
- National Center for Research Resources (M01RR000051)
- NIH Clinical Center
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- affective responses to exercise, exercise motivation, theory of planned behavior, exercise self-efficacy, exercise attitudes, subjective norms, exercise intention, positive affect, negative affect, exercise fatigue, treadmill exercise, exercise participation
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