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Pleasure and displeasure from the body: Perspectives from exercise
Abstract
The affective changes associated with acute exercise have been studied extensively in exercise and health psychology, but not in affective psychology. This paper presents a summary of the relevant findings and a tentative theoretical model. According to this model, affective responses to exercise are jointly influenced by cognitive factors, such as physical self-efficacy, and interoceptive (e.g., muscular or respiratory) cues that reach the affective centres of the brain via subcortical routes. Furthermore, the balance between these two determinants is hypothesised to shift as a function of exercise intensity, with cognitive factors being dominant at low intensities and interoceptive cues gaining salience as intensity approaches the individual's functional limits and the maintenance of a physiological steady-state becomes impossible.
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“This theory postulates that the exercise intensity (especially the lactate and ventilatory threshold) is the mediator of affective responses.”
From Continuous and high-intensity interval training: Which promotes higher pleasure? (2013) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“According to the Dual-Mode Theory, an exercise session can have effects on cognitive factors (e.g., psychological factors such as physical self-efficacy) and interoceptive factors (e.g., physiological factors such as ventilation), and the interaction of these factors is influenced by the exercise intensity [10].”
From Continuous and high-intensity interval training: Which promotes higher pleasure? (2013) · cites this paper as [10]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Ekkekakis, P.
- Affiliations
- a Iowa State University, Ames, USA
- Venue
- Cognition and Emotion
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2003-01
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 213-239
- ISSN
- 0269-9931 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0600
- OpenAlex
- W2056702675
- Cited by
- 619
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 42 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 74 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 5.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cognition & Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- acute exercise, affective responses to exercise, pleasure, displeasure, physical self-efficacy, interoceptive cues, exercise intensity
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