The DOI matches its Crossref record.
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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In the citing paper
“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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Items 601–618 of 618
Rehder, J., Timm, I., Berretz, G., Reinhard, I., Neubauer, A. B., Güntürkün, O., Takano, K., Bierbauer, W., Cabrita, M., Bourke, M., et al. (2026) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02427-2 · Cited by 4
Ruegsegger, G. N., Lopez, R. L., & Bates, J. J. (2026) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-026-09423-0
“Research on exercise-related affect similarly indicates that activities performed above preferred intensity levels can generate affective signals that influence memory and subsequent judgment [44].”
Bird, J. M., POTTS, H. W. W., Fisher, A., Mitchell, J. J., Blodgett, J. M., Steed, A. J., & Hamer, M. (2026) · Performance Enhancement & Health · doi:10.1016/j.peh.2026.100441
Mood changes of children and adolescents in dance classes: a prospective repeated-measures study
Henderson, T. C., Henderson, P. R., Robertson‐Kraft, C., & Levick, J. S. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1719704
“This pattern is consistent with the broader physical activity literature, where psychological benefits often follow an inverted-U dose–response curve rather than a linear increase (Ekkekakis, 2003; Hamer and Stamatakis, 2010).”
Bodart, A., & Thonon, B. (2026) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2026.103214
Fessler, L., Orsholits, D., Faucheur, A. L., Rhodes, R. E., Cheval, B., & Sarrazin, P. G. (2026) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjhp.70097
“Furthermore, it is worth noting that Dual-Mode Theory and the peak–end rule were largely developed and tested in continuous exercise contexts.”
InfluentialUncovering children’s affect-related reactions towards physical activities
Metschies, A., Döringer, F., & Pfeiffer, M. (2026) · Performance Enhancement & Health · doi:10.1016/j.peh.2026.100451
Psychophysiological responses to stride frequency manipulation in men and women
Karim, R. A., Glasgow, G., Baker, J., Byrne, J. M., Hohl, R., & Basset, F. A. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0355226
Olson, R. L., Marshall, D., & Materia, M. A. (2026) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs16081357
“The FS is widely used and validated for assessing affective valence during exercise (Ekkekakis, 2003; Hardy & Rejeski, 1989).”
Liu, J., Liu, W.-J., Qiu, Y., & Jiang, H.-M. (2026) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-026-02965-w
Zhou, Y., Wu, Y., & Su, Q. (2026) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000050663
“[11,12] Heart rate can therefore serve as an indicator of physiological load, while PA reflects students’ subjective emotional experience during exercise.”
Andrade, A. J., Bastos, V., & Teixeira, D. (2026) · Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1123/jsep.2025-0349
Pinto, B. M., Kindred, M. M., DeScenza, V. R., & DUNSIGER, S. I. (2026) · Psycho-Oncology · doi:10.1002/pon.70616
“The Feeling Scale is a single‐item measure of the valence dimension of affect [30], used in PA studies and shown to be longitudinally associated with PA [31, 32].”
Komáromi, L., Kovácsik, R., Járai, R., & Szabó, A. (2026) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107908
Santos, F., Davis, P., & Teixeira, D. (2026) · Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte · doi:10.6018/cpd.715121
Psychological impacts of exercise snacks vs. traditional exercise: a comparative study
Yan, S., Sun, Y., Zhang, Z., Zhao, Z., & Liu, L. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1917848
“Third, the measurement of physical activity enjoyment aligns with the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and classical affective response frameworks in exercise psychology (Deci and Ryan, 2013; Ryan and Deci, 2000; Ekkekakis, 2003; Teixeira et al., 2012).”
Knackfuss, M. I., Maia, U. M. D. C., & Soares, T. C. M. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800769-3.00027-5
The influence of competitor presence on pacing regulation and performance during cycling time trials
Williams, E. L. (2015) · Edge Hill University
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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