This study examined the effect of motivational primes on participants (N = 171) during a cycling task. Relative to participants primed with a controlled motivational orientation, it was hypothesized that participants primed for autonomous motivation would report greater feelings of enjoyment, effort, and choice in relation to the cycling activity and report greater exercise intentions. Members of the autonomous prime group were expected to exercise for longer, at a greater percentage of their heart rate maximum, and report lower levels of perceived exertion than those in the controlled prime condition. It was found that, relative to participants in the controlled prime group, those who received the autonomous prime enjoyed the exercise more, exercised at a greater percentage of heart rate maximum, and reported a lower rating of perceived exertion. Furthermore, participants experiencing the controlled prime exercised for less time and had lower intentions to exercise than did other participants. Results highlight the importance of automatic processes in activating motivation for exercise.
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The Impact of Automatically Activated Motivation on Exercise-Related Outcomes
Lauren K. Banting, James A. Dimmock, and J. Robert Grove
Automaticity of Exercise Self-Regulatory Efficacy Beliefs in Adults With High and Low Experience in Exercise Self-Regulation
Jude Buckley and Linda D. Cameron
Guided by social cognitive theory (SCT), we investigated whether exercise selfregulatory efficacy beliefs can be activated nonconsciously in individuals experienced and inexperienced in exercise self-regulation, and whether these beliefs are automatically associated with exercise self-regulation processes. The study used a 2 (Exercise Self-Regulation Experience Group) × 3 (Prime Condition) between-subjects design in which individuals experienced and inexperienced in exercise self-regulation were randomly assigned to receive subliminal, supraliminal, or no priming of exercise self-regulatory efficacy beliefs. Participants completed hypothetical diary entries, which were assessed for exercise self-regulatory efficacy and self-regulation expressions using content analyses with a SCT coding system and the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text analysis program. For both exercise self-regulation experience groups, self-efficacy priming led to more expressions of low exercise self-regulatory efficacy and dysfunctional exercise self-regulation strategies compared with the control prime. For participants experienced in exercise self-regulation, supraliminal priming (vs. control priming) led to more expressions of high exercise self-regulatory efficacy and functional exercise self-regulation strategies. For the experienced groups, priming led to automaticity of exercise expressions compared with the control condition. For inexperienced participants in the subliminal prime condition, priming led to automaticity of self-regulatory efficacy beliefs and work-related goals compared with the control condition. Automatic activation of exercise self-regulatory efficacy and exercise self-regulation processes suggests that self-regulation of exercise behavior can occur nonconsciously.
To Run or Not to Run? Automatic Evaluations and Reflective Attitudes Toward Exercise
Julia Limmeroth and Norbert Hagemann
distinguish between reflective and automatic processing of information. The deliberate consideration of available information characterizes reflective processes (Type II), and the resulting reflective evaluations may be cognitive or affective. Contrary to this perspective, automatic processes (Type I
Habit in the Physical Activity Domain: Integration With Intention Temporal Stability and Action Control
Ryan Rhodes, Gert-Jan de Bruijn, and Deborah H. Matheson
The purpose of this study was to explore the role of habit in predicting physical activity with the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The study extended previous research by (a) including a measure of temporal intention stability in the regression equation, and (b) unpacking the intention × behavior × habit relationship. Participants were 153 undergraduate students who completed a habit measure and measures of the TPB at Time 1 followed by measures of intention and behavior 2 weeks later. Results using regression analysis demonstrated that habit explained 7% additional variance after accounting for the TPB and temporal stability of intention and its interaction with intention. Follow-up analyses showed considerable asymmetry in the three-way relationship between intention, behavior, and habit, where high habit participants were composed primarily of intenders (i.e., intended to be active >3 times/week at 30 min) who engaged in regular physical activity (70%, n = 28) and low habit participants were inactive nonintenders (i.e., did not intend to be active >3 times/week at 30 min and were subsequently not active; 69%, n = 25). The results support the notion that some properties of physical activity may have an automatic component and that habits may be important to physical activity action control.
Critical Review of Measurement Practices in the Study of Automatic Associations of Sedentary Behavior, Physical Activity, and Exercise
Zachary Zenko and Panteleimon Ekkekakis
, Presseau, & Araújo-Soares, 2014 ), some of whom have called for bold new theorizing. In this critical review, we have focused on the role of implicit processes, namely those pathways to behavior that are characterized by rapidity and automaticity, are nonreflective and nondeliberative, may remain largely
Experiences of Peak Performance in Elite American Football
Andy Gillham and Craig Stone
athletes’ abilities to execute at their best with a sense that performance feels effortless, automatic, and effective, while acknowledging that there are cognitive, emotional, and physiological states in a peak performance akin to IZOF. However, the defining difference between the two models is that
Towards Automatic Modeling of Volleyball Players’ Behavior for Analysis, Feedback, and Hybrid Training
Fahim A. Salim, Fasih Haider, Dees Postma, Robby van Delden, Dennis Reidsma, Saturnino Luz, and Bert-Jan van Beijnum
manually tagged which not only requires time and effort but would also split a trainer’s attention from training to tagging the events for later viewing and analysis. A system which could automatically tag such events would help trainers avoid manual effort and has the potential to provide tailored and
Mediating Mechanisms in a Physical Activity Intervention: A Test of Habit Formation
Navin Kaushal, Ryan E. Rhodes, John T. Meldrum, and John C. Spence
similar research, Gardner ( 2015 ) and Gardner et al. ( 2016 ) have shown that the instigation habit (the degree of automaticity required to initiate the decision to exercise) is a superior predictor of behavior than the execution habit, which reflects the micro behaviors and continuation (e
“I Do What I Like”: 8- to 10-Year-Old Children’s Physical Activity Behavior Is Already Interrelated With Their Automatic Affective Processes
Julia Limmeroth and Michaela Raboldt
is important to understand why children are not sufficiently physically active. This study aims to understand underlying psychological processes that contribute to PA behavior in children. For this purpose, we investigated whether automatic affective processes already have an influence on PA in
Sensorimotor Rhythm Neurofeedback Enhances Golf Putting Performance
Ming-Yang Cheng, Chung-Ju Huang, Yu-Kai Chang, Dirk Koester, Thomas Schack, and Tsung-Min Hung
Sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) activity has been related to automaticity during skilled action execution. However, few studies have bridged the causal link between SMR activity and sports performance. This study investigated the effect of SMR neurofeedback training (SMR NFT) on golf putting performance. We hypothesized that preelite golfers would exhibit enhanced putting performance after SMR NFT. Sixteen preelite golfers were recruited and randomly assigned into either an SMR or a control group. Participants were asked to perform putting while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded, both before and after intervention. Our results showed that the SMR group performed more accurately when putting and exhibited greater SMR power than the control group after 8 intervention sessions. This study concludes that SMR NFT is effective for increasing SMR during action preparation and for enhancing golf putting performance. Moreover, greater SMR activity might be an EEG signature of improved attention processing, which induces superior putting performance.
