Cameron, D.S. orcid.org/0000-0001-8923-5591, Bertenshaw, E.J. and Sheeran, P. (2017) Positive affect and physical activity: testing effects on goal setting, activation, prioritization, and attainment. Psychology and Health, 33 (2). pp. 258-274. ISSN 0887-0446
Abstract
Objective: The present research tested whether incidental positive affect promotes pursuit of physical activity goals. Four key features of goal pursuit were examined – setting physical activity goals (Study 1), goal activation (Study 2), and goal prioritization and goal attainment (Study 3). Design: Participants (Ns = 80, 81, and 59, in Studies 1–3, respectively) were randomized to positive affect (joy, hope) or neutral affect (control) conditions in each study. Main Outcome Measures: Questionnaire measures of goal level, goal commitment, and means selection (Study 1); a lexical decision task indexed goal activation (Study 2), a choice task captured goal prioritization and MET minutes quantified goal attainment (Study 3). Results: Study 1 showed that positive affect led to a greater number of intended physical activities, and that joy engendered greater willingness to try activities. In Study 2, a positive affect induction led to heightened activation of the physical activity goal compared to the control condition. The joy induction in Study 3 led to greater physical activity, and a trend towards greater goal prioritization. Conclusion: These findings suggest that positive affect enhances the pursuit of physical activity goals. Implications for health behavior theories and interventions are outlined.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Psychology and Health. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | physical activity; exercise; joy; positive affect; goals |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 12 Apr 2017 13:50 |
Last Modified: | 27 Jul 2023 09:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/08870446.2017.1314477 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:114946 |