between exercise and affect with 30 volunteers rating their affective state every minute
as they ran on a treadmill. The results showed improvements in affect from baseline
to follow up which supports previous research suggesting that exercise is beneficial.
However, the results also showed a brief deterioration in mood mid-exercise. The authors
suggest that although prolonged exercise may improve mood this dip in mood may
explain why people fail to adhere to exercise programmes.Anxiety
Research has also indicated that exercise may be linked to a reduction in anxiety. Again,
there are problems with determining the direction of causality in this relationship, but it
has been suggested that exercise may decrease anxiety by diverting the individual’s
attention away from the source of anxiety.Response to stress
Exercise has been presented as a mediating factor for the stress response (see Chapters 10
and 11). Exercise may influence stress either by changing an individual’s appraisal
of a potentially stressful event by distraction or diversion (e.g. ‘This situation could be
stressful but if I exercise I will not have to think about it’) or may act as a potential coping
strategy to be activated once an event has been appraised as stressful (e.g. ‘Although the
situation is stressful, I shall now exercise to take my mind off things’).Self-esteem and self-confidence
It has also been suggested that exercise may enhance an individual’s psychological well-
being by improving self-esteem and self-confidence. King et al. (1992) report that the
psychological consequences of exercise may be related to improved body satisfaction,
which may correlate to general self-esteem and confidence. In addition, exercise may
result in an improved sense of achievement and self-efficacy.How does exercise influence psychological well-being?
Many theories have been developed to explain the factors that mediate the link between
exercise and psychological state. These reflect both the physiological and psychological
approaches to the study of exercise. For example, it has been argued that exercise
results in the release of endorphins, the brain’s natural opioids (Steinberg and
Sykes 1985), and increases in the levels of brain norepinephrine, which have been
hypothesized to be a cause of depression. It has also been suggested that improved
psychological state is related to the social activity often associated with exercise and
the resulting increased confidence and self-esteem. Any reduction in levels of depression
may be related to greater social contact, improved social support and increased self-
efficacy.172 HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY