FOCUS ON RESEARCH 7.1: TESTING A THEORY – EXERCISE AND MOOD
A study to examine the effects of exercise on mood (Steptoe et al. 1993).
This study examined the relationship between exercise and mood. Because of the
experimental design, the results allow some conclusions to be made about the direction
of causality.
Background
Exercise is believed to be important for a healthy life. However, as with many health-
related behaviours, adherence to health promotion recommendations may be more
motivated by short-term immediate effects (e.g. feeling good) than the potential changes
in the long term (e.g. living longer). Therefore, understanding the immediate effects of
exercise on mood has obvious implications for encouraging individuals to take regular
exercise. Steptoe et al. (1993) examined changes in mood, mental vigour and exhilara-
tion in sportsmen and inactive men following maximal, moderate and minimal exercise.
Methodology
Subjects The subjects were 36 male amateur athletes who were regularly involved in
a variety of sports and exercised for more than 30 minutes at least three times per week,
and 36 inactive men who exercised for less than 30 minutes per week.
Design All subjects took part in two exercise sessions and completed measures of
mood before and after each exercise session. This study was therefore experimental in
design and involved repeated measures.
Procedure At session one, all subjects completed a set of profile questionnaires (back-
ground physical and psychological measures) and took part in a maximal exercise
session on a cycle ergonometer. Maximal exercise was determined by oxygen uptake.
At session two, subjects were randomly allocated to 20 minutes of either maximal,
moderate or minimal exercise. All subjects completed ratings of mood before exercise,
2 minutes after exercise and after 30 minutes of recovery.
Measures The subjects rated items relating to tension/anxiety, mental vigour,
depression/dejection, exhilaration and perceived exertion before and after each exercise
session. In addition, all subjects completed measures of (1) personality and (2) trait
anxiety once only at the beginning of the first session.
Results
The results were analysed to examine the effect of the differing degrees of exercise on
changes in mood in the sportsmen and the inactive men. The results showed that only
EXERCISE 173