An investigation of personality and affect with respect to acute exercise

Introduction: While the relationship between personality and physical activity (PA) behavior is well established, few studies have examined personality and affective states experienced during exercise. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether personality traits [e.g., Conscientiousness (C), Neuroticism (N), and Extraversion (E)] and their corresponding trait facets (e.g., N: Anxiety; Depression; E: Excitement-Seeking) uniquely predict affective states during an acute bout of vigorous physical activity. Methods: 10 participants (21 ± 1.94 yrs, 6 (60%) Female, 10 (100%) current exercisers) completed the International Personality Item Pool to assess personality, a VO2 peak test to determine a unique maximum heart rate, and a 10-minute bout of vigorous cycling. During the acute cycling bout, affective states (e.g., Feeling Scale (FS); Hardy & Rejeski, 1989; Felt Arousal Scale; Svebak & Murgatroyd, 1985) were assessed every 2 minutes. Two multiple linear regressions were conducted to analyze whether C, N, and E uniquely predicted peak affect (highest FS achieved from min-0 to min-10) (Model 1) and valley affect (lowest FS achieved from min-0 to min-10) (Model 2). Two follow-up multiple regressions were conducted to analyze whether C, Anxiety, Depression, and Excitement-Seeking uniquely predicted peak affect (Model 3) and valley affect (Model 4). Results: Personality explained greater variance in peak affect than valley affect (Model 1: R2= .841, 2: R2= .605, 3: R2= .921, 4: R2= .781). Initial regressions indicated that Neuroticism significantly predicted peak (β= -.949, p= 0.003) and valley affect (β = -.752, p= 0.049), while E and C did not (p> 0.05). Follow-up regressions indicated that Depression predicted both peak (β= -.766, p= 0.004) and valley affect (β= -.851, p= 0.021), while C, Anxiety, and Excitement-Seeking did not (p>0.05). Conclusion: Understanding the relationship between personality and affective responses will allow practitioners to target individuals for PA interventions to improve PA behavior.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Markowitz, Erin Nicole

Contributors dc:contributor

• Petruzzello, Steven J

• Physical Activity
• Affective States
• Personality

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Erin Markowitz

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124403

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124403