Is physical activity a part of who I am? A review and meta-analysis of identity, schema and physical activity

Abstract

Two parallel literatures on the physical activity (PA) identity and schema constructs have the potential to supplement traditional social cognitive approaches used for PA promotion. The purpose of this paper was to review schema/identity research and appraise its relationship with PA via meta-analysis followed by thematic analyses of its correlates, as well as its proposed mechanisms on PA. Eligible studies were from English, peer-reviewed published articles that examined identity and/or schema in the context of PA. Searches were completed in June 2015 in five databases. Sixty-two independent data-sets (32 available for meta-analysis), primarily of modest quality, were identified. Results of the random effects meta-analysis showed that the point-estimate between identity/schema and behaviour was r = .44 (CI = .39-.48), and invariant to selected study characteristics. Thematic review showed that identity/schema was associated with commitment, ability, affective judgments, identified/integrated regulation and social comparison and predicted intention, self-regulatory efficacy, and self-regulation strategy use. It had reliable evidence as a moderator of the intention-behavior relationship, was associated with increases in the speed of processing of relevant information and created negative affect under hypothetical identity-behavior discrepant situations. While this initial research is promising, more rigorous research designs, including interventions to increase identity/schema, are warranted.

A feasibility randomized trial of an identity-based physical activity intervention among university students

“…The relationship between exercise identity and PA participation has a medium effect size (r = 0.44) according to a recent meta-analysis (Rhodes et al, 2016), suggesting a potentially critical construct in the understanding PA. Still, this recent review found that almost all evidence for identity in the PA domain was from observational studies.…”

“…Some theorists have argued that the social cognitive tradition focuses almost exclusively on reflective processes, which generate behavioural decisions that are based on knowledge about facts and values (Strack & Deutsch, 2004). These authors and others (Gardner, De Bruijn, & Lally, 2011;Rebar et al, 2016;Rhodes, 2017;Rhodes, Kaushal, & Quinlan, 2016;Stryker & Burke, 2000;Williams & Evans, 2014) suggest that reflexive processes, those that occur quickly or on impulse, may also impact PA. The inclusion of reflexive processes such as implicit attitudes, automatic affective associations, habit, or identity may provide a more complete picture of PA performance and increase the effectiveness of interventions (Rebar et al, 2016;Ries, Hein, Pihu, & Armenta, 2012;Sheeran, Gollwitzer, Bargh, Gollwitzer, & Bargh, 2013).…”

“…Exercise identity is the self-categorization of oneself into a profile of a regular exerciser. This self-categorization is thought to act as its own reflexive, self-regulating mechanism of motivation, independent of other reasons for performing the behaviour such as outcome expectations (Berry, Strachan, & Verkooijen, 2013;Rhodes et al, 2016;Stets & Burke, 2000;Stryker & Burke, 2000). The reflexive aspect of identity refers to the premise that identity motivates behaviour mainly to reduce negative affect when there is misalignment between one's self-categorization and observed behaviour (Burke, 2016;Stryker & Burke, 2000).…”

Transformational Teaching, Self-Presentation Motives, and Identity in Adolescent Female Physical Education

“…While extant interventions are primarily concerned with behavioural interventions (Metcalf, et al, 2012;Owen, et al, 2017), and given the limited effect exhibited by these, the present work aims to examine the basis for a novel, theory-based psychosocial intervention. The work draws together constructs previously identified as predictors of physical activity, including physical activity identity (Rhodes, Kaushal, & Quinlan, 2016) and physical activity self-presentational motives (Howle, Dimmock, Whipp, & Jackson, 2015a;Howle, Jackson, Conroy, & Dimmock., 2015) which we propose may be shaped by transformational teaching behaviour (Beauchamp et al, 2010).…”

“…Identity theory has been used to explore the basis of commitment and future physically active behaviour as a consequence of acting consistently with a salient identity (Stryker & Burke, 2000). A strong physical activity identity has been found to predict adherence to regimens of physical activity (Anderson & Cychosz, 1995;Anderson, Cychosz & Franke, 1998), moderate the intention-behaviour relationship (Rhodes et al, 2016) and predict overall behavioural consistency and frequency of being physically active (Strachan, Brawley, Spink & Jung, 2009). Therefore, there appears to be merit in influencing behaviour associated with facilitating an identity associated with a desired image (i.e.…”