Motivational and implicit processes contribute to incidental physical activity

Abstract

Findings showed that elements from self-determination theory and dual process models relate to incidental physical activity behaviour. Specifically, autonomous motivation and certain implicit processes contributed to incidental physical activity engagement. This study provides an important first step towards understanding the psychological mechanisms that contribute to incidental physical activity. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Motivation and implicit processes individually contribute to incidental physical activity behaviour. Autonomous motivation, rather than controlled motivation, primarily contributes to physical activity behaviour. What does this study add? Motivational and implicit processes together contribute to predicting levels of incidental physical activity. Both autonomous and controlled motivation contribute to levels of incidental physical activity. Certain implicit processes also play a role in incidental physical activity engagement.

The association between implicit attitudes toward physical activity and physical activity behaviour: a systematic review and correlational meta-analysis

“…Other studies investigating the conditions in which implicit attitudes are specifically associated with physical activity are thus needed, and this includes studies investigating the moderating effects of other implicit and explicit processes (see for example Muschalik et al, 2018;Oliver & Kemps, 2018).…”

“…There was a moderate level of heterogeneity (I 2 = 51%). Two univariate outliers (Oliver & Kemps, 2018;Berry et al, 2011) were identified with the Grubbs tests performed on the 55 available effect sizes. In the aggregated analysis, one multivariate outlier (Oliver & Kemps, 2018) was identified (see in supplemental results [Insert Figure 2 about here]…”

“…In this paper we chose to align with the classification proposed by Sheeran, Gollwitzer and Bargh (2013) that specify three different categories of implicit processes: cognitive (e.g., attentional bias), affective (e.g., implicit attitudes), and motivational constructs (e.g., non-conscious goal pursuit). In future, it would be interesting to empirically test this classification, how these different implicit constructs, and whether their relative measures, are (or are not) associated, and to what extent they independently contribute to explain physical activity behavior (see Oliver & Kemps, 2018). For example, it could be interesting to explore whether different measures developed to reflect implicit attitudes share variability that is not shared with measures of other constructs (i.e., attentional bias), accounting for method and random residual error (see Bar-Anan & Vianello, 2018).…”

Higher inhibitory control is required to escape the innate attraction to effort minimization

“…Reaction times in a go/no go task are considered an indicator of attentional biasan increased reaction time is interpreted as reflecting increased and maintained attention toward salient stimuli, thus delaying the responses (Carbine et al, 2017;Eigsti et al, 2006;Meule & Kübler, 2014). In addition, because previous studies showed that individuals with higher levels of physical activity exhibit automatic reactions supporting physical activity behaviors, including attentional bias, affective reactions, and approach tendencies (Bluemke, Brand, Schweizer, & Kahlert, 2010;Calitri, Lowe, Eves, & Bennett, 2009;Cheval, Miller, et al, 2020;Cheval, Sarrazin, Isoard-Gautheur, Radel, & Friese, 2015;Conroy, Hyde, Doerksen, & Ribeiro, 2010;Oliver & Kemps, 2018), we also explored whether the usual level of physical activity moderated any effects of the type of stimuli on reaction times.…”

Perceptions of active and inactive prototypes are associated with objective measures of physical activity in adolescents

“…As a consequence, it has been suggested that health behavioural theories reflecting rational, reflective processes alone might be too narrow (Marteau et al, 2012) and that the reasoned action approach could be augmented (Hennessy et al, 2018). One possibility is that more impulsive modes of decision-making including implicit attitudes and motivations might also guide PA (Dimmock & Banting, 2009;Oliver & Kemps, 2018) especially among adolescents, whose decision-making is inclined to be influenced by spontaneous processes, especially in social situations (Blakemore & Mills, 2014).…”