Premium
Outcome Expectancies and Expectancy Accessibility in Exercise Behavior
Author(s) -
WATERS ANDREW J.,
BURGESS ANGELA,
HUGHES DANIEL L.,
JOVANOVIC JENNIFER L.,
MILLER ELIZABETH K.,
LI YISHENG,
BASENENGQUIST KAREN M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00894.x
Subject(s) - expectancy theory , psychology , cognition , outcome (game theory) , test (biology) , social cognitive theory , task (project management) , sedentary behavior , clinical psychology , physical activity , physical therapy , developmental psychology , social psychology , medicine , psychiatry , paleontology , mathematics , management , mathematical economics , economics , biology
Most people do not engage in recommended levels of physical activity. Social cognition research indicates that self‐reported outcome expectancies (OEs) are associated with exercise behavior, but self‐report assessments have limitations. We investigated whether reaction times (RTs) to endorse outcome expectancies would capture unique information about spontaneous cognitive processes associated with exercise behavior. Exercisers and sedentary participants were randomly assigned to complete an exercise test or to rest. Participants completed an OE questionnaire and RT task before and after the test/rest. On the RT task, exercisers endorsed exercise positive outcomes more rapidly than sedentary participants. Furthermore, reported OEs and RTs were independently associated with exercise status. RTs may afford a more comprehensive assessment of the cognitive processes associated with exercise behavior.