UNDERSTANDING INTENTIONS TO EXERCISE FOLLOWING A STRUCTURED EXERCISE PROGRAM - AN ATTRIBUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The present study examined the relationships among perceived outcome, causal attributions, affect, expected success, and intentions to exerc ise following a structured exercise program. participants were 105 vol unteers who had just completed a 12-week exercise program, Results ind icated that perceived outcome over objective outcome (% attendance) wa s significantly more important for understanding the attribution proce ss. Interesting interactions indicated that (a) individuals who made p ersonally controllable attributions reported higher positive affect fo llowing perceived success, but lower positive affect following perceiv ed failure than those who made personally uncontrollable attributions, and (b) individuals who made external attributions following perceive d failure reported higher expected success than those who made interna l attributions. Finally, both positive affect and expected success sho wed positive relationships with intention to exercise following the pr ogram. It was suggested that attribution theory may be beneficial to u nderstanding continued exercise following structured exercise programs .