EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY AND ACUTE EXERCISE ON MOOD STATES

Exercisers often report that even a single bout of exercise can bring about significant changes in their mood. However, the experimental evi dence does not entirely support these anecdotal reports. It is current ly unclear whether exercise exerts any greater effect on mood than an equivalent period of quiet rest or other placebo conditions. The purpo se of this study was to compare the effects of exercise against a no-e xercise condition within an experimental protocol. A second aim was to examine whether manipulation of Ss' expectations of psychological ben efits from exercise could alter the extent to which their moods change d. The influence of personality on magnitude of mood change post-exerc ise was also evaluated. It was found that exercise did enhance mood mo re than a period of quiet rest. However, the manipulation of expectati ons failed to produce significantly different effects on mood. Finally , personality factors were found to influence significantly the mood e ffects of exercise. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.