CENTRAL, LOCAL, AND OVERALL RATINGS OF PERCEIVED EXERTION DURING CYCLING AND RUNNING BY WOMEN WITH AN EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL

Much research has been directed toward finding the most prominent psyc hological factors affecting ratings of perceived exertion during physi cal exercise. The one most frequently mentioned, although rarely inves tigated empirically, is locus of control. Findings from non-sport-rela ted research indicate thar individuals with an internal locus of contr ol (internals) are better at using the available information than indi viduals with an external locus of control (externals). That finding ha s been attributed to the inferior information-processing capacity of t he latter group, a deficit that might also affect the processing of ex ertional cues during physical exercise. In the present study, a group of women categorized as internals were compared with a similar group o f externals during both ergometer cycling and treadmill running. The r esults indicated significantly different ratings between the groups no t only for overall perceived exertion but also for local (muscles and joints) and central (cardiopulmonary) exertion. The observed differenc es were greater during ergometer cycling than during treadmill running . It is possible that the more distinct cues available during cycling, stemming mainly from the working muscles (local factors), presented m ore information to process, a task that the internals were better at t han the externals.