PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY ARE INFLUENCED BY THE SOCIAL-ENVIRONMENT

This investigation examined the influence of leadership behavior on ex ercise-induced feeling states and self-efficacy beliefs following an a cute bout of physical activity. Forty-six college-aged women participa ted in a single session of physical activity that involved either soci ally enriched or bland social interactions by an activity leader. Part icipants completed the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (EFI) and se lf-efficacy measures prior to and 10 min following the experimental tr eatments. The results revealed that those in the enriched condition re ported greater increases in Revitalization. There was a similar trend for the Positive Engagement subscale, and those in the enriched condit ion reported much larger increases in self-efficacy There was no evide nce that self-efficacy was related to the change seen in EFI-responses ; however, enjoyment of the instructors' approach to the class was rel ated to residualized change scores for both Revitalization and Positiv e Engagement.