Self-Efficacy Influences Feeling States Associated with Acute Exercise

The present study examined the role that preexisting efficacy cognitions played in the generation of exercise-induced feeling states during and following an acute bout of exercise. In so doing, the construct validity of a newly developed measure of psychological responses to exercise, the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (EFI; Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993), was investigated. Female undergraduates, classified as having either high or low physical efficacy, engaged in an acute exercise bout and feeling states were recorded prior to, during, and following the activity. More efficacious females maintained a sense of energy during exercise and felt more revitalized and experienced increased positive engagement postexercise than did their less efficacious counterparts. Such findings provide further support for a social-cognitive interpretation of how psychological responses to physical activity might be generated. Results are further discussed in terms of the measurement of exercise-induced feeling states and future applications of the EFI.