Psychological Benefits of Physical Activity Are Influenced by the Social Environment

This investigation examined the influence of leadership behavior on exercise- induced feeling states and self-efficacy beliefs following an acute bout of physical activity. Forty-six college-aged women participated in a single session of physical activity that involved either socially enriched or bland social interactions by an activity leader. Participants completed the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (EFI) and self-efficacy measures prior to and 10 min following the experimental treatments. The results revealed that those in the enriched condition reported greater increases in Revitalization. There was a similar trend for the Positive Engagement subscale, and those in the enriched condition reported much larger increases in self-efficacy. There was no evidence that self-efficacy was related to the change seen in EFI responses; however, enjoyment of the instructors’ approach to the class was related to residualized change scores for both Revitalization and Positive Engagement.