Psychology of physical activity: a 30-year reflection on correlates, barriers, and theory

Abstract

Over a 30-year period, we have authored five versions of the textbook Psychology of Physical Activity. This provides us with more than three decades of experience to reflect on the field of the psychology of physical activity. Typically, the book has been structured around the three themes of determinants/correlates and theory, mental health outcomes, and behaviour change interventions. In the current paper, we delimit our reflections to physical activity correlates and barriers, and the use of theory. Overall, the field has expanded greatly.Physical activity is central to most national preventive health policy initiatives and is now highly visible. Over the 30 years of our book writing, we have seen trends in the correlates and barriers for physical activity that reflect an increasing recognition of the different types and intensities of physical activity, some reflecting in a 'systems thinking' approach that recognises the natural complexity of the behaviour and its settings. But further work is recommended in gaining clarity on the frequently stated barrier of 'lack of time' and assumed physical activity correlate of enjoyment. Moreover, the move to a dual-process approach to theory is one that will continue to develop but may need more work in its application to behaviour change. A reflection across recent editions of the book suggest that some good progress has been made, but not universally so.

Psychosocial and health behavioural characteristics of longitudinal physical activity patterns: a cohort study from adolescence to young adulthood

“…With regard to the other studied background variables, a lack of active commuting at either baseline or follow-up did not significantly differentiate between the PA patterns, even if sustained passive commuting has been related to maintained inactivity in the same study population (when inactive maintainers were compared to all the other groups together) [ 5 ]. This finding is a reminder that the time-varying nature of possible correlates should be also taken into account, and not just the associations at a single time point (see also [ 18 , 46 ]).…”

Social-Cognitive Theories to Explain Physical Activity

“…Dominating social-cognitive and motivational theories have been adopted to explore the reasons and motivations underlying the inability of humans to engage in sufficient physical activity [12] through the lens of several theories. Empirical studies [13][14][15][16] have been using motivational theories and have displayed promising results in the physical activity context, explaining that autonomous motivation, perceived benefits, social support, and intentions are significant predictors of exercise adherence.…”

Testing Assumptions of the Physical Activity Adoption and Maintenance Model: A Longitudinal Perspective of the Relationships Between Intentions and Habits on Exercise Adherence

“…It is well-known in the realm of behavior research that most people fail to engage in sufficient physical activity to obtain the associated health benefits of avoiding chronic diseases, increasing longevity and functional autonomy, assisting their weight management, and improving their overall well-being ( Warburton & Bredin, 2017 ). Several dominant social-cognitive and motivational theories have been adopted to explore the reasons and motivations underlying this insufficient physical exercise ( Biddle et al, 2022 ), including self-determination theory ( Ryan & Deci, 2017 ), the theory of planned behavior ( Ajzen, 1991 ), and/or self-efficacy theory ( Bandura, 1994 ). Investigators have conducted empirical studies ( Brickell et al, 2006 ; Rodrigues et al, 2020 ; Tikac et al, 2022 ) based on these theories with promising results in the exercise context, explaining that autonomous motivation, perceived benefits, social support, and intentions are all significant predictors of exercise adherence.…”