The psychological effects of physical exercise: A controlled study of the placebo effect

Abstract

The research on well-being and physical exercise point to the possibility of a placebo effect. This study analyzes the effect of expectancy manipulation on psychological (well-being and self-esteem) and physical (agility and cardiorespiratory fitness) outcomes after a seven-week program of aerobic training. 114 undergraduate students (age M = 19.81, SD = 1.75; 86.1% women) were randomized into G1 - No Exercise (n = 13), G2 - Exercise only (n = 15), G3 - Exercise + Manipulation of expectations: No psychological effect (n = 17) and G4 - Exercise + Manipulation of expectations: Psychological effect (n = 21). Outcome measures were the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Well-Being subscale of the Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale, the Agility T-test and the 20-meter Shuttle Run Test. Paired t-tests showed significant improvements from baseline in self-esteem, agility, and cardiovascular fitness for the exercise groups. G4 also showed a significant improvement in well-being. ANCOVA with adjustments for the baseline measures was used to test between-group differences at the end of the program. The only significant differences at posttest were between G1 and the exercise groups. The data do not support a differential effect of elevated expectations of psychological benefits on the participants' self-esteem or psychological well-being after an aerobic training program. Future research should analyze whether reinforcing expectations more frequently throughout the program might show a more robust influence.

The Association Between the Subjective Exercise Experience of Chinese Women Participating in Square Dance and Group Cohesion: The Mediating Effect of Income

“…Meanwhile, participating in a group activity could also enhance women's psychological health and subjective well-being (Okun and George, 1984;Pinquart and Sörensen, 2000;Glass et al, 2006;Dai et al, 2013;Zhang and Zhang, 2015). For example, women in an aerobic exercise group showed higher positive well-being (PWB) than non-exercisers in a control group (Arbinaga et al, 2018). Similarly, older women exhibit significant growth in PWB after performing physical group activities over a 6-month period (McAuley et al, 2005).…”

Advancing the understanding of placebo effects in psychological outcomes of exercise: Lessons learned and future directions

“…Although the authors did not collect explicit information that would allow them to test for between-group differences in expectations, their study provided a clear example of how information that overtly communicates the study purpose can affect a given participant's behaviour. This issue has also been considered in exercise research where the investigators minimised demand characteristics by using deceptive information in the study advertisement and informed consent materials to disguise the study purpose (Arbinaga, Fernández-Ozcorta, Sáenz-López, & Carmona, 2018;Lindheimer, O'Connor, McCully, & Dishman, 2017). Interestingly, this research has shown that even when the investigators purposefully tried to alter participant expectations at a later point in the study, disguising the true purpose of the study early on may have blunted the effectiveness of the experimental manipulations.…”

Can the add‐on placebo effect augment the physical and mental health outcomes of exercise? A meta‐analysis

“…Numerous studies have investigated the positive effects of acute and long-term exercise on affect, cognition, and fitness (Arbinaga et al, 2018;Lindheimer et al, 2017;Martland et al, [Corrections made on 6 January 2022, after first online publication: The funding information has been added in this version.] 2020).…”