A Primer on the Role of Boredom in Self-Controlled Sports and Exercise Behavior

Differences in motivational dynamics between experienced cyclists and untrained participants during an incremental endurance exercise task

PURPOSE

The conflict between the desire to reduce effort during exercise and the performance goal of the exercise task contributes to explaining endurance exercise performance. However, whether the trajectories of these two motivational responses systematically differ across individuals with different characteristics is poorly understood. The present study examined whether changes in desire to reduce effort and performance goal value across moderate, heavy, and severe exercise intensity domains differed between cyclists and untrained, but active participants.

METHODS

Fifty participants (14 cyclists and 36 untrained) completed an incremental step test on a cycle ergometer, in which work rate was increased by 25 watts every 4 minutes until voluntary exhaustion. Desire to reduce effort, performance goal value, and blood lactate concentration (for determination of exercise intensity domains) were measured every four minutes and the data were analysed using multilevel modelling.

RESULTS

Desire to reduce effort increased quicker for untrained participants in the moderate exercise intensity domains (b = 1.66, p < .001) and across the whole trial (b = 1.64, p < .001), compared to cyclists (b = 0.69, and b = 1.14, respectively, both p < .001). Untrained participants reported lower performance goal value at the beginning of the trial (b = 16.02, p < .001), compared to cyclists (b = 17.25, p < .001). Beyond moderate intensities, the performance goal value decreased significantly for the untrained participants (b = -.70, p < .001) but significantly increased for cyclists (b = .45, p = .01). This pattern was also observed when focusing solely on the severe intensity domain (cyclists: b = .90, p < .001; untrained: b = -.84, p < .001).

CONCLUSION

There are distinct differences in the desire to reduce effort and performance goal value between cyclists and untrained athletes. Identifying these systematic differences enhances the credibility of the desire-goal conflict framework in explaining endurance performance and provides insight into the type and timing of interventions that might be successful in improving performance.

The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Anaerobic Power and Power Endurance Performance

Mental fatigue has been studied extensively in relation to its impact on aerobic-, strength-, and motor-based tasks, but anaerobic power-based tasks have received limited attention. Interdisciplinary research investigating the underlying mechanisms by which mental fatigue influences physical performance has been called for. In two studies, the effects of mental fatigue on maximal power jump and endurance jump performance as well as kinetics and kinematics during jump performance were examined. Samples of collegiate volleyball players (Study 1; N = 14) and recreationally active students (Study 2; N = 27) completed two 30 min experimental manipulations (high vs. low cognitive control exertion) before performing three maximal power squat jumps followed by 15 repeated countermovement jumps, with measurements of kinetics and kinematics. For Study 1, the maximal power performance was significantly lower under a mentally fatigued condition, but no differences were observed for repeated jump performance, which may have been attributable to alterations in jump mechanics. For Study 2, no between-condition differences were observed for the maximal power performance, although repeated jump performance was significantly lower under a mentally fatigued condition. Collectively, these findings suggest that the impacts of mental fatigue on power-based performance tasks may depend on the task demands as well as the training status of the individual.

The role of boredom proneness and self-control in the association between anxiety and smartphone addiction among college students: a multiple mediation model

Background

Smartphone addiction has been found to be a widespread public health issue, especially among youth. Previous studies reported a significant association between anxiety and smartphone addiction, but the underlying mechanism in this relationship is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating roles of boredom proneness and self-control in the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction.

Methods

Self-reported measures of anxiety, boredom proneness, self-control and smartphone addiction were administered to 1,526 Chinese college students.

Results

Smartphone addiction scores varied between 10 and 60 with an average of 30.89 ± 10.57 points. Anxiety had a direct and positive effect on smartphone addiction (effect = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.11-0.25), and an indirect effect on smartphone addiction through boredom proneness (effect = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.06-0.15) and self-control (effect = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.13-0.20). Boredom proneness and self-control sequentially mediated the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction (effect = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.10-0.15).

Conclusion

Anxiety is positively associated with smartphone addiction, and boredom proneness and self-control are important mediators in this relationship. Strengthening self-control and mitigating boredom could prevent smartphone addiction in anxious college students.

Assessing basic and higher-level psychological needs satisfied through physical activity

Background

There has been increasing interest in the extent to which the fulfillment of psychological needs is associated with physical activity engagement. However, a vast majority of studies consider only basic psychological needs such as relatedness, competence, and autonomy-with higher-level psychological needs such as challenge, creativity, and spirituality rarely being addressed. The aim of this study was to examine the preliminary reliability (i.e., internal consistency) and validity (i.e., discriminant, construct, and predictive) of a multi-dimensional scale to assess a range of basic and higher-level psychological needs satisfied through physical activity.

Methods

A sample of 75 adults (ages 19-65 years, 59% female, 46% White) completed a baseline questionnaire measuring 13 psychological needs subscales (i.e., physical comfort, safety, social connection, esteem from others, individual esteem, learning, challenge, entertainment, novelty, creativity, mindfulness, aesthetic appreciation, and morality), exercise enjoyment, and exercise vitality. Participants then completed 14 days of accelerometer monitoring of physical activity and ecological momentary assessment of affective responses during physical activity sessions in daily life.

Results

Internal consistency reliability was acceptable (>0.70) for all subscales except for mindfulness, aesthetic appreciation, and morality. Ten of the 13 subscales exhibited discriminant validity by differentiating between engagement (vs. no engagement) in at least one physical activity type (e.g., brisk walking and yoga/Pilates). All the subscales, except physical comfort and esteem from others, were associated with at least one of the construct validation criteria (e.g., exercise enjoyment, affective response during exercise). Five of the subscales were associated with at least one of the predictive validation criteria (i.e., light, moderate, vigorous intensity activity measured by accelerometer).

Conclusion

Having the capacity to assess whether one's current physical activity is failing to fulfill various psychological needs-combined with recommendations about which types of activities may satisfy those needs-may address an important gap in physical activity promotion.

Examining whether affectively-charged motivations predict subsequent affective response during physical activity: An ecological momentary assessment study

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests positive affective response during physical activity increases the likelihood of engaging in and maintaining regular activity exercise in the future. Elucidating antecedents for a positive affective response may help identify intervention strategies to increase activity. Affectively-charged motivations (e.g., desires, urges, dreading) have been posited as proximal antecedents to physical activity but have yet to be examined in terms of their influence on affective response in real-world settings. The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine within-subject effects of pre-physical activity affectively-charged motivation on subsequent affective response during physical activity.

METHODS

Participants included 56 adults (M = 39.18 years, SD = 11.98; 67.86% female) who completed a 14-day smartphone-based EMA study. Prior to starting physical activity (time t), participants self-initiated an event-contingent EMA survey that assessed affectively-charged motivation for physical activity (i.e., rating scale from "dreading it" to "excited to do it"). EMA surveys prompted during subsequent physical activity (time t + 15 min) assessed affective response (i.e., feeling good-bad, energized-exhausted, thrilled-miserable, interested-bored, and relaxed-nervous). Multi-level linear regression models examined within-subject effects of pre- physical activity affectively-charged motivations on subsequent affective response during physical activity controlling for between-subjects effects of affectively-charged motivation, age, biological sex, time of day, and day of the week.

RESULTS

Overall, there were N = 304 physical activity occasions in the analysis (M = 5.43, SD = 3.97). When individuals reported more positive affectively-charged motivation for physical activity than usual before physical activity occasions, they reported feeling more energized (Estimate = 0.22, p < 0.001), good (Estimate = 0.25, p < 0.001), thrilled (Estimate = 0.12, p = 0.02), and interested (Estimate = 0.24, p < 0.001) during subsequent physical activity. Affectively-charged motivation was not associated with feeling more relaxed (Estimate = 0.11, p = 0.13) during subsequent physical activity.

CONCLUSION

Momentary affectively-charged motivations predicted more positive affective response during subsequent physical activity among active adults. Future research can explore potential sources of intraindividual differences in affectively-charged motivations and further examine these associations with future physical activity behavior. To improve positive affective responses, interventions may boost affectively-charged motivations through real-time mobile prompting in naturalistic settings.

Consumed by Boredom: Food Choice Motivation and Weight Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Boredom is an established cause and correlate of eating behavior. Yet, existing work offers a scattered range of plausible motivations for why this is. We examined among 302 people representative of the adult UK population what motivations they had for selecting food during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this related to boredom. As predicted, bored people choose food less for health reasons and more for convenience. Boredom reduced ethical and 'natural content' motivations for selecting food and was not associated with choosing food to regulate one's mood or to experience unfamiliarity. Boredom was also associated with greater absolute changes in weight over the course of the pandemic. Boredom did not predict weight gains or losses overall. These findings offer insights into the role that boredom plays in eating motivations in particular and health-relevant outcomes in general.

Actual vs. perceived exertion during active virtual reality game exercise

Background

Virtual exercise has become more common as emerging and converging technologies make active virtual reality games (AVRGs) a viable mode of exercise for health and fitness. Our lab has previously shown that AVRGs can elicit moderate to vigorous exercise intensities that meet recommended health benefit guidelines. Dissociative attentional focuses during AVRG gameplay have the potential to widen the gap between participants' perception of exertion and actual exertion.

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine actual exertion (AEx) vs. perceived exertion (PEx) levels during AVRGs by measuring heart rate (HR) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) in two different settings.

Materials and methods

HR and RPE were collected on participants (N = 32; age 22.6 ± 2.6) during 10 min of gameplay in LabS and GymS using the HTC VIVE with the following games played: Fruit Ninja VR (FNVR), Beat Saber (BS), and Holopoint (HP).

Results

Participants exhibited significantly higher levels of AEx compared to reported PEx for all three AVRGs (Intensity): FNVR [AEx = 11.6 ± 1.8 (Light), PEx = 9.0 ± 2.0 (Very Light)], BS [AEx = 11.3 ± 1.7 (Light), PEx = 10.3 ± 2.1 (Very Light)], HP [AEx = 13.1 ± 2.3 (Somewhat Hard), PEx = 12.3 ± 2.4 (Light–Somewhat Hard)]. Additionally, participants playing in the GymS experienced significantly higher levels of AEx [12.4 ± 2.3 (Light–Somewhat Hard)] and PEx [10.8 ± 2.5 (Very Light–Light)] compared to the LabS [AEx = 11.6 ± 1.8 (Light), PEx = 10.3 ± 2.6 (Very Light–Light)].

Conclusion

Perceptions of exertion may be lower than actual exertion during AVRG gameplay, and exertion levels can be influenced by the setting in which AVRGs are played. This may inform VR developers and health clinicians who aim to incorporate exercise/fitness regimens into upcoming ‘virtual worlds' currently being developed at large scales (i.e., the “metaverse”).

A single item measure of self-control – validation and location in a nomological network of self-control, boredom, and if-then planning