When Anger Motivates: Approach States Selectively Influence Running Performance

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Grace E. Giles¹  Carlene A. Horner²  Eric Anderson²  Grace M. Elliott²  Tad T. Brunyé¹ 

[1] U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, United States;Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Engineering, Tufts University, United States;Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, United States

关键词: exercise;    motivation;    approach;    avoidance;    emotion;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01663

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Emotional states are thought to influence athletic performance. Emotions characterized by high arousal enhance exercise performance. Extant research has focused on the valence and arousal dimensions of emotions, but not whether the motivational dimension (the extent to which the emotion engenders approach or avoidance behaviors) influences exercise performance. Two studies aimed to determine whether films and music chosen to induce approach- (i.e., anger), avoidance- (i.e., fear), and neutral-oriented emotions would successfully induce their intended emotional states (Study 1) and whether anger and fear emotion inductions would influence 2-mile time trial performance (Study 2). In Study 1, the films and music successfully induced their intended emotions. In Study 2, run time and perceived level of exertion did not differ between emotions across all participants or among faster running participants per a median split. However, among slower running participants, the anger induction increased the 2-mile running speed relative to the neutral induction. These findings suggest that emotions eliciting approach-related motivational states may improve exercise performance, particularly in slower runners.

【 授权许可】

CC BY