Running head: SUMMARY OF A SPORT PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH PAPER 1

Self-Affirmation Promotes Physical Activity:

Summary of a Sport Psychology Research Paper

Name of Student
Institution Affiliation
SUMMARY OF A SPORT PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH PAPER 2

Cooke, R., Trebaczyk, H., Harris, P., & Wright, A. (2014). Self-affirmation promotes physical

activity. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 36, 217-223.

Purpose of the Study

This study by Cooke et al. (2014) emphasizes an intervention founded on self-affirmation

and its effects on physical activity. A lack of physical activity in one’s lifestyle has been linked to

multiple diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart problems. With the unfavorable effects of a

sedentary lifestyle, it is of great importance to encourage continual physical activity. Self-

affirmation, a psychological intervention with which individuals are centered on positive

personal values, has been previously found to aid in promoting health and wellbeing because it

decreases resistance to behavioral change. As such, the purpose of this quantitative study is to

use an intervention founded on the self-affirmation theory to determine whether self-affirmation

can help encourage physical activity in young individuals. The researchers deemed it relevant to

target the younger population due to reduced physical activity after leaving secondary school.

Methods and Analysis

All eighty participants, aged 19 to 21, were university students in the United Kingdom. A

number of participants were tested individually while others were tested in groups. They were

randomly assigned to self-affirmation or non-affirmation conditions. Materials used to conduct

this longitudinal intervention study included the lifetime physical activity questionnaire

(LTPAQ), physical activity fact sheet, theory of planned behavior (TPB) questionnaire, and

measures for self-manipulation. After one week, the participants answered the items relating to

physical activity and planned behavior once more. Data analysis was carried out using

independent t-tests, ANOVA to determine the differences in the groups, and the bootstrap

approach to statistics.
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Overview of Findings and Recommendations

Before information about physical activity and its impact on health were given, the

researchers found that self-affirmation had positively influenced participants into becoming

physically active, based on the self-report measures. Participants with a high level of self-

affirmation had become more physically active compared to their non-affirmed counterparts.

These self-affirmed individuals also expressed greater intentions and more optimistic attitudes

towards engaging in physical activity as opposed to the non-affirmed participants. This has been

the first study to determine these self-affirmation effects on physical activity. For the participants

to have known about the health benefits of being physically active, the effects of such

manipulation in a certain period could potentially promote long-term behavioral change. The

self-affirmed individuals’ perceptions were found to be more positive towards being physically

active compared to those of the non-affirmed participants. Possible factors affecting self-

affirmation and physical activity include belief accessibility, sense of affect, and intentions to

implement behavior.

This study presents a number of limitations; these include using a self-report physical

activity questionnaire, although the LTPAQ has been deemed reliable in correlating with neutral

standards of physical fitness. Nonetheless, further studies should be made to understand how

self-affirmation can impact physical activity using more unbiased measures. Next, this study

measured physical activity for only seven days; future research should further examine whether

these initial effects can be retained over a long duration. In addition, the study’s participants were

students, which raises the issue of whether these findings can be generalized. It is then suggested

that theories on self-affirmation may be used as a framework for the development of brief

interventions to encourage physical activity and related perceptions.

SUMMARY OF A SPORT PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH PAPER 4

References

Cooke, R., Trebaczyk, H., Harris, P., & Wright, A. (2014). Self-affirmation promotes physical

activity. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 36, 217-223.