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Expectations Come True: The Placebo Effect of Exercise on Affective Responses
Yu-Bu Wang1, Lu Guo1, Jun-Yi Fan1
1Beijing Sport University.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
|September 19, 2022
Summary
Positive expectations enhance exercise enjoyment and reduce perceived exertion, while negative expectations do the opposite. Both habitual and induced expectations significantly influence the affective response during and after physical activity.
Area of Science:
- Exercise Psychology
- Psychophysiology
- Behavioral Medicine
Background:
- Expectations, encompassing both placebo (positive) and nocebo (negative) effects, can significantly modulate physiological and psychological responses to various stimuli.
- Habitual expectations, reflecting long-standing beliefs, and induced expectations, experimentally manipulated, may differentially influence outcomes during physical activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinct and interactive roles of habitual and induced expectations on affective response, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and heart rate variability (HRV) during moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.
- To determine if positive or negative expectations enhance or diminish the experience and physiological markers of exercise.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted with 95 participants. Study 1 assessed habitual expectations (positive, neutral, negative) and their effects on affective response, RPE, and HRV during a 30-min aerobic exercise bout.
- Study 2 induced expectations (control, positive, negative) in the same participants to examine their impact on the same exercise-related measures, controlling for habitual expectations.
Main Results:
- Positive habitual expectations were associated with improved affective response during and after exercise (p=.057).
- Negative habitual expectations significantly increased RPE during exercise (p=.007).
- Induced positive expectations enhanced affective response during and after exercise (p=.006 and p=.003, respectively), irrespective of habitual expectations.
Conclusions:
- Both habitual and induced expectations play a crucial role in shaping the affective experience of exercise.
- Positive expectations are linked to enhanced affective benefits and potentially reduced exertion, while negative expectations can diminish these positive aspects.
- These findings highlight the potential for leveraging expectation manipulation to improve exercise adherence and outcomes.
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