The present study was conducted to determine the effect of a possible selves
intervention on self-regulatory efficacy and exercise behaviour. Participants were 19 men
and 61 women (Mage= 21.43, SD = 3.28) who reported exercising less than 3 times per
week. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition, a hoped-for possible
selves intervention condition, or a feared possible selves intervention condition. Participants in the hoped-for and feared possible selves conditions completed an activity
where they imagined themselves in the future as either healthy, regular exercisers or
unhealthy, inactive individuals, respectively. Participants in the control group completed
a quiz about physical activity. Measures of self-regulatory efficacy (scheduling, planning,
goal-setting, and barrier self-efficacy) were taken immediately before and after exposure
to the intervention. Participants who received a possible selves intervention reported
greater exercise behaviour 4 weeks post-intervention than participants in the control
group (p = .05). Furthermore, planning self-efficacy was found to partially mediate the
effect of the possible selves intervention on exercise behaviour. These findings suggest
that possible selves may play a role in increasing exercise behaviour among inactive
individuals. Future research is warranted to examine the role of possible selves
interventions in increasing exercise behaviour and to determine which other variables
may mediate this intervention-exercise behaviour relationship. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/21745 |
| Date | 09 1900 |
| Creators | Murru, Elisa |
| Contributors | Ginis, K. A. Martin, Kinesiology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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