Motivation States and Hedonic Motivation for Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sport vs. Sedentary Behaviors

About this Research Topic

Background

There is a recent call to understand how motivation for physical activity, exercise and sedentary behavior works in the moment or right now. In other words, one’s motivation for movement likely varies in the moment, just as their actual movement behavior varies in the moment. Such states seem to be influenced by anticipations of pleasure and displeasure (hedonic motivation) and also the inherent drive to move and rest. This stands in contrast to the more conventional understanding of motivation as a trait (e.g., “I am a lazy person”), a more stable characteristic of a person (e.g., “Lately, I have felt energized and ready to exercise”), motives (“I want to be leaner”), emotional and affective antecedents (e.g., “I don’t exercise when I feel stressed”) and consequences of physical activity (e.g., “Exercise makes me feel good”).

In 2005, Kavanaugh and colleagues first described the concept of affectively-charged motivation states (ACMS) – desires, wants, cravings and urges – as applied to health behaviors (smoking, drinking, hunger, thirst, etc.). Ostensibly, desires and wants are weaker motivation states while urges and cravings are stronger and may last longer. Importantly, these motivation states strongly predict behavior. Soon after, descriptions of desires to play sport, exercise and move emerged (e.g., Hofmann, 2012), but work has been slower in this area. Rhodes, Williams and their colleagues (2014, 2019) squarely denote the significance of desires to move and hedonic motivation in their Affect and Health Behavior Framework (AHBF). In short, they outline the potential mediation of affect and physically active behavior by hedonic motivation and affectively charged motivation states, such as craving and desire.

In 2020, we described how these apply to movement behaviors, and subsequently proposed the WANT model (Wants and Aversions for Neuromuscular Tasks). This framework describes how desires and urges to move and rest work together yet conflict, being loosely-coupled and operating asymmetrically in response to various situations and a range of stimuli, from stressful circumstances to meditation. For instance, if studying late at night, one might have a strong urge to rest or sleep, and to remain seated while studying, but also feel cooped up, antsy and feeling a strong desire to get up and move.

We also tied together a literature which describes desires or urges to move in clinical literatures (e.g., restless leg syndrome, akathisia, where the urge to move may be intense) and in musicology (i.e., “groove” – the ability of music to motivate muscular movement). In short, the concept of affectively-charged motives to move or rest are relevant across a vast spectrum of the literature. Overall, it appears that the desire or urge to move is influenced by a number of stable internal and external characteristics (e.g., medication use, age, and experience), situational factors and environmental factors.

The goal of this Research Topic is to further examine motivation states and hedonic motivation in the areas of physical activity, exercise, sport and sedentary behaviors in different settings, from performance to public health. Collectively, this approach is important from the public health perspective in which enhancing physically active behaviors and mitigating excessive sedentary behavior is a priority.

We welcome:
• Contributions in the area of EMA assessment of physical activity.
• Work in the areas of theoretical and conceptual advancements and new quantitative measures.
• Quantitative analysis of neurophysiological aspects linked to movement motivation.

We would also like to acknowledge Miguel Blacutt's (Teachers College, Columbia University) contribution as a Topic Coordinator, who assisted in the preparation of this Research Topic.

Keywords: Motivational States, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, Hedonic Motivation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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