We do not have an explanation for why
exercise exertion is not correlated with
feelings of tension. There may be a
personality variable explaining why the
mirror + poster condition may be inspiring
for some women, but tension inducing for
others. Future studies should investigate
what personality traits may buffer
potentially detrimental characteristics of
exercise environments.
There are several limitations of the current
work. The study was conducted at a
private, West Coast university where the
culture is generally one of fitness and high
physical activity. However, this is
conservative to the hypotheses; it is
possible the effects would be more
pronounced in a population where regular
exercise and fitness was not the norm. Also,
the study was conducted in a laboratory
setting; in a gym there are arguably many
other types of stimuli in view during
aerobic activity. It could be argued,
however, that only a mirror and two
posters is conservative compared to a gym
environment; there would be not only more
mirrors and more fitness images (on TVs
and in magazines), but also actual fit others,
which could amplify the mood and
physical outcomes we found in the present
laboratory based study environment.
Finally, a limitation of the current design is
that baseline emotions were assessed in the
lab room, where participants could see a EXERCISE ENVIRONMENT, MOOD, EXERTION
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mirror or poster if present, and therefore
anticipate exercising in this situation. The
next study iteration should assess the mood
states outside of the exercise environment,
rendering the between-subjects changes in
emotional states more commensurate.