Intentions Mediate the Association Between Anticipated Pride and Physical Activity in Young Adults

According to the affect and health behavior framework (AHBF), anticipated affective responses are associated with intentions that, in turn, are associated with health behavior. Emerging research has explored how the anticipation of negative emotions, such as regret, may be motivational or discouraging for physical activity behavior. Relatively less research has been afforded to the anticipation of positive emotions, such as pride. Different facets of pride have been identified. Authentic pride is associated with effort and a sense of achievement, whereas hubris tic pride is associated with talent/ability and feeling superior to others. Guided by the AHBF, the aim of the current study was to examine the association between anticipated authentic and hubris tic pride and engagement in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and test intention as a mediator of this association. Participants (N = 148) were young adults who completed self-report questionnaires at 2 time points separated by 2 weeks. Mediation analyses were conducted to test hypotheses. Overall, the results provide support for the AHBF. Intentions significantly mediated the association between anticipated authentic pride and MVPA (point estimate = .12, confidence interval [.05, .22]) and the association between anticipated hubristic pride and MVPA (point estimate = .15, confidence interval [.08, .261). Both models accounted for 11% of the variance in MVPA. Results highlight the importance of targeting anticipated hedonic outcomes of MVPA as an important predictor of intentions and indirectly of behavior.