Exercising for the Pleasure and for the Pain of It: The Implications of Different Forms of Hedonistic Thinking in Theories of Physical Activity Behavior

" They [pleasure and pain] govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think " (Bentham, 1780, p.1) Physical inactivity is one of the most widely reported risk-factors associated with many non-as well as overall global mortality (World Health Organization, 2010). Interventions that increase physical activity can reliably reduce the impact of these undesired outcomes. However, the key question facing research and theory is how best to conceptualize the associated psychological factors, which ultimately determine adherence to behavioral change. Social-Cognitive models of behavior, including the Theory of Planned Behavior, Transtheoretical Model, and Social-Cognitive Theory, represent popular explanatory frameworks, which can help practitioners understand how best to improve physical activity behavior. In recent years, however, the usefulness of these models has been questioned. Research shows social-cognitive models typically only account for approximately 25% of the variation in exercise and physical activity behavior, which limits the effectiveness of related interventions (Ekkekakis and Dafermos, 2012). Instead, exercise behavior may be better understood by looking beyond the purely cognitive and social components. Recent research demonstrates affective components can predict physical activity behavior. For example, Williams et al. (2008) found affective responses to acute moderate-intensity exercise predicted subsequent physical activity levels in sedentary adults between 6 and 12 months later. These findings, which have been replicated (e.g., Kwan and Bryan, 2010), suggest interventions that manipulate the affective response to physical activity could improve long-term physical activity behavior. A growing body of literature now promotes affective models, and their synthesis with social-, the term " hedonism, " which refers to a theory of human motivation in which individuals are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain, is being increasingly used to explain the predictive utility of these affective components (Ekkekakis and Dafermos, 2012). For instance, Williams et al. (2008) argues for " hedonic theory to [focus] on affective responses to behavior " (p. 232), while Cabanac (2006) asks whether the " ...hedonic dimension of perception is what motivates and optimizes behavior... " (p. 111). Indeed, Ekkekakis and Dafermos (2012) declare " the foundation has now been laid for the development of a hedonic theory of exercise behavior " (p. 325). Despite this trend, there is a general failure in both the physical activity and psychology literature (in the round), to define what is actually meant when referencing to hedonism per se. Thus, the aim of this article is to first discuss …