4216 - MORE MEANINGFUL, MORE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE: VALIDATION AND INTERVENTION ON THE ROLE OF MEANING IN LIFE IN EXERCISE PROCRASTINATION

Session: 4213 - TRANSITION STRESSORS IN TIMES OF MULTIPLE CRISES - INNOVATIVE POTENTIALS FOR MITIGATION IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS AND ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
AUTHORS:
Miao Miao (Department of Medical Psychology, School of Health Humanities, Peking University ~ Beijing ~ China)
Abstract text:
Physical activity is vital for physical and mental well-being, yet inactivity and exercise procrastination are increasingly prevalent. This research, consisting of three studies, investigates the self-regulatory role of meaning in life (MIL) in reducing exercise procrastination and promoting physical activity, and explores its potential as an intervention target for health behavior promotion.
Study 1 employed an experimental design among 212 Chinese adults to examine the immediate and follow-up effects of MIL induction on emotion, exercise procrastination, and physical activity. The results showed that MIL manipulation significantly increased positive emotion and decreased negative emotion. Positive emotion, in turn, predicted reduced exercise procrastination after one week, ultimately leading to greater physical activity. A significant sequential mediation effect of positive emotion and exercise procrastination between MIL induction and physical activity was supported.
Study 2 adopted a 14-day daily diary design with 186 university students to further explore within-person associations among MIL, self-regulatory resources, and exercise procrastination. Multilevel analyses showed that daily MIL predicted lower levels of exercise procrastination through enhanced positive affect and future orientation, thereby further supporting a dynamic self-regulatory mechanism at the daily level.
Based on these findings, Study 3 developed a four-week integrated intervention grounded in Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI). Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the intervention targeted MIL and self-regulatory resources through structured exercises and reflection tasks. Preliminary findings demonstrated improvements in MIL, self-control, and a reduction in exercise procrastination.
Taken together, these findings highlight MIL as a key self-regulatory resource in fostering physical activity. These results suggest that intervening on MIL not only enhances psychological well-being but also contributes to meaningful and sustainable behavioral change, offering both theoretical value and practical implications for designing integrated well-being interventions.