Exercise Identity, Self-Regulatory Efficacy, and Self-Compassion Prepared for Psychological Studies

Abstract

Individuals may struggle to engage in regular physical activity because of self-regulatory failure and a lack of an exercise identity. One promising mechanism that has the potential to improve self-regulation of exercise is self-compassion. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between self-compassion, self-regulation of exercise, and exercise identity. Participants included 1043 adults from across the USA (59.10% female; 40.30% male). Participants completed the self-compassion scale, exercise self-regulatory efficacy, and the exercise identity scale. Males reported significantly greater exercise identity (M =41.66, SD = 13.83) than females (M = 36.39, SD = 14.94). There was not a significant difference between gender for self-compassion (p = .07). Furthermore, males reported significantly greater exercise self-regulatory efficacy across all categories when compared to females. There was a statistically significant correlation between all outcome variables. Finally, a linear regression was used to determine the predictive value of exercise self-regulation and self-efficacy in predicting exercise identity in males and females. The variables accounted for 28% of the variance in exercise identity in males and 27% of the variance in females. The results contribute to the concept that how an individual relates to themselves (e.g., self-compassion) may promote domain-specific (e.g., exercise) efficacy and identity.