The experience of effort is a decisive factor for engagement and behavior. However, exerting effort can yield vastly diverse experiences. We posit that these differences are due to distinct configurations of different roles of effort for self-regulation (instrument, reward, adding value to an outcome), and are influenced by task context (entertaining/learning). Furthermore, we investigate how these profiles of effort roles affect the decision to exert further effort. In our online study, 471 participants (51

Across domains, effort is often assumed to support performance, and performance is frequently used to infer effort. However, observed effort-performance relationships are less straightforward than these assumptions suggest, highlighting conditions under which effort and performance can become decoupled. Here, we review four broad factors that contribute to apparent decoupling: (1) system limits, (2) inefficiency and noise, (3) measurement mismatches, and (4) motivational misdirection. We show how these factors can underlie instances of concurrent decoupling (real-time) and prospective decoupling (over time) in the cognitive, as well as in the physical domain. By framing these factors ontologically as structural, stochastic, epistemic, and psychological sources of decoupling, we identify commonalities in effort-performance relationships across research fields. We highlight how they can account for apparent non-linearities, including trade-offs and plateaus in the effort-performance relationship. This perspective can serve as a transdisciplinary agenda for studying effort-performance dynamics, helping researchers and practitioners to better understand effort-performance (de)coupling.

Achievement emotions are a common experience in sport and exercise, yet comprehensive frameworks for conceptualizing and measuring these emotions are lacking. To address this gap, we introduce a taxonomy to the sport and exercise domain that organizes achievement emotions by valence (positive, negative), arousal (activating, deactivating), and object focus (activity, prospective outcomes, retrospective outcomes). To provide a measure that is consistent with this taxonomy, we further introduce the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire – Sport and Exercise (AEQ-SE), a new instrument assessing prototypical emotions across all twelve resulting emotion categories. Across two independent samples (total N = 862), results from network modeling and regression analysis supported the relevance of valence, arousal, and object focus for capturing the structure of achievement emotions in sport and exercise. Moreover, AEQ-SE scales were systematically associated with key theoretical antecedents (control and value appraisals) and outcomes (satisfaction, motivation, sport and exercise behavior, indicators of well-being). Together, our findings provide empirical evidence for the proposed three-dimensional taxonomy and establish the AEQ-SE as a psychometrically sound tool for studying achievement emotions in sport and exercise contexts.

Adequate handling of missing data on physical activity assessments is crucial in longitudinal accelerometer studies. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of various imputation methods for handling missing data in an empirical application which utilizes wearable accelerometers. We employed a simulation approach to assess performance under different missing data scenarios including Missing Completely at Random, Missing at Random, and Missing Not at Random for a longer study period (6 weeks). Our findings revealed that mean imputation and hot-deck imputation applied with a fine degree of matching criteria (participant, day of the week, and time of day) outperformed discard-based methods under Missing Completely at Random and Missing at Random conditions as they produced the smallest bias and best precision. Notably, no imputation methods performed well under Missing Not at Random scenarios. We recommend conducting simulation studies tailored to specific study designs to compare imputation methods, implement strategies for improving data quality, gather information on nonwear periods, and ensure continuous monitoring and participant compliance thereby reducing bias in activity level estimates. If a simulation study is not feasible, we recommend to impute data relying on mean or hot-deck approaches with the finest possible degree of matching criteria.

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases and associated mortality. A high-intensity jump training has proven to be efficient in counteracting inactivity related declines in physical function during two months of bed rest. In the present study, we tested the effects of such a training program under real-life conditions. Seventy-five young adults (38 female, 23 ± 3 years) were randomly assigned to either a training or a control group. The training group underwent an 8-week jump training with 15 min of exercises, 3 days per week. Before and after the 8-week period as well as another 8 weeks later we tested jump performance in countermovement jumps (CMJ) and hops, balance performance, maximal isometric strength of leg extensor muscles, stair climb performance, gait analysis, and peak oxygen uptake in a cardiopulmonary exercise test. We observed training specific increases (8% ± 9%) in CMJ height and peak power (5% ± 7%) that were explained by an optimized movement technique. We did not observe generic improvements of balance, strength or functional performance after the training. Peak oxygen uptake showed increases for participants exhibiting low baseline levels. A low-volume high-intensity jump training program was sufficient to increase neuromuscular power and performance in the trained task. Improvements of peak oxygen uptake were restricted to participants with low aerobic capacity baseline levels. These findings suggest that such a program has the potential to induce more generic adaptations and improve the anaerobic and aerobic power of previously non-exercising individuals through a baseline-dependent tailoring of training volume.

Physical inactivity remains highly prevalent, partly driven by the aversive nature of effort. However, effort can also be experienced as rewarding, which is associated with greater overall physical activity. Accordingly, the present study investigates whether regular physical exercise alters the self-reported value of physical effort, neural activation during exercise, and the willingness to exert effort. Sixty-two young adults were assigned to either an eight-week high-intensity jump training or a control group. Participants completed a two-task cycling ergometer exercise before and after the intervention. The first task assessed the value of effort at three pre-determined intensity levels, whereas the second task allowed participants to self-select the intensity to measure their willingness to exert effort. Participants’ perceived exertion and state value of physical effort were assessed, along with neural activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and pre-supplementary motor area using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Bayesian analyses provided evidence against main effects of condition, time, as well as their interaction, for self-reported value of physical effort, willingness to exert effort, and neural activity. This suggests that the value of effort may be relatively stable, as an eight-week training intervention did not alter the value of physical effort or the willingness to exert effort.

Across domains, more effort tends to beget better performance. This points towards effort-performance coupling as a domain-general phenomenon. However, across literatures, effort-performance relationships seem to be less straightforward than they initially appear, highlighting instances under which effort and performance can become decoupled. Here, we review four broad factors that contribute to apparent decoupling: (1) system limits, (2) inefficiency and noise, (3) measurement mismatches, and (4) motivational misdirection. We show how these factors can underlie instances of concurrent decoupling (real-time) and prospective decoupling (over time) in the cognitive, as well as in the physical domain. By framing these factors ontologically as structural, stochastic, epistemic, and psychological sources of decoupling, we identify commonalities in effort-performance relationships across research fields. We highlight how they can account for apparent non-linearities, trade-offs, and plateaus in the effort-performance relationship. This perspective can serve as a transdisciplinary agenda for studying effort–performance dynamics, helping researchers and practitioners to better understand effort-performance (de)coupling.

Generally, effort is understood to be costly. Yet, it also is a generator of value, as it is instrumental for goal attainment but also because effort can be inherently rewarding and/or add value to outcomes. Research on effort’s value-generating functions in sports and exercise seems surprisingly scarce, although they appear to be prototypical contexts. Here, we address this gap by first conceptualizing and then reviewing how physical effort’s value-generating functions have been investigated in previous research. Attesting to the relative lack of research on this topic, an established machine-learning approach (ASReview) yielded 23 relevant papers out of an initial pool of 28,079 papers retrieved from four online databases. Consistent with theoretical assumptions, the reviewed papers showed that physical effort can be inherently rewarding and add value to outcomes. They offer insights into developmental differences in effort valuation and its neural correlates. However, they also reveal a relative inconsistency in how the valuation of effort generalizes across effort domains and highlight differences between measures of effort valuation. Further, although all included articles investigated physical effort’s value, only six approached it in sports and exercise, and nine provided only indirect results. Taken together, this review supports the claim that physical effort can be valuable, it also highlights the demand for future research to close important gaps in the literature and identify underlying and moderating factors. We believe that sports and exercise research provides an ideal starting point for addressing these open questions and additionally benefits from such progress both conceptually and empirically.

The complexity of intervention studies to assess physical activity (PA) is increasing, resulting in vast amounts of data being recorded in laboratory settings. Recent studies extend datasets with measurements outside the lab using wearable devices, allowing for a bridge to be built between the lab and real-life applications. Such heterogeneous, multigranular datasets impose various challenges for data analysis and visualization, and require tailored approaches to support domain experts. Contrarily, it enables data-driven hypothesis generation, which is particularly valuable in interdisciplinary contexts where theory-driven approaches fall short due to a lack of well-established theoretical foundations. While lab conditions are extensively handled in existing visual interfaces, measurements in everyday life situations are often neglected, yet have an essential impact on the capturing of PA. To facilitate exploration of this data, we propose a visual analytics application consisting of multiple linked views comprising a BiPlot, Variable Distribution plots, and a dense-pixel visualization allowing experts to generate novel interdisciplinary hypotheses based on laboratory and everyday life measurements. We evaluate our application by conducting an expert study with an end user of the application, showcasing the application’s benefits to support experts in solving tasks regarding exploration, pattern identification, association, and comparison.

Psychologists have long been intrigued by effort and its underlying motivations. Effort serves multiple functions: a costly instrument, a reward, and adding value to outcomes. Although physical effort is a defining concept of sports, work on conceptualizing its functions in this context is lacking. Here, we aim to fill this gap by examining the existing sports and physical activity literature, especially focusing on how the value-generating functions have been addressed in previous research. To ensure comprehensive coverage, a machine-learning approach (ASReview) was employed for efficient paper screening, resulting in a total of N = 20 relevant articles from an initial pool of 28,079 identified articles. Several of these articles provided evidence that physical effort can be inherently rewarding and add value to an outcome. Moreover, several research focal points could be identified: the generalization of effort's value across domains, developmental aspects, neural correlates of effort valuation, and different measurement approaches used to assess the value of physical effort. There is still a dearth of research investigating the value of physical effort in sports and exercise. A coherent theoretical framework, such as the Expected Value of Control theory and standardized measurement methods, may aid future research in understanding effort’s different functions.

This study investigates how athletes perceive social support in the context of sports injuries, considering both situational factors, such as injury severity and type of support offered, and individual differences, such as social motives and sex. Using four sport-specific vignettes, we created scenarios involving minor or serious injuries with either requested social support (offered after asking) or unrequested support (offered without asking) from teammates. In an online survey, 129 athletes (69.76% men) with a mean age of 24.72 years (SD = 3.62) from various team sports took part. Social motives and social support were assessed through established psychological measures. Results indicate that participants who adopted the perspective of an injured athlete felt more supported when support was offered without asking than when it offered after asking. Male athletes reported feeling especially supported in serious injury scenarios, while female athletes felt more supported by unrequested help, particularly in minor injury cases. Further, female athletes with a strong affiliation motive felt less supported when support for minor injuries was requested. These findings emphasize that felt social support in sports injuries is shaped by both contextual and individual factors.

Prior research has highlighted sex differences in psychobiological stress responses during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). This study expands on these findings by exploring how social motives (affiliation and power motives) and social support, as direct predictors and in interaction with biological sex, influence stress responses and reproductive hormones. A sample of 204 participants (108 women, 96 men) underwent the TSST, with social support being manipulated. The biological and psychological responses followed patterns previously documented in the literature. Linear mixed-effect models indicated that biological sex moderated the trajectories of RMSSD, testosterone, progesterone, and well-being across the TSST phases. Additionally, cortisol responses were more pronounced in men, particularly those with strong power motives. Participants receiving social support exhibited lower estradiol levels during the TSST recovery phase compared to the control group. These findings suggest that the impacts of social stress are shaped by complex interactions between biological and social factors, which could be considered in tailored stress interventions.

Physical effort has instrumental value because it helps people attain their goals. Growing evidence suggests that people might also experience the exertion of effort itself as valuable. To test this idea, we developed and examined the 4-item Value of Physical Effort (VoPE) scale. Across three independent studies (total N = 1364), we established the basic psychometric properties of the VoPE scale and showed consistent associations with measures of sports and exercise behavior. In a study with a longitudinal design, the VoPE scale demonstrated test-retest reliability and forecasted physical activity and exercise behavior. Psychometric network analysis and elastic net regression suggest the VoPE scale’s potential to cover a unique content area and make novel contributions to the prediction of sports behavior. Taken together, the present research yields empirical evidence for the idea that people value physical effort to varying degrees, and that these differences can be efficiently measured with the VoPE scale. We demonstrated reliability and validity of the VoPE scale across three datasets and its ability to predict self-reported sports and exercise behavior. The VoPE scale might thus extend our understanding of how people allocate (physical) effort.

Many see effort as something to be avoided. In this study, we analyse the experience of effort in more detail by examining perceived exertion (RPE) and feelings at three intensity intervals, and how these are shaped by the state and trait value of physical effort (VoPE). 65 participants (52% female, 48% male, Mage = 22.8 years ± 3.0) were included in this study. During a bike ergometer task, participants’ state VoPE, RPE, feeling, and heart rate at light, moderate, and vigorous cycling intensities were measured. The intensities were individually tailored using a VO2 max measurement. Additionally, trait VoPE was assessed. Higher trait and state VoPE were positively related to feeling better during cycling, independent of intensity, whereas no relation to RPE was found. These findings suggest that VoPE may play a role in shaping exercise experience, which could be relevant for long-term adherence to exercise or physical activity.

Exercise can positively impact cognitive abilities. However, studies assessing the impact of exercise on related constructs, such as emotion regulation, are missing. Further, little is known about the effects of exercise on cognition and accompanying changes in neural activation in healthy young adults. In this randomized controlled trial, we tested the effect of a chronic exercise intervention with an extensive set of tasks probing executive functioning and emotion regulation in fMRI. University students were either assigned to an 8-week high intensity low volume jump training intervention or to a control group. Physical fitness measurements and fMRI-scans during working memory, task switching, response inhibition, and cognitive reappraisal of 58 participants were analyzed. The training intervention resulted in an expected improvement in jump performance but not in aerobic capacity. Moreover, the training did not improve executive functioning or emotion regulation performance. While we found strong fronto-parietal brain activation over both timepoints, the training resulted only in insubstantial changes. Likewise, individual changes in aerobic capacity and jump performance were not related to improvements in cognitive performance or changes in brain activation. In conclusion, our study does not support positive effects of exercise interventions on executive functions or emotion regulation in healthy young adults.

Situations characterized by uncontrollability and critical social evaluation frustrate basic psychological needs, as outlined in Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Uncontrollability and social evaluation are central elements of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), leading to the hypothesis that the TSST, in addition to increasing self-reported stress and cortisol responses, also frustrates the needs for autonomy, competence, and social relatedness. Participants (N = 195) reported elevated stress and reduced need satisfaction, and increased cortisol responses during the TSST. The roles of assessed physical activity and experimentally-induced social support were also examined. Indeed, in time-sensitive and specific manner, the TSST frustrated basic psychological needs. Social support however mitigated frustration of social relatedness. Physical activity buffered against self-reported stress, the frustration of competence and the cortisol response. Further research is recommended to explore more differentiated interventions that can counteract the negative effects of psychosocial stressors.

Effort is central to health-related exercise and athletic performance, yet individuals often struggle to sustain effort due to its aversive nature. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and OPTIMAL theory, this study examined the role of effort by experimentally manipulating autonomy-supportive and autonomy-restrictive coaching in a within-subjects virtual cycling paradigm (N = 57). Performance (power output, heart rate), effort intensity, value of effort, and participants’ momentary feeling were assessed. Both autonomy support and restriction increased perceived effort and, via this pathway, improved performance relative to a no-coach control condition. However, autonomy restriction undermined positive experiences: participants reported lower valuation of effort and felt less good than under autonomy support. Mediation analyses showed that effort intensity, but not value of effort or feeling, explained performance gains. Thus, controlling strategies may elicit short-term benefits through heightened effort, but at the cost of undermining the quality of exercise experiences essential for performance and long-term adherence.

The rising of physical inactivity and its associated health and economic burdens persist de-spite decades of interdisciplinary research aimed at promoting physical activity (PA). This Per-spective takes a complex systems view on PA, proposing that at least two layers of complexity should be taken into account: 1) interactions between various physiological, psychological, social, and environmental systems and 2) their dynamic interactions across time. To address this complexity, all stages of the research process—from theory and measurement to study design, analysis, and interventions—must be aligned with a complex systems perspective. This alignment requires intensive interdisciplinary collaboration and an integration of basic and applied research beyond current research practices to create transdisciplinary solutions. We offer actionable insights that bridge the gap between abstract theoretical approaches (e.g., complex systems and attractor landscape frameworks of behavior change) and practical PA research, thereby laying a foundation for more effective behavior change interventions.

As self-regulation is crucial in top-level performance, prior investigations aimed at the efficacy of the self-regulatory strategy of implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) on athletic performance. We investigated the inner obstacles (if) that athletes face in competitive situations and assessed the corresponding goal-directed behaviors (then) to design effective implementation-intention-theory-based interventions. We asked elite and youth-level cyclists (Study 1; N = 34; age: M = 23.7 ± 9.9 years) with a self-designed questionnaire and used a reworded version for assessing these research questions from a coaches’ perspective (Study 2; N = 42; age: M = 50.2 ± 9.8 years). Dealing with demanding situations, pressure, and concentration were most frequently named inner obstacles, while goal-directed behaviors were preparation, self-encouragement, relaxation (athletes), and concentration (coaches). The results highlight the emotional-psychological challenges that elite and youth-level cycling athletes face and provide insights for sport psychological research with implementation intentions.

Effort is instrumental for goal pursuit. But its exertion is aversive and people tend to invest as little effort as possible. Contrary to this principle of least effort, research shows that effort is sometimes treated as if it was valuable in its own right, and people exhibit stable differences with respect to their valuation of effort. Critically, individual-difference research that investigates if this valuation of effort is domain-general or specific to cognitive or physical contexts is lacking. Simply put, do people value (or not) any effort or are preferences specific to the cognitive and/or physical domain? Here, we investigate this question using a formalized mathematical approach (study 1) and from a developmental perspective (study 2). Study 1 employed a validated decomposed binary decision task to measure preferences regarding the allocation of cognitive versus physical effort. In a sample of N = 299 paid online workers (37% female, Mage = 38.79 ± 11.24 years), we found that people differ markedly with respect to their preferred effort allocation. Multinomial regression analyses revealed that the disposition to value cognitive effort was linked to a preference for high cognitive effort, whereas the disposition to value physical effort was associated with a preference for physical effort. In study 2, we tested the robustness of these hypothetical preferences for effort allocations in a field context: In a sample of N = 300 schoolchildren (61% female, Mage = 15.25 ± 1.57 years), we found that the disposition to value cognitive effort was linked to better grades in mathematics but not sports, whereas valuing physical effort was linked to better grades in sports but not mathematics. Supporting the hypothesis that people find activities of low value boring, valuing cognitive effort was linked to less boredom in mathematics and valuing physical effort was linked to less boredom in sports. Taken together, these results suggest that people are specific in the type of effort they value (or not), and these preferences are present already at young age. This has theoretical and practical implications with respect to how people approach effortful tasks.