OPPOSITE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES ASSOCIATED WITH RUNNING IN SOLITUDE AND STREET RACE PARTICIPATION

Running is associated with positive acute psychological effects. However, the context of running, which has received little empirical attention to date, could be expected to mediate the related subjective experiences. In this in-situ (real life) cross-sectional study, we compared the subjective psychological states before and after running in solitude and in street race running. Seventy males (n = 31 running alone and n = 39 running in a street race) completed the short version of the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), rated their core affect (conceptualized as the momentarily perceived overall physical and psychological feeling state), and their appraised satisfaction with the completed run. Although the two groups did not differ in satisfaction with their run, except for negative affect which did not change in either of the groups, the results revealed opposite trends in psychological experiences in all measures. Positive affect, mental-, and physical core affect increased after running in solitude while they all decreased after the street race. The current results suggest that peak affective experience occurs after the run when people plan and perform their run alone, while the comparable top experience occurs before the run, likely due to the excitement of participation and social interaction, during street race running. The current work sheds light on the strong impact of the running situation on the acute psychological states associated running. Article visualizations