Comparing the Imagery Use of Younger and Older Adult Exercisers

Imagery plays important motivational and cognitive roles in exercise and may be useful in enhancing exercise adherence. Furthermore, imagery use reflects the motives people have for engaging in exercise. Previous exercise imagery studies have focused on younger adults. The purposes of the present study were (a) to compare imagery use in older and younger adult exercisers, and (b) to determine if gender influences the imagery used by these exercisers. Participants (N = 330) completed the Exercise Imagery Questionnaire, which measures appearance, technique and energy imagery. Results showed that overall both younger and older exercisers used significantly more appearance imagery than technique and energy imagery. In addition, younger exercisers used more appearance imagery than their older counterparts. Gender did not influence imagery use. Implications for imagery intervention strategies aimed at increasing exercise adherence are discussed