“I just feel bad”: differences in self-conscious emotions after exercise absenteeism in recreational exercisers and athletes

While most theoretical models assume that decisions to sustain exercise are cognitively driven, the possibility that these decisions are influenced by affect is under-appreciated. This study aimed to investigate differences in self-conscious emotions after exercise absenteeism, exercise-identity and behavioural regulations between recreational exercisers (RE) and athletes (AT). 156 RE (77 females, M = 27.31 years, SD = 10.66) and 88 AT (48 females, M = 23.27 years, SD = 5.88) completed assessments of self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt, pride; Marschall et al., 1994), exercise-identity (Anderson & Cychosz, 1994) and sport behavioural regulations (Kleinert & Pels, 2013). T-tests for independent samples were calculated to investigate differences between aforementioned variables for RE and AT. RE and AT showed moderate scores on self-conscious emotions and controlled regulations. Moderate to high scores were found for autonomous regulation and exercise identity across groups. While no significant differences in any of the self-conscious emotions were found between RE and AT. RE reported significantly lower exercise-identity (z = -6.642; p <.001), identified (z = -2.089, p =.037), integrated (z = -4.372, p <.001) and intrinsic motivation (z = -2.871, p =.004) compared to AT. Although exercise behaviour is less internalised in RE, they do not perceive more self-conscious emotions after exercise absenteeism compared to AT. Their autonomous exercise motivation (i.e., personal valuation, acceptance of exercise) might “protect” RE against the potentially negative effect of shame and guilt on long-term participation. Whether self-conscious emotions are detrimental in exercisers with lower internalization needs to be investigated.