ABSTRACT
Physical inactivity and lack of exercise represent the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, and efforts are needed to improve physical activity and exercise at a population level. Several approaches have been utilized in past research to explain the decisions involved in exercise uptake patterns. Among this research tradition, social-cognitive variables – that is, people’s beliefs about exercise and their intentions to voluntarily engage in and adhere to exercise have been extensively studied. Importantly, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been successfully used to predict exercise intentions and behaviour in both healthy and clinical populations. The TPB has been further applied to predict exercise behaviour among patients diagnosed with diabetes. The “action-inaction” effect has not been extensively examined in the exercise context, and, therefore, future research is needed to establish if anticipated regret effects on exercise intentions and behaviour reflect affective processes in decision-making or should be attributed to methodological artefacts.
