Abstract des Autors

The lack of research on imagery use by exercisers and the success of imagery use by athletes - for both motivational and cognitive functions - highlights the need to examine imagery use by exercisers. Thus, the general purpose of the present research was to (a) examine the nature of exercise imagery and (b) develop a questionnaire to assess exercise imagery. To this end three research phases were undertaken. Phase 1 examined the nature of imagery use by exercisers and Phases 2 and 3 involved the development and psychometric analysis of the Exercise Imagery Questionnaire-Aerobic Version (EIQ-AV). Results of Phase 1 revealed that 75.7% of the exercisers (N=144) reported using exercise imagery for both motivational (e.g. goal attainment and psychological management) and cognitive (e.g. performance enhancement and learning) purposes. In Phases 2 and 3, the psychometric analysis of the EIQ-AV revealed three factors (i.e., Energy, Appearance, and Techniques) with adequate internal consistency estimates. Suggestions for future research on exercise imagery and with the EIQ-AV are discussed. Verf.-Referat