Raw Data

This repository contains data from a coordinated program of research examining how psychological regulation of effort and discomfort shapes endurance performance, motivation, mood, and long-term exercise adherence. Across multiple experimental studies, this work integrates theories from emotion regulation, self-determination theory, and psychobiological models of endurance to test whether cognitive and narrative strategies can improve persistence during physically demanding exercise.
The central premise across studies is that exercise behavior is not governed by physiological capacity alone, but by how individuals interpret, regulate, and remember effortful experiences. Although exercise reliably improves fitness and mood, adherence remains low, particularly when exercise is experienced as aversive. These studies therefore, focused on interventions that modify the subjective experience of exertion, rather than altering exercise dose or intensity.