Passion for Exercise

Factor structure and its relationship with affects in Brazilian practitioners

Abstract

Practicing physical exercise regularly has several benefits for practitioners' physical and psychological health, including contributing to their subjective well-being. Passion plays a fundamental role in engaging and maintaining these practices throughout life. This study aimed to estimate validity evidence to the Passion for Exercise Scale based on internal structure and relationship with external variables, positive and negative affect. Exploratory (sample 1, N = 460 adults from the general population who practice physical exercise) and confirmatory (sample 2, N = 333 adults from the general population who practice physical exercise) factor analyzes suggested adequacy and invariance of the two dimensions of passion, harmonious and obsessive. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis indicated strong invariance of the instrument between both participants sexes. The Structural Equation Modeling showed a positive association of harmonious passion with positive affect and a negative association with negative affect experienced during exercise. In contrast, a positive association was observed between obsessive passion and negative affects during exercise practice. These results indicate that not only the regular practice of physical activities impacts the subjects’ levels of happiness, but also the type of relationship they establish with exercise.