How tough should the love be? The effect of varying levels of descriptive norm feedback on performance and maximum heart rate during an exercise task.

Growing evidence suggests that manipulations of descriptive norms—perceptions of the typical behaviours of others—can affect people's exertion and performance during exercise tasks. However, no research has systematically varied the extent to which people are told they are below the norm with a view...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Psychology of Sport & Exercise Vol. 80
Autores principales: Guillermo-Tregoning, Gabrielle, Stevens, Mark
Formato: research Journal Article
Publicado: Elsevier B.V. Sep2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=186814333&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 186814333
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        14690292
        JK6
      jtl: Psychology of Sport & Exercise
      issn: 14690292
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Sep2025
      vid: 80
      pid: 467
      pub: Elsevier B.V.
      place: New York, New York
    artinfo:
      ui:
        186814333
        186814333
        186814333
        10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102922
        186814333
      ppct: 1
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: How tough should the love be? The effect of varying levels of descriptive norm feedback on performance and maximum heart rate during an exercise task.
      aug:
        au:
          Guillermo-Tregoning, Gabrielle
          Stevens, Mark
        affil: School of Medicine and Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
      sug:
        subj:
          Social Norms
          Feedback
          Exercise
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Heart Rate
          Human
          Exertion
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Descriptive Statistics
          Physical Performance
          Motivation
      ab: Growing evidence suggests that manipulations of descriptive norms—perceptions of the typical behaviours of others—can affect people's exertion and performance during exercise tasks. However, no research has systematically varied the extent to which people are told they are below the norm with a view to understanding how this aspect of norm feedback affects the strength of its effects on exertion, performance, or other outcomes. In a pre-registered experiment (N = 105) with a pre-post between-subjects design and three conditions, we compared the effect of norm messages indicating that participants had performed 10%, 30%, or 50% below the norm on an exercise task. Participants first completed a baseline trial of a timed maximum effort wall sit. Then, prior to and during Trial 2, participants received feedback that their task performance was below average by one of the three amounts. Participants in the 50% condition demonstrated greater increases in their wall sit performance from Trial 1 to Trial 2 than participants in the 10% and 30% conditions. There were no significant differences between conditions in changes in maximum heart rate (a proxy for participants' exertion). The effects of the norm feedback on performance were not underpinned by changes in either participants' task motivation or perceived similarity to the norm reference group. Results suggest that feedback indicating a high discrepancy between one's own performance and the norm facilitates greater performance improvements on a physically demanding task than less discrepant (and more attainable) feedback. Further research is required to understand the mechanisms underpinning this effect. • The impact of norm feedback depends on how far it suggests a person is below average. • Feedback indicating a large discrepancy led to the greatest performance improvements. • Effects were not driven by increases in motivation or perceived similarity.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N