Effects of Spousal Attitudes on Own Exercise Behavior

Background: It is well known that one’s own attitude often predicts one’s own behavior, but does one’s spouse’s attitude predict one’s own behavior? Performance of exercise may in part be socially-determined (e.g. you exercise if you have a buddy; you don’t exercise because your spouse would rather watch TV together). We examined links between one’s spouse’s attitude towards exercise and one’s own exercise behaviors. We also examined whether mere perception of spouse attitude predicts one’s own behaviors. Method: As part of a larger study, we recruited 47 married couples. In each dyad, both partners rated their own, and their perception of their spouse’s, attitude towards exercise, as well as their own self-reported weekly exercise behaviors. Results: One’s own exercise attitude was associated with exercise duration (p≤0.01) and intensity (p≤0.01), but not exercise frequency (p=0.2). Spouse’s actual exercise attitudes were not associated with one’s own exercise duration (p=0.8) or intensity (p=0.7), but was associated with one’s own frequency (p≤0.01). Perceptions of spouse attitudes was not associated with duration (p=0.8), intensity (p=0.4), or frequency (p=0.2). Conclusions: While one’s own attitude predicted duration and intensity, it was spouses’ actual attitudes (not merely perceptions) that predicted the frequency (# of days) of exercise. National guidelines recommend adults engage in moderate-intensity exercise at least 30 minutes/day, on 5+ days each week. The frequency of exercise may be more important for health than how long or intense the exercise session was, as people could be engaging in very long and strenuous exercise only 1 day or less each week, and miss out on the benefits that come from less intense (e.g. brisk walking) or shorter sessions on more days of the week. With spouse attitudes being more predictive of one’s own frequency of exercise, if the goal is to get individuals more physically active in general, interventions targeting just one’s own exercise attitudes and behavior may be less effective than a more dyadic approach.