Understanding Exercise Class Attendees: In-Class Behaviors, Experiences, and Future Class Attendance: The Role of Class Leaders' Identity Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Structured exercise provides a vehicle through which people can accrue physical activity that is vital for their health, yet dropout and membership turnover rates in exercise settings are high. Leaders are a prevailing feature of many exercise settings (e.g., exercise classes) and can strongly influence the behaviors and experiences of exercisers. However, rigorous empirical tests of how exercise leaders can maximize their positive influence and promote positive group member outcomes are needed. Using a repeated measures design, we examined relationships between exercise class leaders striving to create a strong sense of shared identity among class attendees (i.e., acting as identity entrepreneurs) and a range of positive outcomes. During a 3-week intensive sampling period, we obtained 919 unique questionnaire responses from 395 exercise class attendees. Participants were invited to complete a brief questionnaire after each class they attended, reporting their perceptions of the class leaders' identity entrepreneurship, their own intentions to return to a class with the same leader in the future, enjoyment of the class, affective valence during the class, and in-class effort. Participants' attendance at the same scheduled class 1 week later was assessed objectively using the fitness facility's class attendance records. Multilevel models showed positive relationships between participants' perceptions of their class leader's identity entrepreneurship and their own intentions to attend in future, enjoyment, positive affective valence, effort, and actual attendance 1 week later. Consistent with identity leadership theorizing, exercise class leaders were able to foster positive outcomes for class members by creating a strong sense of 'us.' Show more