Invited Guest Editorial: Envisioning the next fifty years of research on the exercise–affect relationship

• The study of the exercise–affect link has made great strides over the last 50 years.
• Affective responses to exercise have implications for mental health and exercise prescriptions.
• Goals include understanding exercise motivation, the treatment of addictions, and fatigue.

ObjectivesTo summarize the major accomplishments of research on the relationship between exercise and affect over the past five decades and to outline an expanded research agenda for the future.DesignLiterature review.MethodIllustrative and historically significant publications on the exercise–affect link were examined.ResultsThe main accomplishments over the past fifty years include (a) a growing recognition that exercise can have a positive and clinically meaningful influence on affect, with possible implications for the treatment of mental health problems, and (b) the incorporation of affect in exercise prescription guidelines as a method of monitoring exercise intensity and a possible determinant of adherence. Emerging research directions include efforts to understand (a) the role of affect in exercise behavior, (b) the cognitive and biological mechanisms of affective responses, (c) individual differences in affective responses, including the contribution of genetic polymorphisms, (d) the application of exercise in the treatment of addictions through the process of “hedonic substitution,” (e) the possible connection between affective responses and cognitive function, and (f) the processes underlying the sense of fatigue.ConclusionsThe study of the exercise–affect relationship remains one of the most vibrant and prolific areas of research within exercise psychology. The last few years, in particular, have witnessed a dramatic expansion of the research agenda, addressing questions of great societal importance, increased interdisciplinary interest, and direct implications for practice.