This study investigated the hypothesis that the effects of an acute bout of exercise on psychological response (PR), such as state anxiety and mood, may be influenced by individual levels of trait anxiety with exercise habits and anticipatory responses (AR) prior to the exercise. One hundred and two male and 48 female undergraduates in university athletic clubs were used as a sample of individuals with regular exercise habits, and 81 male and 55 female non-athletic students were used as a sample of individuals with non-exercise habits. The subjects completed the trait version of Spielberger's State-Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T) and the Activity Index as screening tests. From the high and low STAI-T students with exercise and non-exercise habits, 48 subjects were selected by gender for the experiment. All subjects completed the state version of the STAI (STAI-S) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) as measures of AR prior to, and following a 12-min bicycle ergometer task with prior warm-up at a heart rate of 120 bpm. The results showed that the level of trait anxiety influenced the PR scores in the STAI-S and some subscales of the POMS, even after statistically controlling for their AR scores. The PR scores were affected by the AR scores of the STAI-S and depression of the POMS, while the AR scores had significantly closer relationships with the differences before and after the tests in the tension and fatigue subscales of the POMS than with the PR scores following exercise. These results suggest that PR following exercise depends on trait factors such as anxiety and exercise habit.
