Influence of how close you feel to your future 'exerciser' self?

What is it about?

When we think about objectives involving exercise, many individuals focus on things that are relatively far away - many months or even years away. Although such distal outcomes are important, they might fade from view when we face immediate barriers. Individuals, however, may differ on how close (or far) they feel from future selves. In the current study, we explored whether exercisers who feel closer to their future exercise 'self' are better-able to follow through on their intentions.

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Why is it important?

This research is a component of a broader line of research revealing that health behaviors are ultimately impacted by perceived, and objective, temporal proximity. Research is slowly, but surely, revealing that individuals may be better able to set and follow-through on intentions when they (a) feel closer to future selves and outcomes, and/or (b) also recognize the short-term benefits of their actions.