Can’t find anyone to exercise with? Don’t despair: New research from Michigan State University reveals working out with a virtual partner improves motivation during exercise.
The study led by Deborah Feltz, chairperson of MSU’s Department of Kinesiology, is the first to investigate the Kohler effect on motivation in health video games; that phenomenon explains why inferior team members perform better in a group than they would by themselves.
The research, to be published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, was funded by a $150,000 grant from Health Games Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio.
“Our results suggest working out with virtually present, superior partners can improve motivation on exercise game tasks,” Feltz said. “These findings provide a starting point to test additional features that have the potential to improve motivational gains in health video games.”
Read more about the study in MSU News.