Personality traits can predict which exercise intensities people would enjoy most, and the magnitude of stress reduction experienced following a training program, according to a new study. Researchers examined how personality affects the types of exercise people prefer, and their commitment and engagement to them.

The researchers studied 86 participants who attended lab testing for baseline fitness as well as post-intervention testing. Participants were randomly split into two groups: one group  was provided with an eight-week home-based fitness plan made up of cycling and strength training (intervention group), the other group continued their usual lifestyle  and were provided a plan of weekly 10-min stretching exercises (control group).

During lab testing, the first intervention week, and after the intervention, all participants completed a questionnaire on how much they’d enjoyed each training session. The personality traits examined in the study included extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness.

Results showed that people scoring high on extraversion enjoyed high-intensity sessions with others around, including team sports. In contrast, people scoring high on neuroticism preferred private workouts – and while they were fine with high intensity, they need short breaks in between. Others, scoring high on conscientiousness and openness, were found to engage in exercise regardless of whether they particularly enjoyed it or were driven by curiosity.

What was particularly interesting was the relationship between personality, change in fitness, and stress, the researchers said. Before the intervention, the stress levels of both groups were similar. After the intervention, however, people who scored high in neuroticism, showed an especially strong reduction in stress.

“We hope that if people can find physical activities that they enjoy they will more readily choose to do them,” senior author Paul Burgess from the University College London's  Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, concluded. “After all, we don’t have to nag dogs to go for a walk. Being so physically inactive that we start to feel miserable might be a peculiarly human thing to do. In effect, our body punishes us by making us miserable. But for some reason, many of us humans seem poor at picking up on these messages it is sending to our brain.”

To download the full article, published in Frontiers in Psychology, click here