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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the role of sense of coherence and total physical activity in positive and negative affect. Participants were 376 (169 female, 206 male, and 1 missing value) student volunteers from different faculties of Middle East Technical University. Three questionnaires: Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC), Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (PAAQ), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to the students together with the demographic information sheet. Two separate stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive power of sense of coherence and total physical activity on positive and negative affect scores. Results revealed that both sense of coherence and total physical activity predicted the positive affect whereas only the sense of coherence predicted the negative affect on university students. Findings are discussed in light of sense of coherence, physical activity, and positive and negative affect literature.
The increased interest in positive psychology has shifted the focus of research from factors that limit health to those that promote health (Ironson & Powell, 2005). Within positive psychology, affectivity has been considered one of the components of well-being which has been proposed to be measured not only by negative affect but by positive affect (Watson, Clark, & Telegen, 1988). It was considered that these two affect states are not opposite to each other but are distinctive dimensions with high positive affect referring to a state of high energy, full concentration, and pleasurable engagement whereas the low nega- tive affect is a state of calmness and serenity. In the literature, individ- uals' general disposition of experiencing positive or negative mood states has been found to be consistently associated with a physical and psychological health-related quality of life (Brennan, Singh, Spencer, & Roberts-Thomson, 2006). Examination of the related literature seems to suggest that certain personality dispositions and health-promoting behaviors such as exercise make significant contributions to enhance1 ment of quality of life. In the present study, sense of coherence as a personality variable and total physical activity as a health-promoting behavior were examined together in terms of their role in positive and negative affect among male and female late adolescents.
The term salutogenesis (origins of health) was first used by Aoron Antonovsky in place of the term pathogenesis (origins of disease) (Almedom,...