Supervisors: Jean-Claude MARTIN (LISN), Xavier SANCHEZ (CIAMS), Brian RAVENET (LISN)

Funding: CNRS GDR Sport et Activité Physique                             Start date: October, 2022

This thesis project studies personality and the emotional aspects underlying physical activity in health and performance contexts.

We investigate the impact of regulatory orientation and social emotions on long-term running motivation. The objective of the thesis is twofold: to understand the determinants of motivation in sport-health and sport-performance running, and, secondly, to design and develop a personalized mobile application to motivate individuals in the long term to adhere to running activities.

The Theory of Regulatory Orientation (Higgins, 2012) proposes a theoretical model which identifies two motivational systems referring to needs, objectives, strategies, and emotions which are differentiated and measurable: promotion focus and prevention focus. Self-determination theory (Deci, Ryan, 2009) identifies different types of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic - and associates them with the well-being experienced by individuals. In addition, this theory determines three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and affiliation.