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Study analysis · Acta psychologica · 2026

Exercise while watching upsetting images doesn't calm you down—and may even make you angrier, new study finds.

A 30-minute moderate bike ride while looking at disturbing pictures did not reduce anxiety or anger in young women, and actually increased anger right after.

Reading level
Moderate certainty
Level 1b · Individual RCT

Overview

What the study found

The study in plain English — the bottom line, every takeaway we extracted, and what to do with them.

In simple terms

This study is a randomized controlled trial, which is one of the best ways to test cause and effect. They randomly put women into different groups to see if exercise while looking at scary pictures changed their anxiety or anger. Because they randomly assigned people, we can be fairly confident that any differences between groups are due to the exercise and pictures, not other factors. However, the study was small and people knew whether they were exercising, so we can't be 100% sure.

What’s the bottom line?

Scientists asked 52 young women to either sit quietly or pedal a bike for 30 minutes while looking at either neutral or upsetting pictures. They checked anxiety and anger before, right after, and 10 and 20 minutes later.

How strong is this study?

The study was well-designed because they randomly assigned people to groups and used standard questionnaires. But it had some weaknesses: only 52 women participated, and they knew if they were exercising or not, which could affect how they reported their feelings. Also, they didn't measure things like heart rate variability or hormones that could explain why anger increased. So we should trust the results somewhat, but not completely.

Reporting

40 / 100

  • COI disclosure+40/40
  • Data availabilitydata not shared
  • Code availabilitycode not shared
Methodology

62 / 100

  • Randomization+20/20
  • Blindingblinding unclear
  • Control group+15/15
  • Sample size (n=52)+4.6/20
  • Follow-up+10/10
Publication

100 / 100

Statistical

100 / 100

  • P-values+15/15
  • Effect size+20/20
  • Confidence intervals+15/15
  • Pre-registration+15/15

Each component is scored out of 100 and then capped by the study design — a case series cannot reach the ceiling a randomised trial can, however well it is reported.

Where it sits

RCT reviews

Max 100

Randomized Trials

Max 90

Reviews of Cohort Studies

Max 85

Cohort Studies

Max 72

Reviews of Case-Control Studies

Max 63

Case-Control Studies

Max 58

Cross-Sectional & Case Series

Max 50

Expert Opinion

Max 5
StrongerWeaker
Randomized Trials
Level 1b
75

75 / 100

Probability of being correct

Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.

This design can establish causation. Randomization allows causal inference, but small sample size (n=52), lack of blinding for subjective outcomes, and potential confounding by unmeasured variables limit the strength of causal conclusions. The study found a significant interaction for anger but not for anxiety, so causal claims are stronger for anger than anxiety. However, the mechanism is speculative.

COI Unknown

Could not determine conflict of interest status

The provided text references a Declaration of competing interest and Funding sources section, but their content is not included, so conflicts of interest and funding cannot be fully assessed.

The article is open access and includes a 'Funding sources' section and a 'Declaration of competing interest' section in the outline, but the actual statements are not provided in the excerpt. No author affiliations or industry ties are visible. The study design appears academic (exercise intervention), but without the declarations, COI severity is indeterminate.

Key takeaways

  1. 01

    Exercise while looking at upsetting pictures did not lower anxiety or anger compared with sitting.

  2. 02

    Anxiety went up a little right after the session for everyone (about 4 points on a 20–80 scale) then came back down.

  3. 03

    Anger went up right after the session in the group that exercised while viewing upsetting pictures (p=0.0001).

  4. 04

    The absolute risk of any real-life problem was not reported because this was a short lab study.

  5. 05

    For a healthy young woman, a 30-minute moderate bike ride while viewing unpleasant images did not calm anxiety or anger.

  6. 06

    Anxiety rose slightly right after (about 4 points on a 20–80 scale) and returned to baseline by 20 minutes.

  7. 07

    Anger rose in the aversive exercise group and stayed higher than at 20 minutes.

  8. 08

    These are small, short-term changes on self-report questionnaires; no absolute clinical risk was reported.

Surprising findings

  • Exercise under aversive images did not reduce anxiety compared to control, contradicting the common belief that exercise is anxiolytic.Most prior research shows acute exercise reduces anxiety, but those studies typically use neutral contexts. This study shows the effect may vanish under emotional load.
  • State anger increased significantly in the aversive exercise group immediately post-session, while neutral conditions remained stable.Exercise is often recommended for anger management, but here it exacerbated anger when combined with aversive stimuli.
  • Anxiety increased post-session even in control groups that just sat quietly, then returned to baseline.This suggests the experimental procedure itself (viewing images, being in a lab) may be anxiogenic, regardless of exercise.

Practical takeaways

Don't rely on a single bout of moderate exercise to immediately calm you down if you're in an emotionally charged situation—it might not work and could even increase anger.

This is based on a small lab study with young women; long-term exercise still has well-established mental health benefits.

medium confidence

If you're trying to manage anger, avoid exercising while simultaneously exposing yourself to aggravating stimuli (e.g., watching upsetting news while on the treadmill).

The study used aversive images, not real-life stressors; real-world effects may vary.

low confidence

For anxiety reduction, consider exercising in a neutral or positive environment rather than during acute stress exposure.

The study only measured acute effects; exercise still has long-term anxiolytic benefits.

medium confidence

Why this study matters

Exercise fails to calm anxiety under aversive images

In a randomized trial of 52 young women, a single 30-minute moderate-intensity cycling session while viewing aversive images did not reduce state anxiety compared to quiet sitting. There was no significant group effect (p=0.179) and no time×group interaction (p=0.102). Anxiety increased immediately post-session across all groups by an absolute 4.1 points on the STAI-S (95% CI 1.40–6.87, p=0.021) then returned to baseline.

Many people believe exercise is a reliable mood booster, but this shows that in an emotionally charged context, it may not buffer acute anxiety at all.

Exercise while viewing aversive images increases anger

A significant time×group interaction for anger (p=0.028, η²p=0.087) revealed that the aversive exercise group had a significant increase in state anger immediately post-session (p=0.0001). The delta change (post–pre) in anger was 2.69 points higher in the aversive exercise group compared to the neutral exercise group (absolute mean difference 2.69, p=0.026).

It's counterintuitive that exercising while exposed to aggravating stimuli would make you angrier, not calmer.

Neutral conditions show stable emotions

Under neutral images, both exercise and control groups showed no significant changes in anxiety or anger across time. This suggests that the aversive context is key to the emotional effects observed.

It highlights that the emotional environment during exercise matters more than the exercise itself for acute mood regulation.

Stimulus dominance hypothesis: aversive images override exercise benefits

The authors propose that the salience of aversive stimuli may dominate attentional and regulatory resources, preventing exercise from exerting its typical anxiolytic effects. This aligns with the 'stimulus dominance' hypothesis.

It provides a mechanistic explanation for why exercise might fail under real-world stress, like during a competitive match with hostile fans.

Anxiety increased post-session regardless of group

Even the quiet sitting control groups showed a 4.1-point increase in anxiety immediately after the 30-minute session. This may reflect the stress of the laboratory setting or the images themselves, and it returned to baseline by 20 minutes.

It suggests that just being in a study or viewing aversive images can spike anxiety, independent of exercise.

Ecological validity: real-world stress often coincides with physical activity

The study aimed to mimic real-life situations where people exercise under emotional stress (e.g., athletes performing in hostile environments). The findings caution against assuming exercise will always help in such moments.

Many people exercise to cope with stress, but this study suggests it might not work when the stressor is concurrent.

Limitations: small sample, self-report, only young women

The study had 52 participants, used only self-report measures, and included only healthy young women (18–40). Menstrual cycle phase was not controlled. Absolute risk of clinical outcomes was not reported.

It's a reminder that this is a small, preliminary study, and results may not generalize to men, older adults, or clinical populations.

Want the whole report?

Detailed mode opens the full scientific breakdown — every score component, the methodology, conflicts of interest, the evidence analysis behind each claim, and the raw study data.

Standing

The people behind it

The researchers who wrote the study this analysis is built on.

Authored by

11 researchers

If this is your work, this is how we attribute it on Fit Body Science. Mila Alves Matos Rodrigues is listed as the lead author.