Author(s): HOSHINO, S., NARUSE, Y., HAMAURA, M., ARAUCHI, K., KOMORI, Y., Institution: NARA WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 2028

INTRODUCTION
The phenomenon in which performance is improved by the presence of others is called social facilitation (Zajonc, 1965). For runners the interaction with running partner influences the appeal to run. We reported the importance of running partner regarding their enjoyment with a comfortable self-paced running (Hoshino et al, 2023). A theoretical approach that has shown evidence of how motivational factors can support enjoyment of a physical activity is self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan, 1985). According to SDT, we investigated how different elements of “autonomy”, “competence”, and “relatedness” are influenced a running with the presence of a partner during high intensity running.

METHOD
Subjects: 14 female university and graduate students (20.9 ± 1.6 yr.) .
Tasks and conditions: Flat treadmill self-paced running for 30 minutes under two conditions (1) Solo condition (SC): running alone and (2) Partner condition (PC): running side by side with a partner. In both conditions, subjects were instructed to “run as far as you can in 30 minutes. The rate of increase/decrease from the initial speed (each subjects lactate threshold) was presented as the feedback information on the screen.
Measurements: (a) Behavioral indices: total running distance, running speed, and rate of speed increase every 5 minutes (actual speed/initial speed), (b) physiological index: heart rate, and (c) psychological indices: Feeling Scale: FS, Exercise Enjoyment Scale: EES, Excitement, Anxiety, RPE (Borg’s scale) reported at the base line (BL), every 5 minutes (R5-R30), and 20 minutes after the end of running (A20).

RESULT and DISCUSSION
The total running distance for 30 minutes in PC (4.12±0.536km) was significantly longer than in SC (3.96±0.544km) ( t(13)=1.787, p<.049). The running speed was significantly higher in the PC after 15 minutes running (R15-R25). As a result of two-way ANOVA for heart rate, a significant main effect was shown for time factor (F (1,13) =10.306, p<.007, η²=.442). In PC heart rate was higher than in SC. But there were no differences between groups in RPE.
At 20 min after running (A20) in PC was shown to be significantly higher in enjoyment (EES) than in the SC. The anxiety in PC was significantly declined to get lower from the BL to A20 compared with the SC.
Additionally, we divided participants into the leader and the follower groups based on feedback information and examined elements of SDT. As a result of three-way ANOVA, “relatedness” in PC at post-running compared with pre-running. In other words, relatedness got significantly higher on running with partner. Especially motivation was higher in the leader group.

CONCLUSION
We found that 30-minute high-paced running with a partner lowers perceived exertion and socially enhances running performance, increasing enjoyment and reducing anxiety after running. The running influenced on the "relatedness”. From the point of the relationship between leader and follower, this phenomenon particularly observed in the leader. Since it is said that experiencing positive emotion during exercise enhances intrinsic motivation (Teixeira et al., 2012), increased relatedness due to the presence of a partner is thought to be effective in facilitating exercise behavior.