Effects of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise on anxiety,absenteeism, and job satisfaction

The effects of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise on employee state and trait anxiety levels, absenteeism, job satisfaction, and resting heart rate were investigated within a worksite setting. Results indicated that aerobic subjects significantly reduced their state anxiety levels over a single exercise session. Post-exercise state anxiety decreased over the 8 weeks for both groups. Aerobic subjects who were not previous exercisers decreased their trait anxiety. No changes in job satisfaction, absenteeism, or resting heart rate were evident. These results support past findings that concluded that aerobic exercise is superior to nonaerobic exercise for anxiety reduction. Tentative evidence was found to oppose the hypothesis that cardiovascular conditioning is the mechanism responsible for the psychological benefits because no significant cardiovascular changes occurred.