Discussion
The ”psychological eye of the hurricane” of the COVID-19 epidemic
The study found that, in general, during the epidemic, residents showed increased levels of boredom and mood disturbance. There was no significant difference in boredom and mood state by epidemic severity level. However, according to the descriptive statistics, the boredom and mood disturbance levels reported by residents in the less severe areas were generally higher than those reported by residents in severe areas. This may reflect a slight ”psychological eye of the hurricane” effect. Under this phenomenon, the closer a person is to the risk center, the calmer the person will feel and the lower the level of risk perception will be (Xu, Zheng, Rao, Kuang, Yang, Ding, Li, & Li, 2020).
This phenomenon was first observed during the Wenchuan earthquake (Li, Rao, Ren, Bai, Zheng, & Li, et al, 2009). The survey results show that the estimation of the severity of the disaster is higher among non-disaster-area residents than among disaster-area residents, suggesting that the former is more worried about the disaster than the latter and supporting the existence of a ”psychological eye of the hurricane”. At present, from a comprehensive perspective, the possible mechanisms explaining and predicting this phenomenon proposed by the academic community can be summarized into four categories: benefit judgment, psychological immunity, cognitive dissonance, and experience-description (Xu, Zheng, Rao, Kuang, Yang, Ding, Li, & Li, 2020).
Direct effect of physical activity on mood state
This study found that physical activity has a significant negative predictive effect on TMD and negative mood and a significant positive predictive effect on positive mood. In other words, with the increase in physical activity, the mood state of residents is correspondingly improved. This effect is achieved through the reduction of negative emotions and activation of positive emotional experiences (Strasser, & Fuchs, 2015). In addition, physical activity intensity, physical activity time, and physical activity frequency all affect the emotional experience of residents (Qiu, & Zhang, 2019). However, during the COVID-19 epidemic, residents’ outdoor activities were severely restricted, thus hindering and limiting many physical activities. However, to maintain a good emotional experience and mood state, residents should maintain a moderate amount of physical activity, and even simple activities like stair climbing can have a positive impact on the mood state (Andreas, Adam, Emily, & Liana, 2019). Jiang Changhao et al. (2014) explored the cognitive mechanism of the influence of physical activity on mood state, and pointed out that physical activity can promote the release of certain neurotransmitters, thus improving mood state.
The mediating effect of boredom between physical activity and mood state
This study found that physical activity can not only directly predict mood state, but can also indirectly predict mood state through boredom, that is, boredom plays a mediating role between physical activity and mood state.
Physical activity can significantly affect boredom, which is consistent with a previous study (Viira, & Raudsepp, 2000; Ekkekakis, Parfitt, & Petruzzello, 2011). The research of Pekrun et al. (2010) shows that boredom has specific emotional components; therefore, it can be considered a specific negative emotion similar to anger and depression. Physical activity can effectively alter the emotional state of individuals. When individuals engage in sports activities, they reduce the empty leisure time in their lives and enrich their emotional experience. Therefore, moderate physical activity can reduce the boredom of individuals.
In addition, previous studies have shown that boredom is associated with several negative emotions (Ejaz, Schur, & Noelker, 1997; Van Hooft, & Van Hooff, 2018). Isacescu et al. (2017) found that boredom was associated with various forms of cognitive and emotional dissonance. Huang Shihua et al. (2011) summarized previous psychological studies on boredom and pointed out that boredom can significantly predict negative emotions such as despair, loneliness and anxiety. The correlation between positive mood and boredom is not significant, which indicates that physical activity does not predict positive mood through the mediating effect of boredom. Individuals should do as much as possible to engage in moderate physical activity within their capacity during home confinement to reduce feelings of boredom and further reduce negative mood.