Open Access

ARTICLE

Investigating the Cultural Moderating Role in the Association between Exercise and Anxiety Symptoms

Albert Jiansong Zheng^1,*, Junxian Shen²

1 Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
2 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao, China

* Corresponding Author: Albert Jiansong Zheng. Email:

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2026, 28(3), 9 https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.077733

Received 16 December 2025; Accepted 06 February 2026; Issue published 31 March 2026

Abstract

Background: The anxiolytic benefits of exercise appear to vary across societies, yet limited research has examined how cultural norms shape this association. To address this gap, the present study investigates the moderating role of societal individualism–collectivism in the relation between exercise and anxiety symptoms. Methods: Using a sample of 123,298 individuals across 23 societies and two waves from the Global Flourishing Study, weighted multilevel models were employed to examine the lagged association between exercise at Wave 1 and anxiety symptoms at Wave 2, with and without adjustment for exercise at Wave 2. We further examined the cross-level moderating role of society-level individualism–collectivism in the individual-level association between Wave 1 exercise and Wave 2 anxiety symptoms. Results: The results indicate that exercise at Wave 1 is significantly associated with lower anxiety symptoms at Wave 2 in the basic lagged model. However, the association between Wave 1 exercise and Wave 2 anxiety symptoms attenuates after accounting for exercise at Wave 2, which shows a stronger association with anxiety symptoms at Wave 2 and a larger magnitude of association. Cross-level analyses further demonstrate that the lagged association between Wave 1 exercise and Wave 2 anxiety is more pronounced in collectivist societies and negligible in individualistic societies. Conclusions: These findings contribute theoretically to public mental health and cross-cultural research by elucidating the cultural moderation of the correlation between exercise and anxiety symptoms. From a practical perspective, culturally tailored approaches to encourage exercise for anxiety reduction are essential. In collectivist societies, group-based and community-oriented exercise may better support the long-term emotional benefits of sustained activity, whereas in individualistic societies, interventions may need to emphasize intrinsic motivation to enhance the mental health benefits of exercise.

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Keywords

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