‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue’: 45 – year reflections on exercise psychology and behaviour change
My first academic appointment was in 1979. If I have any expertise, it’s in psychology and health behaviour change. But initially I was searching for something and couldn’t quite find it. Career trajectories change and I will briefly outline how I have changed the emphasis of my work over that time period (something old). This may have importance for early career academics wondering about their own career trajectories. Next, I will discuss some work that best reflects something borrowed. Early in my career I was absorbed by certain psychological theories. But that changed. How and why? Did I really have something new? We were among the first to pursue ‘sedentary behaviour’ as a distinct field of research. What did we do and how has that field developed? Finally, something blue. You will have to attend to hear about that one!
Stuart Biddle is a research professor in the Centre for Health Research at the University of Southern Queensland, near Brisbane, Australia, and holds honorary positions at the University of Queensland and Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, both in Australia, and the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. He was Professor at Loughborough University, UK, 1998-2014, including being Head of the School of Sport & Exercise Sciences, 2001-2007.
His current research is on sedentary behaviour and physical activity behaviour change, as well as mental health. He was ranked 16th all-time worldwide for career-long citation impact in ‘sport sciences’ up until the end of 2021 and is a Clarivate Highly Cited researcher (Scopus h-index=88; Google Scholar h-index=134).
Stuart has been senior author of the book ‘Psychology of Physical Activity’ for over 30 years, with the 4th edition published by Routledge in 2021. He has been involved in the production of physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for Australia, Canada, UK, WHO, and for obesity in Singapore. Stuart has an Honorary Doctorate from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.
Location: Life Sciences Building, Room 1002
This seminar will be in hybrid format. Please reach out to kin.communications@ubc.ca for the Zoom details.