Exercise psychology research in Taiwan over three decades: A quasi-systematic review

The purpose of this study was to explore the status of Taiwanese scholars' research in the field of exercise psychology in the past 30 years and to provide an overview of the research. With some modifications to Cooper's (2016) methodological instructions in research synthesis, a "quasi-systematic review" was adopted to collect, categorize and analyze Taiwanese scholars’ publications in the field of exercise psychology in the past three decades. The included papers were those published in international journals and the Taiwan Social Science Citation Index (TSSCI) journals. A total of 355 papers qualified for further analysis. Most selected papers were quantitatively-oriented. Also, we found both international and domestic journals had different features in terms of participants, research methods, and research topics. Further, we found that 73 papers (20.56%) examined “theoretical models of exercise behavior”; 271 papers (76.34%) examined “psychological effects of exercise”; 95 papers (26.76%) investigated “social cognition in exercise”; 272 papers (76.62%) studied “exercise and specific population”; and 20 papers (5.63%) were classified as applications/other.” Furthermore, in international journals, 140 papers (61.40%) were ranked as Q1; 57 papers (25.00%) as Q2; 27 papers (11.84%) as Q3, and 4 papers (1.75%) as Q4. In summary, Taiwanese scholars’ research in exercise psychology has unique features and topics. Government policy and research grants may explain the research directions and topics selected. It is suggested that Taiwanese scholars may expand their research beyond these limitations.