The Effectiveness of Seated Aerobic Exercise on the Emotional and Moral Intelligence of Elderly Women

Since doing exercise in a standing position for some people is not possible, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of seated aerobic exercises on the emotional and moral intelligence of elderly women.

The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test and unequal control group. The sample was a group of 60 women who had been referred to sports clubs. Firstly, the questionnaires of intelligence (Schutte et al., 1998) and moral intelligence (Martin & Austin, 2010) were completed as a pretest, then the experimental group participated in seated aerobic exercise for 12 sessions of one hour each, under the supervision of an instructor. The control group performed their normal everyday activities. At the end, the above questionnaires were completed as a post-test. Data extracted from the questionnaires were analyzed using Shapiro-Wilks and Mann-Whitney tests.

The results show that seated aerobics exercises were effective in increasing the emotional (U=254, p≤0.002) and moral (U=52.5, P≤0.001) intelligence of elderly women.

It seems that the psychological benefits of aerobics in its moderated form is also preserved in the early years of ageing.