Competing to belong: How midlife exercisers sustain shared social identity through peloton participation.
University of Sussex
How they used Delve
Sport psychology researchers at the University of Sussex and partner universities used Delve to refine and expand their handwritten coding notes from two rounds of interviews and diaries with twelve midlife Peloton users, sharing ongoing code changes in the Delve project so co-authors could oversee the coding as a negotiated process.
“handwritten notes were extracted, refined, and expanded using qualitative coding software (https://delvetool.com), with ongoing code modifications shared via this secure online repository for collaborative oversight. This treated coding as a socially negotiated process in which meaning was produced through interaction”
- Field
- Sport and exercise psychology / social identity
- Data
- Two interviews each and a participant diary from twelve Peloton users aged 40 to 64
- Approach
- Abductive analysis combining inductive and deductive perspectives across two interviews and a participant diary; handwritten notes refined into codes in Delve with modifications shared for collaborative oversight, and a reflexive codebook
- Data types
- Interviews, Documents
Abstract
Research suggests that exercise groups can provide social resources, such as a social identity, social support, and social comparison, and that people may join groups to manage uncertainty during times of change, such as midlife. This study examines how midlife adults utilize Peloton, an online group exercise cycling platform, as they navigate midlife. Twelve Peloton participants aged 40-64 underwent three data collection stages: (1) an initial exercise history semi-structured interview; (2) a two-week post-exercise diary; and (3) a follow-up topic exploration interview. Data were analyzed using abductive thematic analysis informed by the social identity approach. Findings reveal a midlife process of identity erosion, characterized by reduced agency and physical decline, prompting a reassertion of competitiveness through online exercise and social comparison. This study extends the Social Identity Model of Identity Change into transitional non-event-based (e.g., life stage) rather than event-based (e.g., retirement) life changes. It suggests that identity erosion precedes identity change in transitional life contexts, and that identity remooring may occur sequentially. This study suggests that live feedback and real-time interactions facilitate the formation of group norms and social identity in online exercise groups, even in the absence of live communication.
Citation
Tom Richards, Matthew J. Easterbrook, Matthew J. Slater, Melissa Day, Sean G. Figgins (2026). Competing to belong: How midlife exercisers sustain shared social identity through peloton participation.. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000415