Examining College Students’ Motivation Participating In Virtual Reality-based Exercise: A Self-determination Theory Perspective

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) has become a popular modality for exercise, physical therapy, and rehabilitation. VR-based exercise is becoming more available and could be a viable form of exercise. In addition, the self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985) has been used to examine college student’s motivation to exercise. However, more empirical research evidence is needed to examine college students’ motivation to participate in VR-based exercise from the SDT perspective. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college student’s situational motivation and intention to participate in VR-based exercise. METHODS: Seventy-two college students (Male = 39; Mage = 20.72, SD = 1.66) experienced at least 5 minutes of VR-based stationary bike gaming using the VirZoom Arcade. Afterward, they were assessed on situational motivation and intention to participate in VR-based exercise via a validated survey. The Situational Motivation Scale (Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000) was used to assess situational motivation and one question was used to assess their intention for future participation in VR-based exercise. In order to determine the relationship between situational motivation (i.e., intrinsic, identified, external, amotivation) and intention to exercise, a multiple linear regression was performed to investigate motivation to predict intention to exercise. RESULTS: The multiple regression model showed a statistically significant effect, F(2, 69) = 12.920, p < .001, R2 = .272, indicating that 27.2% of the variation in intention can be explained by identified regulation (β = .43) and amotivation (β = -.23). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the intention for further participation in VR-based exercise is strongly predicted by the identified regulation or importance college students place on VR-based exercise. As with other modalities of exercise, lack of motivation and interests can be a deterring factor for participation in VR-based exercise. Further research is needed to understand how to empower college students who are amotivated to participate in VR-based exercise. Finally, these results confirm the theoretical tenets of the SDT.