Motives for physical activity participation: does religious faith play a mediating role?

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the role of religious faith (i.e., a mediation effect) on the motivation for and participation in physical activity (PA) among adults. The participants consisted of 689 volunteers (390 males, 299 females) aged 18–65 years (mean age = 25.67; SD = 8.92) from various ethnic groups. Participants identified their religion as Islam (77.4%), Christianity (12.2%), Buddhism (6.8%), Hinduism (3.5%), or Catholicism (0.1%). They completed the Malay version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale, and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. To explore the factorial structure of PALMS, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax and Kaiser normalisation was conducted. The construct reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were also established. The results showed that the direct effect of extrinsic motives on PA participation was positive and significant (β = 0.256, p < 0.001) and the intrinsic motives for PA participation were also positive and significant (β = 0.115, p < 0.05). However, there were no mediated effects between intrinsic and extrinsic motives and PA participation. The results indicate that religious faith did not play a mediating role in PA participation. A possible explanation for this might be that there may be unobserved mediators such as religious activities (e.g., attending worship services) acting between motives and PA participation. Therefore, future studies are needed to examine religious activity as a potential mediator for better understanding the role of religious faith in PA participation.