Abstract
Physical activity (PA) is an important habit for overall health and quality of life, but it tends to recede as young adults transition from high school into university. The present study sought to understand, in the case of university students that still practice PA, their motives for PA and their relationships with psychological need satisfaction (PNS) and characteristics of practice regularity (frequency, duration, team, competitive, coach, league, federation, and type of day of the week for PA). Participants were 423 university students who reported to practice PA (203 identified as men, 191 as women, 29 did not report gender), with ages ranging from 18 to 30 years old (M = 19.91, SD = 1.97). Measures assessing motives for PA, PNS, and PA characteristics were completed. Hierarchical, followed by iterative, cluster analysis was used and four naturally occurring groupings of university students were identified based on their motives for PA: one extrinsic-motives cluster (with both extrinsic motives—fitness and appearance—above the mean), one all-motives cluster (with all five motives above the mean), one intrinsic-motives cluster (with all three intrinsic motives—enjoyment, competence, social—above the mean), and one low-motives cluster (with all motives below the mean). Groupings were compared in terms of the characteristics of their practice regularity (frequency, duration, competition, team, coach, league, federation, type of day of the week used for PA) and their levels of PNS (of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in PA). Significant between-group differences were observed in the duration of single principal PA sessions, minutes per week practicing main PA, total PA minutes per week, and type of day of the week used for PA. The number of days per week devoted to the principal PA and the number of total PAs practiced were similar across all four clusters. With regard to between-group differences in psychological need satisfaction in PA by cluster, these analyses showed the existence of four clearly distinguishable naturally occurring groupings based on motives for PA, which gives researchers and practitioners the possibility to analyze and implement tailored interventions aimed at promoting PA among university students.
Highlights
Physical activity (PA) is important in preventing severe health risks (Krishnan et al, 2009; Heath et al, 2012; Piercy et al, 2018) as well as in yielding positive health benefits derived from its practice (Kim et al, 2016; Pacesova et al, 2019)
The present work has analyzed the motive base of university students in PA and the relationships between motives, characteristics of practice regularity, and basic psychological need satisfaction, with the goal of contributing relevant evidence useful for the understanding and promotion of university students’ health habits in PA
As described the present findings support the relationship between psychological need satisfaction (PNS) and motives (Ryan and Deci, 2000; Milyavskaya and Koestner, 2011; Battistelli et al, 2016)
Summary
Physical activity (PA) is important in preventing severe health risks (Krishnan et al, 2009; Heath et al, 2012; Piercy et al, 2018) as well as in yielding positive health benefits derived from its practice (Kim et al, 2016; Pacesova et al, 2019). The body-related motive was theorized as extrinsic, given that, based on this motive, engagement in practice is instrumental in achieving a goal that is an indirect result derived from the activity, and because the notion of body-related was mostly associated with appearance Building on these early theoretical and measurement approaches, further developments (Motives for Physical Activity Measure – Revised—MPAM-R: Ryan et al, 1997) included enjoyment and competence motives and a social motive, in this way acknowledging that PA could be prompted by the pursuit of satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness or social connectedness. The present study contributes knowledge about motivational dynamics in physical activity aimed at improving the understanding, promotion, and management of PA participation
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