Intrapersonal Constraints Research Articles

Identifying constraints on Gen Z’s path toward ethical tourism consumption and practices

Gen Z’s interest in ethical consumption, including tourism, is growing in response to pressing global challenges. However, there is limited research on the constraints tied to the ethical travel decisions of this young cohort of travelers. This qualitative study, grounded in the theory of constraints and ethical consumerism literature, addresses this gap. The findings reveal multi-layered and interrelated constraints categorized as intrapersonal (cognitive dissonance, risk aversion, consumption inertia), interpersonal (green stigma, family dynamics, social comparison), and structural (limited accessibility, financial restrictions). This study extends the theory of constraints by showing that these constraints do not act in isolation but interact dynamically, with intrapersonal constraints often triggering interpersonal and structural ones, while certain barriers reinforce others. Unlike previous research that treats these constraints as independent, our findings reveal their sequential and context-dependent nature, offering new insights into how these constraints interrelate in shaping ethical travel decisions and practices. By highlighting the complexity of ethical decision-making—including conflicting principles, ambiguity, and social influences—this study offers a novel, theoretically-grounded perspective on the constraints faced by Gen Z, often labelled the “greenest” generation. Practically, these findings inform targeted interventions and policy initiatives to enable ethical tourism.

Control Strategies of Visually Impaired Travelers

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study evaluated visually impaired travelers' (VITs) psychological adaptations by identifying the travel constraints they anticipated before the trips and encountered when they arrived at the destinations, and the control strategies they employed to negotiate the constraints at the two travel stages. Semi‐structured qualitative face‐to‐face interviews with 18 VITs and their caregivers were conducted. The findings demonstrated that participants were challenged with structural and intrapersonal constraints in these two travel stages and various control strategies were implemented. Selective primary control and compensatory primary control strategies were used to cope with constraints under the VITs' control by changing the external environment, whereas selective secondary control and compensatory secondary control strategies were used to cope with constraints beyond their control by altering one's inner world. This study comprehends how VITs psychologically adapt to the travel constraints they anticipate before and encounter during their trips. Practical implications were provided.

Leisure constraints towards accessible tourism: self-characteristics of people with disability along tourism value chains

ABSTRACT Despite the intensifying legal focus on enhancing accessible infrastructure, people with disability are still often marginalized in traveling. To facilitate the advancement of accessible tourism, this research employs the self-categorization theory, incorporating the experiences of individuals with disabilities within all stages of the travel process. Following a qualitative approach, leisure constraints of people with hearing, seeing, learning, and mobility disability in traveling are examined, deriving potential pathways towards holistic accessible tourism value chains from a multidimensional disability perspective. The findings of this study show a lack of awareness among industry stakeholders regarding the needs of people with disabilities. This is indicated by inaccessibility and weak reliability of information, insufficient sensitisation of staff, or the absence of adequate feedback possibilities. Inherent to this, participants evolve structural and interpersonal constraints, particularly in the pre-travel and on-site phases. While positive travel experiences lead to an increase in the self-confidence of people with disabilities, negative examples trigger intrapersonal constraints, whereby travel plans are discarded due to a self-categorization as individuals with limited opportunities for social inclusion. Theoretical contributions as well as implications for practice are derived to address shortcomings along accessible tourism value chains.

Exploring Physical Education Teachers' Intention and Perceived Constraints in Offering Online Lessons Using the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Multi-Country Analysis.

Guided by the theory of planned behavior, this study aimed to determine the influence of Physical Education (PE) teachers' attitudes, their perceived behavioral control, and the influence of subjective norms on their intention and constraints (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural) to offer a high-quality class based on best practices to deliver PE lessons online during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional, multi-country survey study recruited PE teachers from five countries (China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United States). A total of 928 online questionnaires were used in the analysis. In terms of the overall intention to teach online, our findings showed that American and Filipino teachers had higher levels of intention to continue teaching online. In contrast, Turkish, Malaysian, and Chinese teachers showed a lower interest. Moreover, Malaysian teachers had more intrapersonal constraints while the teachers in the other four countries were not as restrained intrapersonally. The results highlight the significant influence of perceived behavioral control and attitudes on PE teachers' intention to deliver online courses. Constraints to online teaching had a considerably large negative impact on attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Based on the results, the proposed extension to the theory of planned behavior was an appropriate framework for understanding the behavioral intent of PE teachers.

Empowering families traveling with young children: a transformative service research perspective

PurposeThis study aims to explore families that travel with children, as focuses on vulnerabilities, resource constraints and service exclusion through the lens of transformative service research (TSR). This paper investigates: how the experienced vulnerability of these families is shaped by structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal constraints, and how the constraints influence the family tourist-resource interaction in the air travel service encounter.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 2,855 reviews of the family tourists with children were analyzed with text mining, t-test and multidimensional scaling using the interpretive language R to answer the research questions with analyses on unstructured (e.g. text) and structured (e.g. consumer rating) data.FindingsThe findings of the empirical investigation answered how experienced vulnerability is shaped by structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal resource constraints and the types of family tourist-resource interaction in the travel service encounter to understand the resource constraints. The findings of this paper help examine family tourism experiences from a value formation perspective to unfold how stakeholders interact to form value while increasing and decreasing their well-being by the value of co-creation and co-destruction.Originality/valueThis research helps advance the TSR’s service inclusion framework by enabling opportunities, offering choice, relieving suffering and fostering happiness with empirical findings in travel service encounters. These findings are particularly insightful to family tourists with children struggling with unfair access and treatment in aeromobility service encounters, which may help enhance the well-being of individuals and communities.

“I would like to visit a bone chapel, but …”: facilitators, constraints, motivators and death anxiety

PurposeThe study aims to understand the relationship between facilitating, demoting, motivating factors and visit intention; and to clarify the role of death anxiety before visiting a dark exhibition.Design/methodology/approachPartial least squares structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze data from 426 potential visitors to the Capuchin Crypt in Rome (Italy).FindingsResults demonstrate that dark fascination, prestige, reflection on death and mortality and interpersonal facilitators are the main drivers of visit intention, and structural constraints are the main demoting factors. Contrary to expectations, intrapersonal constraints have a positive influence on motivators and indirectly on visit intention, and death anxiety has mixed results.Research limitations/implicationsData collection from only one dark exhibition requires that the generalization of the results must be done with care.Practical implicationsConclusions enabled a better understanding of pre-trip tourist behavior, providing valuable suggestions for the communication strategy of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and site managers.Originality/valueThe study adopts a consolidated and empirical approach to studying facilitators, motivators, constraints and visit intention, as well as the effect of death anxiety. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to develop a comprehensive investigation of these four constructs, whether at the darker or the lighter end of the dark tourism spectrum. Consequently, it offers a better understanding of lighter dark attractions, which allows DMOs and others to improve the communication of their tourism products.

Perceived constraints to participating in wildlife-related recreation

Wildlife-related recreationists play an important role in conservation. Understanding constraints to wildlife-related activities is critical for maintaining or increasing participation in activities like birdwatching and hunting. A mail-out survey was administered to a generalized sample representative of U.S. residents (i.e., not specific to birdwatching or hunting) in early 2017 to determine what would limit them from participating in birdwatching and hunting (n = 1030). We employed a concurrent nested mixed-methods design: open-ended responses were thematically coded qualitatively in two distinct cycles (i.e., inductive, and then mixed inductive-deductive coding), and then the probability of expressing the second cycle codes was quantitatively modeled using multinomial logit models for the respective activities. Doing so empirically determined various groups’ constraints that are important to recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts for birdwatching and hunting. We found that the likelihood of experiencing unique constraints varied based on sociodemographic characteristics, and these relationships differed between birdwatching and hunting. Gender had a limited effect on constraints to birdwatching but was a strong indicator of intrapersonal constraints and limitations to involvement in hunting. The likelihood of expressing structural constraints decreased with age for both activities. Possessing strong social ties to the activities tended to reduce the likelihood of expressing constraints overall but this was especially true for hunting. Our findings inform R3 efforts for wildlife-related recreation and provide direct results that organizations can apply in seeking to help Americans negotiate constraints and increase and diversify participation in wildlife-related recreation and conservation behavior. Management implicationsOur results have implications for recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts to increase participation in birdwatching and hunting. Those seeking to increase participation in birdwatching should prioritize younger segments of the population because they expressed more constraints than older segments except for limited capacity to participate. For hunting, gender was a key variable in determining expressed constraints; identifying as female increased the likelihood of expressing intrapersonal constraints and limitations in involvement. For both activities, possessing strong social ties (i.e., family, and close friends) to both activities were effective in decreasing the likelihood of expressing many constraints. Organizations seeking to recruit new participants to birdwatching or hunting should develop programs that encourage existing participants to involve friends and family with the activities and foster interest in the activities among non-participants.

Bibliometric Analysis of Published Original Research Articles on Leisure Constraints between 1991 and 2019.

The decrease in the frequency and duration of participation in leisure activities has negative effects on the physical, cognitive and psychological health of individuals. In this context, identifying the obstacles, which prevent individuals from participating in leisure activities, may offer important clues to institutions and organizations in taking measures to increase participation. The bibliometric analysis method was used in this study. The research was carried out with 306 articles scanned from the Web of Science (WoS) core database between 1991 and 2019. Studies conducted in leisure area increased systematically according to 5-year periods and mostly authors from USA, Australia and Canada produced them. The mainstream subjects, which attracted the attention of researchers during recent years, are detected to be self-efficacy, segmentation, mental health and fear related to intrapersonal constraint topics. In order to cope with physical and mental health problems resulting from aging of the world population, and technological developments, and negative effects generated by inactive modern life style, priority should be given to studies on leisure constraints to be conducted on a more comprehensive basis. Another suggestion is to encourage health policies and applications which can increase participation in leisure activities.

Gym climbing constraints and negotiations during the pandemic

ABSTRACT In this conceptual paper, we explore the impact of the pandemic, along with governmental and gym safety measures on gym climbing participation. We explain how internal and external forces have hindered participation and how gym climbers negotiated with those constraints during the pandemic. Drawing from secondary data sources in climbing-related media and organizations, we first illustrate how climbing gyms adapted their safety policies from shutdown to reopening phases. This highlights the role of pandemic and safety measures in shaping structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints. The conceptual explication of pandemic-induced gym climbing constraints enables us to further analyse how individuals adjusted their participation and devised alternatives to sustain their climbing activities. Our discussion contributes to the understanding of human perceptions and responses in crisis situation and highlights avenues for future research, particularly in relation to gym professionals and climbers’ responsibilities and resources in addressing collective societal challenges and sustaining exercise engagement.

What Sexual Problems Does a Sample of LGB+ People Report Having, and How Do They Define Sexual Pleasure: A Qualitative Study to Inform Clinical Practice.

Introduction: Sexual pleasure is a human right and a central aspect of human sexuality that contributes significantly to people's overall well-being, making it an essential element to consider in clinical settings. This study aims to expand the understanding of sexual pleasure by examining how LGB+ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other minority sexual orientations)-who perceived having a sexual problem-define solitary and partnered sexual pleasure. Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study was conducted online. The current study included 85 people who self-identified as LGB+ and reported experiencing a sexual problem. Data analysis was performed using summative content analysis. Results: The results for solitary sexual pleasure comprised the creation of 5 categories (Enhancing the relationship with oneself, Specification of solitary pleasure, Negative experience, Unrestrained experience and A goal). For partnered sexual pleasure, 9 categories were created (The perks of being with another, Openness to experience, A result of sexual techniques, Psychophysiological experience, Misconceptions about sexual pleasure, Absence of intrapersonal constraints, Undesirable feelings, Explicit consent, and Absence of interpersonal constraints). Discussion: Despite reporting sexual problems, most participants reported having experienced sexual pleasure, and were able to define it. This study provided a deeper understanding of the perspectives on and experiences of sexuality among LGB+ people who experience sexual problems. Our findings highlight that current diagnostic criteria (e.g., DSM-5) do not seem to align with the problems reported by this sample population (the problems presented are beyond their sexual function). This reinforces the importance of viewing sexual problems from a perspective that goes beyond the categorial psychopathology model. Our study's findings may offer valuable insights for the evaluation and treatment of sexual problems, where sexual pleasure is considered a crucial aspect of sexual well-being.

Fad or Renaissance? Motivational and demographic characteristics of USDA Forest Service recreationists during and after the pandemic

While there have been a host of studies investigating the COVID-19 pandemic's influence on outdoor recreation, few have investigated the socio-demographic composition and motivations of visitors who increased their outdoor recreation during this period and if these users will continue recreating at the same level as the pandemic wanes. This study surveyed visitors to the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests (NPNF) within the US state of North Carolina to identify if rising outdoor recreation participation is solely a result of the pandemic or more indicative of a renaissance. Demographic and motivational differences between those whose recreation decreased, stayed the same or increased during the pandemic were also analyzed to see if these patterns remain stable one year after the pandemic. The sample of 1594 visitors from Georgia (n = 483), South Carolina (n = 682), and North Carolina (n = 429) indicate growth in visitation to the NPNF is not just a fad but more of a renaissance with continued high levels of visitation forecasted after the pandemic. Results also show that outdoor recreationists characterized as more ethnically diverse with lower income and educational levels had visitation levels to the forest that increased during the pandemic compared to the outdoor recreationists who were White, more affluent, and highly educated. However, these changes appear to reverse moving out of the pandemic as these more diverse users mention having greater structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints. Managers who seek social and environmental justice with the provisioning of outdoor recreation should follow-up with these more diverse users to better understand their satisfaction with the FS experience during the pandemic and identify strategies to help them negotiate constraints limiting their outdoor recreation. Management implicationsFor public land managers, these findings suggest that increased visitation levels are here to stay. The results also suggest that the pandemic provided users with more diverse backgrounds the space and time to recreate during the pandemic. Unfortunately, it appears that the challenges of everyday life may limit this group from continuing to recreate at the level they did during the pandemic. Managers should take advantage of this opportunity to try to understand these more diverse users and why they anticipate their participation in outdoor recreation dropping as we move out of the pandemic.

Esports gender diversity: A leisure constraints perspective

Esports are a leading form of digital leisure. Esports offer salient career opportunities, ranging from professional players to roles in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, fields where women have been traditionally underrepresented. Yet women are also underrepresented at the professional level in esports. This is particularly problematic as high-level competitors provide visible representation to inspire others, foregoing opportunities to leverage esports broad appeal. We employ the hierarchical model of leisure constraints to understand what limits individuals from engaging in leisurely pursuits. The purpose of our study is to compare leisure constraints to esports participation by gender. Data were collected from male and female esports participants (N = 402) via online survey. Results show that female esports participants had significantly higher interpersonal and intrapersonal constraints. This likely influences their desire to work in esports and related fields, thereby partially explaining the lack of female representation in the upper echelons of esports.

Orbital and sub-orbital space tourism: motivation, constraint and artificial intelligence

Propósitoexiste una investigación limitada sobre el comportamiento de las diferentes categorías de turistas espaciales identificados por diferentes tipos de turismo espacial. Para abordar esta deficiencia, este trabajo examina qué factores hacen que los consumidores participen en el turismo espacial orbital y/o suborbital, junto con tres dimensiones de motivación, restricción e inteligencia artificial. Para lograr los objetivos del estudio, se desarrolló un modelo de investigación integral que incluía tres dimensiones de motivación intrínseca y extrínseca, restricción intrapersonal e interpersonal, y conocimiento y confianza en la inteligencia artificial, al comparar grupos de turismo espacial orbital y suborbital.Diseño/metodología/enfoquese realizó un cuestionario con los encuestados que querían participar en el turismo espacial orbital (n = 332) y suborbital (n = 332) en el futuro. Se utilizaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS), análisis comparativo cualitativo de conjuntos borrosos (fsQCA), análisis multigrupo y aprendizaje profundo para comprender el comportamiento potencial del turista espacial.Hallazgosla motivación extrínseca tiene el mayor impacto positivo en la intención de comportamiento, seguida de la conciencia y la confianza en la inteligencia artificial, mientras que la restricción intrapersonal afecta negativamente la intención de comportamiento. Sorprendentemente, la restricción interpersonal es insignificante por PLS-SEM, pero sigue siendo una de las configuraciones causales suficientes por fsQCA. Curiosamente, los dos tipos de turismo espacial tienen características muy distintas.Originalidad/valoreste trabajo creó un modelo de investigación integral integral con tres dimensiones de motivación, restricción e inteligencia artificial, junto con posibles grupos de turistas espaciales orbitales y suborbitales para identificar el comportamiento futuro del consumidor. Es importante destacar que este estudio empleó métodos de análisis múltiple utilizando cuatro enfoques diferentes para arrojar mejor luz sobre los posibles turistas espaciales orbitales y suborbitales.

Travel Constraints, Trust, Travel Motivation and Travel Intention :

The limitation of traveling refers to individual limitations; namely, interpersonal and intrapersonal constraints. However, trust shapes the traveler’s confidence to travel. Furthermore, travelers need motivation as their push factor to appeal their interest in traveling. This study aims to explore the relationship between travel constraints and trust on travel intention and travel motivation as the mediating variable. The sample was determined by using purposive sampling on Indonesia’s travelers who travelled during the Covid-19 pandemic, from March 2020 to February 2021 using online questionnaire. Results indicated that the intrapersonal constraint had positive effects on travel intention and travel motivation. On the other hand, interpersonal constraints and trust did not affect travel intention nor travel motivation. Therefore, the research results imply a positive contribution to the collaborative development theories between Theory Planned Behavior and those related in tourism sector. Leaders in tourism business sectors could plan their marketing strategies in a fast-changing pace in the world such as, the crises of Covid-19 pandemic to bring people’s motivation out in order to be interested in traveling again although with several terms and conditions after the human mobility was curtailed.

Elderly's intention and use behavior of urban parks: Planned behavior perspective

An urban park is a vital environment that promotes the elderly's physical, social and psychological health. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the influencing factors that could encourage the elderly's usage of urban parks. However, little attention has been paid to elderly's intention of using urban parks. This study applies the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand the relationship between elderly's intentions of using urban park and use behavior. According to the nature of the different activity types elderly people intended to do in urban parks, three sub-models are built based on the original TPB model, which are social, enjoyment and physical activity-based models. These models explore the influencing factors that may affect elderly's use of urban park under the three different intentions. This study employed focus group meetings and questionnaire surveys (N = 537) to collect data and applied structural equation modelling to test the proposed social, enjoyment and physical activity-based models. In addition, this study found that elderly's use behavior of public parks was significantly affected by their intention of using public parks. The use behavior was also directly associated with intrapersonal constraints (degree of liking) and structural constraint variables (available leisure time and physical accessibility). Meanwhile, use behavior is indirectly associated with intrapersonal constraint variables (elderly's perception to urban park) and interpersonal constraints (conflict of use with other groups) through the influence of their intentions of using public parks. Furthermore, physical accessibility may affect elderly's use behavior, but it has no effect on elderly's intention of using urban parks. The findings and proposed models provide theoretical and practical contributions to better understand elderly's use behavior of urban park to encourage healthy ageing in an urban dense city.

노년층과 영유아층의 여가제약에 대한 비교 연구

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the leisure constraints of seniors and preschoolers as vulnerable tourism groups. Numerous studies have been conducted on the vulnerable groups of the disabled and seniors, but there have been insufficient studies on the preschool age group. With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, leisure conditions are returning to pre-pandemic levels, necessitating research on tourism constraints for tourism-vulnerable groups.
 Methods: To determine the specific leisure constraints of senior citizens and preschoolers, in-depth interviews with 4 senior citizens and 4 preschoolers' caregivers were conducted and analyzed according to Crawford & Godbey's categories of leisure constraints(1987).
 Results: As a result of analyzing the seniors' and preschoolers' tourism constraints, unlike previous studies, there were no clear intrapersonal constraints in both groups, and both groups had a “negative perception of others” in terms of interpersonal constraints. Lack of customized leisure programs and lack of barrier-free facilities were cited as structural constraints for both seniors and preschoolers. Particularly, specific and detailed facility requirements were confirmed for the preschoolers compared to the seniors.
 Conclusion: This study was able to confirm the similarities and differences between the two groups by identifying the understudied tourism constraints of preschoolers and comparing them to those of seniors. Through this, it will serve as a foundation for providing a system that can be complemented in common by the two groups, as well as providing tourism constraints that can be tailored to each group.

Tourism Intention of People Susceptible to Covid-19 in The New Normal

COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a fundamental challenge to tourism, that is mobility. While research on tourism intention have been growing since the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lack of attention on discussion about people who face less opportunity for tourism due to their vulnerable physical conditions or people at-risk to COVID-19. Therefore, this research purported to reveal the influence of tourism constraints on tourism intention of people categorized as physically vulnerable to COVID-19 in the new normal era. Data collection was conducted through an online survey to citizens of Jakarta belonging to middle age and elderly group from end of June to September 2021. Multiple regression analysis with SPSS is used to test the relationship between tourism constraints and tourism intention, and analyze data of 337 respondents. The study showed that tourism intention of people at-risk from COVID-19 can be classified as high with intrapersonal constraints being the only significant constraints. This implies that the significant effect of intrapersonal constraints is not powerful enough to reduce the tourism intention of people susceptible to COVID-19.

Travel decision making during and after the COVID-2019 pandemic: Revisiting travel constraints, gender role, and behavioral intentions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply influenced the tourism and hospitality industry, and it has also reshaped people’s travel preferences and related behaviors. As a result, how prospective travelers perceive travel constraints and their effects on future travel behaviors may have changed to some extent. Besides, such perception arguably varies across gender. Therefore, this research examines the interplay between travel constraints, gender, and travel intentions for facilitating robust tourism recovery by revisiting the Leisure Constraints Model (LCM) from a gender perspective. Data were collected through a survey from 357 Malaysian prospective travelers. By conducting path analysis and multigroup analysis (MGA), it is found that structural and interpersonal constraints impose indirect effects on travel intentions (mediated by intrapersonal constraints), and gender moderating the effect of structural cost on intrapersonal constraints and effect of intrapersonal constraints on travel intentions. Based on these findings, this research provides theoretical and practical implications into how to adjust their marketing strategies and travel products during the era of “new normal” for tourism policy makers, destination marketers, and related businesses.

Beyond proximity: How subjective perceptions of enablers and constraints influence patterns of blue space recreation

Recreational blue space use generates important social benefits, that are supported by proximity to coastal and freshwater spaces. Yet, little research has explored different patterns of blue space use and how this is influenced by subjective perceptions about blue spaces. Here we draw on data from a representative survey of residents of South East Queensland (Australia) (N = 3128) to develop a typology of blue space use and quantify the frequency with which different types of blue spaces are used. We identified five distinct groups of blue space users: three frequent use groups, and two low use groups. Greater proximity to coastal areas which permit diverse types of activities supported all three frequent use groups, while greater distance from the coast limited low use groups. However, subjective perceptions about enablers and constraints also influenced use. For example, frequent exercisers and regular users do report constraints, but these tend to be related to place (suggesting structural constraints), and these groups also report high motivations. Non-users represented 13% of the sample, and reported low motivation, and high intrapersonal constraints such as not-belonging. Our findings suggest that behaviour patterns in and around waterways reflect both perceptions of the environment, and individual-level constraints that may transcend environmental context.

Participation Constraints of University Student-athletes in Selected Sports in Kenya

Participation in sports plays an important role in university students’ lives, such as the development of a healthy lifestyle and the promotion of education. However, there is low participation in sports in universities which may be due to various constraints experienced or perceived by university students. The purpose of this study was to examine constraints hindering university student-athletes participation in sports activities. The study used a cross-sectional survey design and questionnaires to collect data. Respondents were male (n=198) and female (n=191) student-athletes from public and private universities in Kenya, participating in six selected sports. T-tests and One-way analysis of variance were used to test hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicated that participation in sports was most affected by structural constraints and least affected by social-cultural constraints. There were significant differences between male and female student-athletes in regard to structural constraints, (t = -2.21, p=0.03) and interpersonal constraints t = 1.14, p = 0.02). There was a significant difference of private and public institutions with regard to structural (t = .39, p=0.01) and intrapersonal constraints (t = 0.69, p=0.03). Female students significantly experienced more constraints than male student-athletes. Student-athletes from public universities experienced more constraints than those from private universities. Universities should encourage students to use sports facilities by coming up with more facilities and a favorable environment. Secondly, Kenyan universities should put in place structured sports programs for student-athletes. University students’ perceptions about sports should be enhanced in order to reduce the constraints that hinder their participation in sports. A longitudinal study is recommended to investigate sports participation constraints of student-athletes throughout their campus life and thereafter.