Exercise Motivational Factors and College Students

Background/Purpose: The benefits of exercise are well documented as it can help control weight, keep muscle strong, mange health problems. Although the benefits of exercise for college students are well identified, only half of them regularly participate in exercise (Schoenhoen, Adams, &Peregoy, 2013). The purpose of this study is to determine the primary motivational factors for participating in exercise among college students. Furthermore, research was conducted to determine if these motivational factors are different based on demographic such as a sex and classification.

Method: A convenience sample was taken at a university in the southwestern United States. A total of 110 college students between the ages of 18-27 participated in the survey (48 males and 62 females). Participants completed a survey comprising the Exercise Motivation Inventory – 2 (EMI - 2) and were asked to identify sex and classification. 51 exercise motivation questions were measured on a six-point Likert type scale (1=not at all true for me…6=very true for me). These questions  were integrated to 14 exercise motivational factors as means to determine what exercise motivational factors were thought by college students to be the strongest factors to participate in exercise (Markland, 1997).

Analysis/Results: Mean scores indicated that the two strongest factors were ‘positive health (4.95)’ and ‘strength & endurance (4.84), while the two weakest factors were ‘health pressures (2.97)’ and ‘affiliation (3.29)’ among 14 exercise motivational factors. ANOVA was performed for data analysis to examine the effects of age and classification on exercise motivational factors. The results revealed statistically significant differences between ‘competitions [F(1, 107)=4.95; p=.028]’, ‘ill-health avoidance[F(1, 107)=4.17; p=.044]’ and ‘weight management[F(1, 107)=14.02; p=.000]’ (p<.05) of the exercise motivational factors and sex of participants. Female students had higher in 11 exercise motivational factors than males, while male students had higher factors in 3 categories (competition, affiliation and social recognition). Only ‘affiliation [F(4, 105)=3.24; p=.015]’ was statistically significant with classification of college students.

Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that college students may have more incentive to participate in exercise activities if an appropriate exercise program is provided. Additionally, female subjects seem to be more motivated by appearance and general wellness, while males might be more socially motivated. The findings of this research are significant to practitioners that enable college students to have more enjoyable exercise activities throughout more sufficient programs.