Background of the Study
In the Background of the study, the authors begin by listing the benefits of exercise in preventing lifestyle diseases as well as depression. They write that adults need an hour of exercise every day, and that vigorous exercise is even better than moderate exercise in that it reduces the percentage of body fat, reduces the impact of diabetes and hypertension. The regularity of physical activity also has a great impact on the benefits that accrue to exercisers. The writers indicate that motivation has a positive relationship with physical activity levels.
The study is based on the Self Determination Theory or SDT, a theory that focuses on the relationship between human motivation and autonomy – or self determination. Basically, the more motivated a person is, the more their behavior is self determined. The theory places human motivation on a continuum with varying degrees of autonomy.
Limitation of the Study
Exercise frequency, intensity and duration have not yet been investigated within a single study, according to the authors. The authors also cite lack of standard measure of integrated regulation as a limitation. All the data was based on participants self reporting. This means that there could be some margin of error that can be corrected in future. The sample was also mainly made up of undergraduate students, a factor that may have some bearing on the results.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose was to examine the relationships between frequency intensity and duration and the various behavioral regulations according to the SDT framework.
The researchers hypothesized that exercise frequency intensity and duration would all be closest related to autonomous regulation and intrinsic motivation.
Research Methods
1054 volunteers participated in the study. 460 were male and 594 were female. All had been exercising regularly for six months. 75% of respondents were students. Researchers administered a Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire indicating how many times participants engaged in mild, moderate and strenuous activity every week. Researchers also used the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire which gauges intrinsic regulators, identified regulators, introjected, external and amotivated regulators.
Important Findings of the Study
The researchers found that for both males and females, regulations had a positive effect on the frequency of exercise. They also found that people exercise for longer perids of time when they feel that it is relevant to their identity. Basically the researchers’ initially hypotheses were confirmed.
The Importance of these Research Findings
People who value the results of exercise probably do integrate exercise into their sense of identity. The research shows that people who exercise regularly have built regular exercise into their sense of personal identity. These research findings are important because they have measured all the motives proposed by SDT, allowing researchers to compare the relative power of different motivators.
Why the Findings of This Study Relate to Sports Psychology
This study is important to sports psychology because it has brought together the three measures that is intensity, duration and frequency in the same study hopefully setting a trend. Further, it has shown that integrated regulation can be a good predictor of regular physical activity.
Sports psychologists therefore should devote more of their attention to helping their charges to make exercise part of their value systems and sense of identity.
These findings have also shown that there are some differences between men and women. For example only women showed a tendency to exercise with more intensity out of obligation. For men, obligation was not a major motivation.
Works Cited
Duncan, Lindsay R., Craig R. Hall, Phillip M. Wilson, and Jenny O. Exercise Motivation: a Cross-sectional Analysis Examining its Relationships with Frequency, Intensity and Duration of Exercise. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. (2010): 7:7 http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/7/1/7
