Viewing exercise goal content through a person-oriented lens: A self-determination perspective

Magnus Lindwall*, Karin Weman-Josefsson, Simon J Sebire, Martyn Standage

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)
390 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The present study examined profiles of exercise goal content and the associations with need satisfaction, motivation regulation and exercise behavior, combining variable-centered and person-centered analytical approaches. The participants were 1084 (279 men and 805 women) Swedish adults, aged between 18 and 78 years, that were all active members of an Internet-based exercise program. Latent profile analysis (LPA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data. In SEM analysis intrinsic goals were related to need satisfaction and autonomous motivation, whereas extrinsic goals were most strongly associated with controlled motivation. LPA revealed five unique latent classes of goal content. These five classes differed in need satisfaction, motivation regulation and exercise behavior, with classes being characterized by more intrinsic goal profiles reporting higher need satisfaction and autonomous motivation. The results are discussed from a self-determination theory perspective and the benefits of using both variable and person-centered analytical approaches are highlighted.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)85-92
Number of pages8
JournalPsychology of Sport and Exercise
Volume27
Early online date27 Jun 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2016

Keywords

  • Goal content
  • Exercise
  • Latent profiles
  • Need satisfaction
  • Self-determination

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