Motives for Physical Activity for College Students? Level of Motivation in Physical Activity

Samuel Joseph Bebeley, Wu Yi-gang, Yang Liu

Abstract: Background Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles, which when undertaken regularly improves physiological and psychological health. This study only aimed at measuring, evaluating and scoring motives for physical activity for college students level of motivation in physical activity. Methods Motives for Physical Activity-Revised Questionnaire (MPA-RQ), was adopted as survey instrument. The variables were analyzed using IBM-SPSS-Version-23 Statistics, with a sampled size of 500 participants with a response rate of 100 % and a mean and standard deviation age of (28.59.5) ranged from (19-38) years selected using simple random sampling. Results A significant difference was recorded for all tested variables in the results with competence scoring highest [F = 100.832 with sig. (0.001), t = 7.315 with 2-tailed sig. (<0.001)] and fitness scoring lowest [F = 6.319 with sig. (.012), t = -2.514 with 2-tailed sig. (.012)] in tables 3, 4 & 5 respectively. The results were tested @ significance of p<0.05. Conclusion and Recommendation It was concluded that greater majority of participants responded more in favour of competence followed by interest/enjoyment. Nonetheless, it was strongly recommended that a mandatory course in physical literacy be instituted for all college students before graduation to help improve their motivational level in physical activity.

Keywords: Motivation, Physical Activity, Physical Education and Physical Fitness

How to Cite?: Samuel Joseph Bebeley, Wu Yi-gang, Yang Liu, "Motives for Physical Activity for College Students? Level of Motivation in Physical Activity", Volume 6 Issue 5, May 2017, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 2377-2382, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=ART20173838, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/ART20173838