The relationship between perceived autonomy support, exercise regulations and behavioral intentions in women
Section snippets
Participants
Participants (n=232) were female students and staff enrolled in a team-based intramural physical activity event sponsored by a large Canadian university. They ranged in age from 17 to 31 (M=20.86 years; SD=2.21) and reported body mass index (BMI) values (M=22.14 Kg/m2; SD=2.33 Kg/m2) within the healthy range for this age cohort (American College of Sports Medicine, 1995). Participants indicated that they were exercising regularly (MMETS=53.79; SD=25.91) and at a level comparable with previous
Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations
Descriptive statistics (see Table 1) indicated that participants perceived their friends to be highly supportive of their exercise decisions and behaviors, endorsed autonomous regulations more strongly than either controlling regulations or amotivation, and were intent on exercising regularly over the next 4 months. These values are consistent with previous research that has examined the regulatory continuum in a physically active sample (Kowal and Fortier, 2000, Wilson, Rodgers and Fraser, 2002
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine SDT’s (Deci and Ryan, 1985, Ryan and Deci, 2000) proposition that social factors in the form of perceived autonomy support predict exercise regulations which, subsequently, exert a differential influence on behavioral intentions towards exercise. The results of this study make it apparent that perceived autonomy support from friends appears to underpin the tendency to endorse more autonomous exercise regulations which, in turn, are more strongly
Acknowledgements
Funding for this study was provided through a grant awarded to Dr. Wendy M. Rodgers by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the University of Alberta through both the Izaak Walton Killam and Andrew Stewart Memorial Scholarships. Our sincerest appreciation is extended to Pierre Dickner and Brain Gratrix (both with Campus Recreation at the University of Alberta) and their ‘Ironwoman’ staff for the
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