A serial path model between autonomous motivation, behavioral intention, action planning, and after school physical activity of university students participating in Physical Education classes

Abstract

University students in the international regions show reduced physical activity levels compared to previous generations. Lack of physical activity in college population is a growing problem of modern society because over half of the population is faced with serious health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. An emphasis point of physical activity research is to get detailed information of motivational process for engaging in physical activity. This study tested a serial path model that the relationship between autonomous motivation and after school physical activity was proposed to be mediated by behavioral intention and the existence of action planning. A total of 203 students participating in physical education classes of two universities located at a metropolitan city in South Korea were selected. The participants completed four well-validated questionnaires at the end of the classes in one semester. The results of data analyzed using a structural equation modeling revealed that after school physical activity could be positively advanced by the sequential mediation effects of behavioral intention and action planning if students were internalized with autonomous motivation in the physical education classes. The findings highlighted that the action planning played as an effective strategy in leading to engagement in after school physical activity and provided useful information for university physical educators to increase physical activity levels of university students during out of school hours.

High-School Students’ Continuous Engagement in Taekwondo Activity

“…The effect size (i.e., R 2 = 0.55) of the study result was greater than or at a similar level to the effect sizes of the previous studies mentioned above. In line with the previous studies, grounded on the postulation of SDT, the results of the present study indicate if high-school students meet the sense of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) during Taekwondo training activities, it leads to positive attitudes and performances, such as effort, confidence, and perseverance through internal impetus (e.g., interest, enjoyment, and satisfaction) (Yang, 2020).…”

“…Regarding effectively drawing students' development through participation in physical activity, researchers in the physical education field (including Taekwondo) have insisted that understanding their motivational processes is important because motivation is deeply associated with predictive or contributing factors drawing positive outcomes (Mata et al, 2021;Xiang et al, 2020;Yang, 2020). In particular, many researchers from physical education and activity areas have asserted that comprehending why and how students participate in physical activity is necessary to better engage them in regular physical activity and further facilitate long-term physical activity behaviors (Yang, 2020(Yang, , 2021. There is also growing evidence that self-determined motivational processes measured in physical activity settings are related to positive attitude, increased effort, better performance, and continuous engagement (Liu et al, 2020).…”