Motivation in sport and exercise: a comparison between the BRSQ and BREQ

Abstract

This study aimed to test whether the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire and the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire can measure the same constructs in an equivalent manner. Advanced statistical procedures were used to examine if these scales could be interchangeably applied to the sport and the exercise context. In total, 2256 individuals (athletes = 1099; exercisers = 1157) completed translated and validated questionnaires measuring all types of motivation based on Self-Determination Theory. Several measurement models were tested, such as confirmatory factor models, exploratory structural equation models, and bifactor specifications. The exploratory structural equation modelling approach provided the best fit to the data in both groups. Multigroup analysis was performed within samples and between athletes and exercisers. Measurement model invariance was confirmed between samples from the same context; however, it did not achieve equivalence between scales. We hope this examination of context invariance analysis using specific validated scales can further help advance conceptual understanding of the measurement in sport and exercise.

Relationships among behavioural regulations, physical activity, and mental health pre- and during COVID–19 UK lockdown

“…A unidimensional index of the degree of self-determination (i.e., the Relative Autonomy Index) was not calculated due to a range of theoretical and statistical concerns (see Chemolli & Gagné, 2014 ). The BREQ-3 has demonstrated both construct validity and internal consistency ( Rodrigues et al, 2020 ).…”

Validity and reliability evidence for the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire with Romanian professional athletes

“…To measure motivation toward sport, several SDT-based instruments were developed at the international level over the last decades ( Clancy, Herring & Campbell, 2017 ); however, there are no scales to date that assess motivation in the Romanian sport setting. Taking into consideration that the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ; Lonsdale, Hodge & Rose, 2008 ) constitutes the most broadly used instrument in judging the athletes’ perception of motivation toward sport ( Clancy, Herring & Campbell, 2017 ; Rodrigues et al, 2020 ), the purpose of this study was to adapt and to examine the psychometric properties of the BRSQ using a sample of Romanian professional athletes.…”

Health Promotion as a Motivational Factor in Alpine Cycling

“…SDT is frequently used to understand motivation in the fields of sports and exercise [ 33 , 39 , 40 ]. It is one of the most important theoretical approaches towards the study of motivation [ 41 , 42 ] and is used, among others, to investigate the motivation to exercise of different groups of people [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], to investigate the characteristics of exercise goals [ 39 , 48 ], and, more generally, to study the motives for sports and exercise [ 40 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. According to the SDT, experiencing competence or achievement (competence), personal/social connection (relatedness), and autonomy are drivers for high-quality motivation and are considered as “basic psychological needs” [ 50 , 53 , 54 ].…”

“…Competence relates to feeling able to actively interact with the environment and achieve a desired goal [ 55 ]; relatedness concerns the desire for social interaction, while autonomy refers to the ability to autonomously and freely decide what is best for oneself [ 55 ]. Building on the basic needs, the SDT locates motivation on a continuum between intrinsic motivation and amotivation [ 33 , 42 , 56 ]. The former is defined as doing an activity because of its inherent satisfaction or enjoyment, leading to the highest degree of motivation, and the latter as the lack of any kind of motivation to engage in an activity [ 42 , 50 ].…”

“…Building on the basic needs, the SDT locates motivation on a continuum between intrinsic motivation and amotivation [ 33 , 42 , 56 ]. The former is defined as doing an activity because of its inherent satisfaction or enjoyment, leading to the highest degree of motivation, and the latter as the lack of any kind of motivation to engage in an activity [ 42 , 50 ]. Between the two extremes lies extrinsic motivation, subdivided into four types of behavioral regulation along a continuum from non-autonomous to fully autonomous forms: (1) external, a type of regulation with low autonomy, which indicates an activity that is performed only because of external rewards or to satisfy the needs of others; (2) introjected, indicating an activity performed to avoid experiencing guilt or shame relating to internal pressures; (3) identified, related to an activity performed because of the benefits associated with it; (4) integrated, the most autonomous form, associated with an activity performed because the reasons underlying it have been integrated into the individual itself [ 42 , 50 , 56 , 57 , 58 ].…”