The Influence of the Social Context on Motivation towards the Practice of Physical Activity and the Intention to be Physically Active

Abstract

According to WHO data, only around 20% of adolescents participate in physical activity (PA) during their free time. The social context can act as a support for adolescents to do PA, given the effect that both parents, friends and teachers have on young people’s behaviour owing to the large amount of time and influence they have on them. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the role of the social context on adolescents’ motivation to practise PA and their intention to be physically active. This study involved the participation of students in compulsory and post-compulsory secondary education. Several statistical analyses were performed, including three confirmatory factorial analyses of the scales and a structural equations model that explains the causal relationships between the variables. The results showed how support for autonomy in the social context positively predicts autonomous motivation, whereas the psychological control of the social context negatively predicts it. Autonomous motivation positively predicted intent, attitude, behavioural control and subjective norms, and consequently, the practice of physical activity. In short, the study showed how the three validated scales have adequate goodness-of-fit indices while the structural equations model demonstrated the influence of the social context on the student’s motivational processes and the adoption of active life habits.

Interactions with Home and Health Environments Discourage Physical Activity: Reports from Children with Complex Congenital Heart Disease and Their Parents

“…Interactions with a supportive social environment and mastery experiences were perceived as facilitating physical activity [ 19 ]. These findings align with theories that describe how behaviour is influenced by social interactions and interpersonal environments [ 21 ]. Interactions that support the individual’s autonomy (e.g., mastery experiences) will increase the desired behaviour while those that are controlling (e.g., authoritarian style) will decrease motivation and enjoyment.…”

“…Young adults with CCHD have reported feelings of uncertainty, being different, and a lack of knowledge about the impact of their diagnosis, which was in part attributed to their exclusion from discussions between their parents and healthcare providers. Although it is recognized that the activity environments differ between children (e.g., school-based activities, lessons) and adults [ 37 ], the importance of motivation and competence have also been recognized in relation to the physical activity of adolescents with CCHD [ 19 , 21 ]. Children in this study were 6 to 12 years of age and thus differed in relation to their autonomy for physical activity participation and their capacity to interpret their experiences and interactions with their social environment.…”

Composición e invarianza factorial del cuestionario MIFA en adolescentes deportistas y no deportistas

“…Sin embargo, el cambio de comportamiento no es un proceso fácil; y el aumento de la actividad física es particularmente desafiante debido a que existen varias barreras que impiden la práctica de actividad física, así como diversas influencias que promueven el comportamiento sedentario (Chambliss, 2015): la tecnología por ejemplo ha revolucionado la forma en que opera nuestro mundo, y en consecuencia los estilos de vida de las personas (Toto y Strazzeri, 2018); por otro lado, el contexto social puede actuar como apoyo para que los adolescentes realicen actividad física, dado el efecto que tanto padres como amigos y profesores tienen en el comportamiento de los jóvenes debido al tiempo que pasan con ellos y la influencia que puedan ejercer (Trigueros, Aguilar-Parra, Cangas, Fernández-Batanero y Álvarez, 2019). Y es aquí donde la teoría de la autodeterminación juega un papel importante, la cual se describe como una macroteoria de la motivación humana, la emoción y la personalidad, que proporciona una comprensión del por qué las personas inician y persisten en los comportamientos (Deci & Ryan, 2011); dicha teoría se ha aplicado con éxito en una amplia variedad de contextos, incluida la ecología, la psicoterapia, el trabajo, la educación, el ejercicio y los deportes (Haerens et al, 2010).…”

Detrimental Effect of Perceived Controlling Behavior from Physical Education Teachers on Students’ Leisure-Time Physical Activity Intentions and Behavior: An Application of the Trans-Contextual Model

“…The previous research that adopted the trans-contextual model have thus exclusively focused on the role of perceived positive behavior from PE teachers on students’ learning outcomes, both in a PE and leisure-time physical activity context. There are only a few studies that have demonstrated the unfavorable role of perceived negative behavior from PE teachers on students’ leisure-time physical activity [ 25 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. To the best of our knowledge, however, no studies to date have applied the entire motivational sequence proposed in the trans-contextual model in investigating the relationship between perceived negative (i.e., controlling) behavior exhibited by teachers in an educational context (i.e., PE context) and students’ actual participation in physical activity outside of school.…”