A Greater Intrinsic, but Not External, Motivation Toward Physical Activity Is Associated With a Lower Sitting Time

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Public Health
• Exercise Physiology

Background:

• Reducing sedentary behavior and increasing physical activity are crucial for health.
• Exercise interventions often fail to decrease sitting time concurrently with increasing physical activity.
• Motivation quality may explain the disconnect between exercise and sitting time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between quality of motivation for physical activity and both physical activity levels and sitting time.
• To identify specific motivational styles that correlate with reduced sedentary behavior.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 373 adults (ages 23-81).
• Assessed physical activity and sitting time using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).
• Measured exercise motivation using the Self-Regulated Questionnaire-Exercise (SRQ-E), analyzing intrinsic, identified, introjected, and external regulation styles via Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

Main Results:

• Only intrinsic motivation predicted both higher physical activity and lower sitting time.
• Higher intrinsic motivation was directly associated with increased physical activity and decreased sitting time.
• Physical activity mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and reduced sitting time.

Conclusions:

• Targeting intrinsic motivation for physical activity may be an effective strategy to simultaneously increase exercise and reduce sitting time.
• This approach holds potential for greater health benefits compared to interventions focusing solely on increasing physical activity.
• Intrinsic motivation is a critical factor in addressing both physical activity and sedentary behavior.