The relationship among college students' social support, exercise motivation, and physical exercise behavior: a...

This study examines the dynamic relationship among social support, exercise motivation, and physical exercise behavior, and tests the longitudinal mediating role of exercise motivation between social support and subsequent exercise behavior.

Using Jiangxi Normal University as the sample institution, a three-wave cross-lagged model was employed, with measurements taken every six months (T1, T2, T3); the final matched sample comprised 576 participants. Measurements were taken using the Social Support Scale, the Exercise Motivation Scale and the Physical Activity Level Scale.

The findings indicate that: (1) there are significant correlations between social support, exercise motivation and physical exercise behavior, both within and across time periods; (2) Cross-lagged analysis revealed that, across every two consecutive waves, there were significant bidirectional positive longitudinal associations between social support, exercise motivation and physical exercise behavior; (3) The results of the mediation analysis showed that social support at T1 had no significant direct predictive effect on physical exercise behavior at T3 [β = 0.006, 95% CI (-0.091, 0.103), p = 0.903]; however, it exerted a significant positive indirect effect on physical exercise behavior at T3 via exercise motivation at T2 [β = 0.019, 95% CI (0.006, 0.032), p = 0.004].

These findings suggest that external support can only lead to sustained behavioral change when it is internalized as intrinsic motivation. Consequently, interventions should prioritize stimulating and maintaining exercise motivation, whilst making full use of the mutually reinforcing feedback loop between social support and exercise motivation, in order to achieve sustainable changes in health behaviors.