Abstract
Background: Drawing from the theories of self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985), this study examined how intrinsic and extrinsic motives affect Norwegian adolescents’ participation in organized sports and their stamina for exercising relative to gender. We also investigated which motives can predict exercising/training, and whether this is influenced by gender. Material/Method: 368 students (male, 51%; female 49%) aged between 16 and 18 years completed a standardized questionnaire “Motives for Physical Activity Measure – Revised (MPAM-R)”. The main effects were followed up using one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA). To analyze the relationship between the dependent variable "sustained exercise" and the independent variables "intrinsic motives", "gender", and "age", we conducted a multiple regression analysis. Results: Our results showed that Norwegian girls have higher scores on intrinsic motives for sports participation than boys, and that boys have higher scores on more extrinsic motives. We also determined that girls are more active in organized sports and exercise more than boys. Conclusions: Intrinsic motives, such as interest/enjoyment and competence, were found to influence sustained exercise in adolescents, but gender had no influence.
Recommended Citation
Jakobsen AM, Evjen E. Gender differences in motives for participation in sports and exercise among Norwegian adolescents. Balt J Health Phys Act. 2018; 10(2): 92-101. doi: 10.29359/BJHPA.10.2.10
DOI
10.29359/BJHPA.10.2.10
Author ORCID Identifier
Arne Jakobsen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7427-5723
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
