Although the benefits of exercise have been firmly established, numerous young people continue to engage in low levels of exercise. In studies of exercise behavior facilitators, exercise motivation has been mostly applied to eliciting an individual's exercise behavior. However, motivation is influenced by various factors and is unlikely to remain stable over time. Consequently, to ensure the sustained participation in exercise of young people, it’s significant to find more stable facilitators of exercise behaviors. This study, grounded in the "self-determined theory" and Schwartz’s personal values model, begins by focusing on a more stable behavioral determinant, personality—personal values—to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying exercise behavior. Method: 522 participants (193 Females and 329 Males; Mage = 19.32, SD = 1.02) in China were included. A three-wave longitudinal study design, which permitted relationship research, was adopted (T1 = personal values and exercise motivations, T2 = exercise intention, T3 = leisure-time exercise behavior). The “Revised Portrait Value Questionnaire” was used to measure personal values; the “Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2” was used to measure exercise; the “Exercise Intention Scale” was employed to measure exercise intention; the “Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire” was used to measure exercise behavior. All data were collected during regularly scheduled PE classes. Data analysis included computation of scale reliability, descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and a path analysis. Results revealed all the scales demonstrated good scale reliability (α = 0.78–0.93). The Structural equation modeling indicates a good model fit (RMSEA=0.051, CFI=0.910, TLI=0.90, SRMR=0.078). The results indicate that security-personal value can predict leisure-time exercise (β=0.059, p < 0.001) and identified regulation and exercise intention mediate this relationship. Achievement value can predict leisure-time exercise (β=0.089, p < 0.01). Introjected regulation and exercise intention mediate this relationship. Hedonism value can predict leisure-time exercise (β=0.143, p < 0.001). Intrinsic motivation and exercise intention mediate this relationship. Conformity-interpersonal value is not related to leisure-time exercise. Consistent with relevant literature, this study suggests that some personal values can predict exercise behaviors, and exercise motivation and intention can mediate this relationship. Since most research focuses on short-term predictors such as motivation of exercise behavior, this examined more stable psychological variables capable of predicting exercise behavior, thus enriching the theoretical discourse on personal values and exercise behaviors, while providing practical insights for intervention strategies.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.