Social Support and Social Norms: Do Both Contribute to Predicting Leisure-time Exercise?

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the contribution of social support and social norms to exercise behavior. METHODS: A sample of 363 college students completed a questionnaire that assessed social support and social negativity from friends, descriptive and injunctive social norms related to friends, perceived behavioral control, attitude, intention, and leisure-time exercise. RESULTS: Esteem social support was the strongest predictor of total and strenuous leisure-time exercise (P < .001), and descriptive norm was a significant (P < .01 predictor of strenuous leisure-time exercise. CONCLUSION: Social support and social norms contribute independently to our understanding of variation in the frequency of strenuous leisure-time exercise.