The Psychosocial Factors of Physical Activity Levels among Malaysian College Students

HRMARS - This study examined the relationships between psychosocial factors specifically psychological motivation and social support and physical activity levels among students at the Poly-Tech College (KPTM) Kuantan, a private tertiary institution in Malaysia. A cross-sectional correlational design was used, with (N = 242) students where (n = 88) male; (n = 154) female aged 18 to 24 years were recruited across five diploma programmes via stratified random sampling. The Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale – Malay version (PALMS-M), the Malay Version of the Social Support Scale for Exercise and Physical Environment, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) were administered electronically via Google Forms. The Pearson correlations were computed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26, with significance set at p ? .05. Among eight motivation subscales, mastery (r = .145, p = .024), physical condition (r = .187, p = .003), enjoyment (r = .190, p = .003), and psychological condition (r = .184, p = .004) demonstrated statistically significant small positive correlations with IPAQ metabolic equivalent of task (MET) scores. Of three social support subscales, only friend support yielded a significant positive correlation (r = .130, p = .040). Family and physical environment support were not significantly associated with physical activity. Intrinsic, health-related motivation and peer social support appear to be the primary psychosocial correlates of physical activity in this private college setting, pointing toward peer-centred wellness programming as a practical campus-level intervention strategy.