Examining the Relationship Between Participation Motivation in Recreational Activities and Exercise Addiction

This study investigates the relationship between motivation for participation in recreational activities and exercise addiction among university students. The study group consisted of 304 students enrolled in a faculty of sports sciences. Data were collected using the recreational activity participation motivation scale and the exercise addiction scale. Since the data did not meet the assumption of normal distribution, non-parametric statistical tests were used. The analysis revealed a weak but statistically significant positive relationship between recreational motivation and exercise addiction (r = .28, p < .001). In addition, male students had higher scores than female students in both recreational motivation and exercise addiction. Students who reported regular exercise also had higher scores on both variables compared with those who did not exercise regularly. These results indicate that motivation for recreational activity may be associated with stronger continuity in exercise behavior. However, when exercise becomes excessive or difficult to control, this continuity may also create a potential risk for exercise addiction. Cite this article as: Yonal, M., Erduran, M. M., Özlü, M., & Seleciler, C. (2026). Examining the relationship between participation motivation in recreational activities and exercise addiction. Research in Sports Science, 16, 0033, doi:10.5152/rss.2026.26033.