Culture in Physical Activity: The Contribution of Basic Psychological Needs and Goal Orientation

Duygu Gurleyik (), Celia K. Naivar Sen, Jennifer L. Etnier and Ibrahim H. Acar
Additional contact information
Duygu Gurleyik: Department of Psychology, Özyeğin University, Çekmeköy, Istanbul 34794, Turkey
Celia K. Naivar Sen: Department of Psychology, Özyeğin University, Çekmeköy, Istanbul 34794, Turkey
Jennifer L. Etnier: Department of Kinesiology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Ibrahim H. Acar: Department of Psychology, Özyeğin University, Çekmeköy, Istanbul 34794, Turkey

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: Numerous variables affect motivation in physical activity (PA) with culture being an understudied variable. Self-determination theory’s basic psychological needs (BPN) includes a combination of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in PA; however, cultural definitions pit autonomy and relatedness against each other. Thus, this study aims to investigate the moderating role of culture on relationships between BPN, goal orientations (ego, task) for PA, and PA behavior. A survey was implemented to 168 participants (109 females, 59 males; 92 Turks, 76 Americans) investigating students’ self-construal type, their basic psychological needs in exercise (BPNES), PA levels (Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire/GLTEQ), and goal orientation types (Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire/TEOSQ). Turks ( n = 92) and Americans ( n = 76) demonstrated distinct cultural differences in terms of the study variables. American students were more autonomous, task-oriented, and physically active than Turkish students. Results from the multi-group path analysis showed that there was a moderating role of culture between predictors (i.e., BPN Autonomy, BPN Relatedness, BPN Competence, Ego Orientation, and Task Orientation) and Physical Activity. Such that, the paths from predictors (i.e., BPNT Autonomy, BPNT Relatedness, BPNT Competence, Ego Orientation, and Task Orientation) to PA was not significant in Turkish cultural context. Results suggest that culturally tailored approaches to PA interventions are critical in supporting motivation for physical activity and further research is needed to explore different culturally relevant motivational drivers for PA among adults.

Keywords: physical activity; culture; autonomy; competence; relatedness; ego; task (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16691/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16691/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:16691-:d:1001039

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().