Department for Health, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, UK.
Br J Health Psychol. 2012 Sep;17(3):536-50. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8287.2011.02053.x. Epub 2011 Sep 28.
The present study explored factors that underpin increased internalization (i.e., perceived autonomy) in motivation towards exercise over a 1-year period in adolescent girls.
A mixed methods prospective study.
A total of 107 girls (mean age = 13.28 years) reported their exercise behaviour, exercise goals, and a multidimensional measure of motivation towards exercise on two occasions, 1 year apart. Ten girls reporting increased autonomous motivation were then interviewed.
Two themes were extracted; growing up and seeking challenge. Most participants reported being more interested in exercising for their health as a result of growing up, through having greater understanding of the health-behaviour link and willingness to act now for future health gain. However, their motivation appeared to be only partially internalized, as health was still viewed primarily as a value promoted by respected others (parents, teachers, media). Furthermore, as many girls conflated being healthy with being thin, health for appearance-related weight control was experienced as an extrinsic (controlling) goal. The second theme was more suggestive of autonomous motivation; girls reported valuing exercise for the opportunity it provides to set and achieve personally meaningful challenges, facilitating a sense of competence and achievement.
The findings may have a useful application in suggesting how exercise settings could be manipulated to increase enjoyment and participation during adolescence. In particular, the findings suggest that means of increasing the salience of the rewarding nature of setting and reaching personal challenges in an exercise setting are investigated.
本研究旨在探讨在 1 年内促进青少年女孩对运动的内在动机（即感知自主性）增强的因素。
一项混合方法前瞻性研究。
共有 107 名女孩（平均年龄=13.28 岁）在两次相隔 1 年的时间里报告了她们的运动行为、运动目标和多维运动动机测量。然后对 10 名报告自主性动机增强的女孩进行了访谈。
提取出两个主题：成长和寻求挑战。大多数参与者表示，由于成长过程中对健康行为的联系有了更深入的理解，并且愿意为未来的健康获益而现在就采取行动，因此对为健康而运动更感兴趣。然而，她们的动机似乎只是部分内在化，因为健康仍然主要被视为受人尊敬的他人（父母、老师、媒体）所推崇的价值观。此外，由于许多女孩将健康与苗条混为一谈，因此为了保持外表相关的体重控制而健康被视为一种外在（控制）目标。第二个主题更能说明自主性动机；女孩们表示，她们重视运动，因为它提供了一个设定和实现个人有意义的挑战的机会，从而增强了能力感和成就感。
这些发现可能有助于建议如何操纵运动环境，以增加青少年在运动中的享受和参与度。特别是，研究表明，应该调查增加运动环境中设定和实现个人挑战的奖励性质的方法。
