Sheng Jiazhi, Ariffin Indang Ariati Binti, Tham Jacquline
Laboratory of Sports and Health Promotion, School of Physical Education, Sichuan University of Arts and Science, Dazhou, China.
Post Graduate Centre, Management & Science University, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 7;15(1):11888. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-95704-5.
This study examined the relationships among exercise motivation, exercise self-efficacy, and physical activity rating, as well as the role of exercise self-efficacy in the above relationship. A survey was conducted among 362 college students (aged 19.0 ± 0.8 years, 185 males and 177 females) from a Chinese college using exercise motivation, self-efficacy, and physical activity assessment scales. The results revealed significant sex differences in exercise motivation, self-efficacy, and physical activity scores. Structural equation analysis revealed that ability motivation had a direct effect, accounting for 41.5% of the total effect, while the mediating effect of exercise self-efficacy accounted for 58.5%. Exercise self-efficacy has been proven to be a key predictor of physical activity in both general analysis and gender stratification analysis. From the results of path analysis, in the overall sample and the male group, the influence intensity of each variable on physical activity is the direct effect of exercise self-efficacy, the mediating effect of exercise self-efficacy and the direct effect of ability motivation. However, different influence patterns were observed in female groups: the direct effect of exercise self-efficacy still ranked first, followed by the direct effect of ability motivation, and finally, the mediating effect of exercise self-efficacy. This finding suggests that gender may be an important variable regulating the relationship between exercise self-efficacy and physical activity. Based on the above findings, this study emphasizes that gender-specific strategies should be adopted when formulating intervention programs for physical activity promotion: for male groups, it should focus on strengthening the cultivation of exercise self-efficacy, while for female groups, it should also focus on the improvement of ability motivation and the establishment of self-efficacy. This study provides an important empirical basis for improving the theory of health behavior promotion.
本研究考察了运动动机、运动自我效能感和身体活动水平之间的关系，以及运动自我效能感在上述关系中的作用。采用运动动机、自我效能感和身体活动评估量表，对中国某高校的362名大学生（年龄19.0±0.8岁，男生185名，女生177名）进行了调查。结果显示，在运动动机、自我效能感和身体活动得分上存在显著的性别差异。结构方程分析表明，能力动机具有直接效应，占总效应的41.5%，而运动自我效能感的中介效应占58.5%。在总体分析和性别分层分析中，运动自我效能感均被证明是身体活动的关键预测因素。从路径分析结果来看，在总体样本和男性组中，各变量对身体活动的影响强度依次为运动自我效能感的直接效应、运动自我效能感的中介效应和能力动机的直接效应。然而，在女性组中观察到了不同的影响模式：运动自我效能感的直接效应仍居首位，其次是能力动机的直接效应，最后是运动自我效能感的中介效应。这一发现表明，性别可能是调节运动自我效能感与身体活动之间关系的一个重要变量。基于上述研究结果，本研究强调，在制定促进身体活动的干预方案时应采取针对性别的策略：对于男性组，应注重加强运动自我效能感的培养，而对于女性组，则还应注重能力动机的提升和自我效能感的建立。本研究为完善健康行为促进理论提供了重要的实证依据。
