Zhang Shuai, Miao Chenglong
Department of Leisure Sports, Kangwon National University, Samcheok 25913, Republic of Korea.
Institute of Sport Psychology Techniques and Training, Kangwon National University, Samcheok 25913, Republic of Korea.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Jun 2;15(6):763. doi: 10.3390/bs15060763.
Although the benefits of regular physical activity are widely recognized, many university students fail to sustain consistent exercise behaviors. This phenomenon may be attributed to cognitive and motivational barriers, particularly perceptions of goal attainability and attribution styles, which are believed to significantly influence students' health beliefs and intentions to engage in physical activity. This research aimed to examine the independent and combined effects of goal attainability and attribution style on Chinese university students' health beliefs and willingness to exercise. The study also investigated how shifts in attribution style may influence these outcomes under different levels of goal attainability. Two between-subjects experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1 (N = 146), a 2 (goal attainability: high vs. low) × 2 (attribution style: internal vs. external) design was used. Participants were exposed to tailored exercise advertisements and completed standardized questionnaires measuring health beliefs and exercise intentions. Experiment 2 (N = 130) adopted a 2 (goal attainability: high vs. low) × 2 (attributional shift: external-to-internal vs. internal-to-external) design, utilizing visual priming and short video interventions to manipulate attributional orientation. In Experiment 1, both high goal attainability and internal attribution independently enhanced participants' health beliefs and exercise willingness. A significant interaction effect was observed only for exercise willingness, with the highest intentions found in the high attainability × internal attribution group. In Experiment 2, shifting attribution from external to internal significantly increased both health beliefs and exercise willingness, while shifting from internal to external resulted in substantial decreases. An interaction effect was again found only for exercise willingness, suggesting that the effectiveness of attributional shift depended on goal attainability. By integrating the Health Belief Model with Attribution Theory, this study offers a deeper understanding of how cognitive and motivational factors influence exercise behavior, and provides a theoretical foundation for developing adaptive interventions.
尽管经常进行体育活动的益处已得到广泛认可，但许多大学生未能保持持续的锻炼行为。这种现象可能归因于认知和动机障碍，尤其是对目标可实现性的认知和归因方式，据信这些因素会显著影响学生的健康信念和参与体育活动的意愿。本研究旨在探讨目标可实现性和归因方式对中国大学生健康信念和锻炼意愿的独立影响及综合影响。该研究还调查了在不同目标可实现性水平下，归因方式的转变如何影响这些结果。进行了两项被试间实验。在实验1（N = 146）中，采用了2（目标可实现性：高 vs. 低）× 2（归因方式：内部 vs. 外部）的设计。参与者观看了量身定制的锻炼广告，并完成了测量健康信念和锻炼意愿的标准化问卷。实验2（N = 130）采用了2（目标可实现性：高 vs. 低）× 2（归因转变：外部到内部 vs. 内部到外部）的设计，利用视觉启动和短视频干预来操纵归因取向。在实验1中，高目标可实现性和内部归因都独立增强了参与者的健康信念和锻炼意愿。仅在锻炼意愿方面观察到显著的交互作用，在高可实现性×内部归因组中锻炼意愿最高。在实验2中，将归因从外部转变为内部显著增加了健康信念和锻炼意愿，而从内部转变为外部则导致大幅下降。同样仅在锻炼意愿方面发现了交互作用，表明归因转变的有效性取决于目标可实现性。通过将健康信念模型与归因理论相结合，本研究更深入地理解了认知和动机因素如何影响锻炼行为，并为开发适应性干预措施提供了理论基础。
