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Abstract:The present study aims to investigate whether the psychometric results proposed by [1] for the Self-efficacy in the Sociocultural Sphere Scale replicate. The total sample was of 1545 subjects; 616 women and 929 men, first year students in the degrees offered at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, with an mean age of 18.21 years (SD = 0.73). The factorial structure of the questionnaire was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis shows that a two-factor structure is feasible and appropriate. The two-factor structure (Promotion of Culture and Cultural Identity), based on statistical and substantive criteria, has shown adequate fit indicators of reliability and validity. Furthermore, the results of the factor analysis conducted with subsamples, indicate the existence of strong evidence of the stability of the factor structure. Future research should replicate these findings in larger samples.

This paper focuses on comparing the motives for male and female Mexican university students engaging in physical exercise. The sample consisted of 455 participants; 237 women and 218 men with a mean age of 20.07 years (SD = 2.04) and 21.50 years (SD = 2.38) respectively. The approach adopted for this research was quantitative with a survey like descriptive design. Results from the multivariate analysis of variance, followed up by univariate analysis of variance, show that men exhibit a better motivational profile to engage in physical exercise. The encountered differences among female and male university students with respect to their motives in performing physical exercise suggest that when designing any type of intervention with the goal of improving motivational profiles, it is necessary to consider the variable gender. Future research should replicate these results in larger samples.