Self-efficacy versus perceived enjoyment as predictors of physical activity behaviour

Abstract

Objective Self-efficacy and physical activity (PA) enjoyment are related to PA behavior, but it is unclear which is more important and how they interrelate. The purpose of this study was to examine how these two constructs interrelate to influence PA behavior. Design Participants were low active adults (n=448) participating in a RCT examining the effect of a PA promotion intervention. Participants completed physical activity, enjoyment, and self-efficacy measures at baseline, six, and 12 months. Results Self-efficacy and enjoyment at both baseline and six months predicted PA at 12 months. However, enjoyment was a stronger predictor than self-efficacy in that self-efficacy no longer predicted PA behavior when included alongside enjoyment. In follow-up mediation analyses, enjoyment at six months did not mediate the effect of baseline self-efficacy on 12-month PA; however, six-month self-efficacy mediated the effect of baseline enjoyment on 12-month PA. Conclusion Our results indicate that interventions should perhaps initially focus on increasing enjoyment of physical activity. Greater PA enjoyment appears to influence individuals’ self-reported ability to engage in regular PA (i.e., higher self-efficacy ratings). Additional research is needed to better understand the interrelationships between self-efficacy and enjoyment and how these constructs affect PA.

Changes in enjoyment, self-efficacy, and motivation during a randomized trial to promote habitual physical activity adoption in bariatric surgery patients

“…This study extends those findings by demonstrating that PAI also facilitates enhancement of psychological/motivational processes underlying PA behavior including PA enjoyment, self-efficacy, and autonomous motivation (14–16) .…”

“…Sessions lasted 30–45 minutes and included the following objectives/tasks: review participants' PA self-monitoring records and progress toward goals; problem-solve barriers to PAI goals; teach strategies to achieve PAI goals; set weekly bout-related walking exercise and step goals; develop a daily action plan for achieving goals; and assigning homework focusing on behavior change strategies. PAI content was derived from the PA component of the lifestyle intervention implemented in the Diabetes and Prevention Program and Look AHEAD trials (17–18) and supplemented with additional content and strategies to target theoretically-based psychological/motivational processes underlying PA adoption and maintenance, primarily PA enjoyment, self-efficacy, and autonomous types of motivation (14–16) . For example, participants were assisted in identifying ways to both increase the pleasant aspects (e.g., walk at a scenic park to enhance the PA experience) and decrease the unpleasant aspects (e.g., walking with a friend to reduce boredom) of exercise.…”

“…Participants rated how they “felt at the moment about physical activity” using a 7-point bipolar scale (e.g., [1] “It's very pleasant” to [7] “It's not fun at all”). Higher PACES scores reflect greater PA enjoyment and predict PA behavior within the context of PA promotion interventions involving inactive adults (14, 24–25) .…”

“…Participants indicated their confidence being physically active in challenging situations (e.g., “when I am tired”) on a scale of 1 (“not at all confident”) to 5 (“extremely confident”). Higher scores indicate greater self-efficacy and predict of higher levels of PA readiness and behavior (14, 26) .…”

“…We previously reported that on average PAI produced large increases in bout-related MVPA from baseline to post-intervention (4.4 to 21.0 minutes/day) versus no change in SC (7.9 to 7.6 minutes/day) (13) . The current study compares PAI vs. SC on changes in theoretically-based psychological/motivational processes underlying PA adoption including enjoyment (14) , self-efficacy (15) , and motivational regulations (16) , the latter referring to different motivations for PA that reside along a continuum ranging from amotivation (i.e. lacking motivation for PA) to intrinsic regulation (i.e.…”