The Bernese Motive and Goal Inventory for Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Abstract

Exercise- and sport-related motives and goals are important motivational factors in promoting exercise and sport among adolescents and young adults. However, at present, there is no well-validated instrument to assess these factors that considers age-specific characteristics. Therefore, the goals of this study were to adapt the existing Bernese Motive and Goal Inventory in exercise and sport for middle-aged adults for use in adolescents and young adults and to examine its psychometric properties. The Bernese Motive and Goal Inventory for adolescence and young adulthood was validated with 2,318 participants aged between 14 to 34 years old. Applying exploratory structural equation modeling, the inventory demonstrated excellent model fit (CFI = 0.983, SRMR = 0.014, RMSEA = 0.040) using 26 items and covering eight motives and goals: Contact, Competition/Performance, Distraction/Catharsis, Body/Appearance, Health, Fitness, Aesthetics, and Risk/Challenge. A cross-validation confirmed the factor structure. Psychometric analyses revealed good reliabilities (CR ≥ 0.70, AVE ≥ 0.50, test-retest reliability: 0.62 ≤ rtt ≤ 0.83) and discriminant validity. The factors correlated, in predictable ways, with exercise- and sport-related self-concordance, indicating criterion validity of the inventory. Additionally, metric measurement invariance was supported for activity levels, gender, and age. Overall, the Bernese Motive and Goal Inventory for adolescence and young adulthood is an age-specific, economical, and psychometrically sound questionnaire to assess exercise- and sport-related motives and goals. The inventory can be used in the practical field of exercise and sport promotion (e.g., sport counseling), as well as in research, to better understand the mechanisms and effects of motives and goals in exercise and sport.

Knowing Students' Characteristics: Opportunities to Adapt Physical Education Teaching

“…The strongest expression of the Fitness motive is in line with the validation sample (Gut et al, 2019) and another study from Germany (Diehl et al, 2018) as well as with studies from Greece (Zervou et al, 2017), Lithuania (Sukys et al, 2019), and Malaysia (Molanorouzi et al, 2015)-all investigating older samples. Only Kilpatrick et al's (2003) American sample attributed less importance to the Fitness motive than to Contact, Competition/Performance, Aesthetics, or Risk/Challenge.…”

“…Students' characteristics were measured via the following five instruments: Personality Traits via BFI-K KJ (Kupper et al, 2019), Physical Self-Concept via (Braun et al, 2018), Achievement Motive via AMS-Sport (Herrmann et al, 2014) derived from Elbe et al (2005), Motives to be physically active via BMZI-JFEA (Gut et al, 2019), and Sports Interest via Sports Interest (Gogoll, 2010) derived from Kunter et al (2002). All instruments were validated in samples similar to SuM PLuS' sample and obtained satisfactory test quality criteria (Table 1).…”

“…Following Gut et al's (2019), Kueh et al's (2017), or Lehnert et al's (2011) understanding, Motives to be physically active represent a central benchmark for specifically designing and conducting PE's lesson content. Gut et al (2019) ascertain the following Motives to be physically active: Contact, Competition/Performance, Distraction/Catharsis, Body/Appearance, Health, Fitness, Aesthetics, and Risk/Challenge. In German PE, Motives to be physically active have found their way into the curriculum as pedagogical perspectives (Neumann and Balz, 2004) and by this, decisively influence teaching behavior.…”

“What Type of Activity Suits Me?”

“…It is striking that this group evaluated the intervention overall more positively than the less active group in the main study. Secondly, the counseling was based on a wide range of motives and goals (Lehnert et al, 2011;Schmid et al, 2018); however, risk and challenge, which might be particularly important for young adults, were not addressed (Gut et al, 2019). Future studies should consider such age-specific motives and goals.…”