Motivation to participate in physical activity and sports: Age transition and gender differences among India’s adolescents

Abstract

India’s increasing sedentary behavior among children and youth is becoming a national concern. Hence, developing an environment supportive of physical activity and sports would be a major means to increase the participation levels for adolescents. This study aims to examine differences in motivation to participate in physical activities and sports among students of three age categories, namely, early adolescence, middle adolescence and late adolescence. The result of factor analysis yielded a 19-item, four-factor structure on the participation motivation questionnaire (PMQ). Significant differences were found for all three age categories on the two extracted factors of sport action with friends and social status. Further, a significant difference has been identified between sex’s students on the factor of health and fitness and social status. The study provides sound psychometric and comparative results that can potentially be useful for education and formative reviews in applied settings, for research purposes and as a measurement tool for embedding motivation towards participation in physical activities (PA) and sports among adolescents.

Key words:

• sports activities
• adolescent physical activity
• participation motivation
• social status
• popularity

Public Interest Statement

The increasing rate of physical inactivity and obesity is alarming in India. Sports participation provides ample opportunities for positive youth development. An inactive lifestyle immensely contributes to various non-communicable diseases including diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Therefore, developing an active lifestyle in the adolescent period is pivotal for a healthy transition to adulthood. Besides, India host the world’s second latest youth population, therefore providing the best strategies to promote sports and physical activities in this population would be a prime responsibility of all stakeholders. For ensuring active participation in sports and physical activity, adolescents need to be encouraged and motivated regularly. The present study helps to investigate to identify the motivational differences among adolescents’ groups (early, middle, and late) for sports and physical activity participation. The study also showed a significant gender-based difference that exists on the different motivational factors such as health and fitness and social status.

1. Introduction

The country of India has the world’s largest youth population, with approximately 356 million individuals between 10 and 24 years of age (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2015). Thus, there is major pressure on the state to plan and develop a concrete strategy to coordinate with different community healthcare delivery agencies to address youth health outcomes and their determinants. Regular participation in physical activity and sports provides an active lifestyle that is likely to reduce various non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as, among others, hypertension, osteoporosis, cancer, and diabetes (Stalmatakis & Weiler, 2010). Furthermore, the research indicates that youth participation in organized sports is linked to adolescents’ physical, social, and psychological development and achievement-related behaviours (Aaron et al., 2005; Janz et al., 2006; Monacis et al., 2014) and to their improved self-esteem and self-identity (Bowden & Greenberg, 2009). Thus, engaging in an active lifestyle at a young age is predictive of a healthy adult life. One approach is to engage youth in physical activities that are enjoyable, which, in turn, motivates them to actively participate in a range of physical activities.

2. The sport and physical activity system in India

Whereas many small and large nations excel in different sports, India, despite a population of more than approximately 1.20 billion and its long history of physical education, finds it difficult to increase their presence in various international competitions. Unfortunately, while many countries are currently considering sports globalization, India’s professionals are struggling to require that physical education (PE) be a compulsory subject in schools. There are problems associated with the physical education programme that directly and indirectly lower the level of motivation among people to participate in physical activities and sports. Some of the misconceptions about physical education include the following: physical education is a rest period between academic classes; it is the best time to do homework; girls should not participate in PE because its activities can injure their internal organs during pregnancy. Some other misconceptions also include how physical education and sport could distort girls physical structure and their ability to walk like a normal girl walk; one must have large muscles rather than intelligence to participate in PE programmes; top athletes become PE teachers; only delinquent children are enrolled in physical education classes. Furthermore, the goals of education cannot be accomplished through PE courses. An adage in India says, “Padogay likhogay banogay nawab aur khelogay khudogay honggay barbad” Roughly translated this means: (You can become Prince if you can read and write, and you will spoil yourself if you play and jump). Moreover, PE causes fatigue and thus enables one to sleep, it has no academic prestige, nor is it as important as other classes. Nonetheless, it has been noted that a large number of schools do consider it their responsibility to establish good physical education programmes regardless of the identified barriers and drawbacks, which include the necessary budget allotment for sports programmes that yield performance; nepotism, and an issue that often overlooks deserving candidates. Some other responsibilities including the lack of the latest facilities and experts to teach the programmes; the scope of the job as it relates to PE and sports; inadequate teachers teaching specialized PE courses; lack of curriculum and lesson plans for PE courses; lack of uniformity among physical education programmes across states, etc. (Chitra, 2016).

It is widely recognized that physical education at the school level forms the foundation for the overall development of a student’s mind and body. Research (EduSports, 2014) conducted among a sample of 115,559 students between 7 and 17 years of age in 287 schools across 85 cities in India found that 40% of the children in India do not have a healthy body mass index (BMI) and that the scores among non-metros (rural) were better than those of metros in terms of BMI levels and fitness parameters. It is of concern that the current generation of school children in India, regardless of age group or gender, could face an unhealthy future due to lagging health and fitness levels. People who live in urban areas of India seem to be more knowledgeable about the health-related benefits of physical activity than people who live in the rural areas of India. However, participation in physical activity in all regions is minimal, as people are not in the habit of engaging in regular physical activity because of poor awareness and negative attitudes towards exercise.

3. Aims of the study

In India, physical education is not a compulsory subject in schools, colleges or universities. Therefore, the motivation to participate in physical activity depends on the student’s personal decisions (Morgantown, 2001), as they rarely receive external motivation (money, certificate, trophy etc.) to do so due to an unsupportive environment. Thus, self-motivation is required for students to participate in physical activities and sports. Drawing on reviews from the literature, the reasons for and for not participating in physical activity are multiple and diverse (Beni et al., 2017; Fraser-Thomas et al., 2008; Murcia et al., 2010) Many factors have been identified that make physical activity and sports experiences attractive to students, such as having fun, improving skills, learning, being with friends, experiencing success, winning and improving health (Murcia et al., 2010). The primary aim of the study is to investigate the factors that motivate adolescents to participate in physical activities and sports. The research indicates that enjoyment and the achievement of the goals with regard to sports participation (Claire & Cunningham, 2013) are the most important and effective consequences of quality physical education (PE), and similarly, Wang and Biddle (2001) found that enjoyment increases children and adolescents’ participation in physical activity in PE classes and during leisure time as such activity results in positive feelings such as pleasure (Beni et al., 2017).

4. Theoretical background of the study

Motivation is an equally important and vital factor for both recreational and competitive sports (Matsumoto & Takenaka, 2004). Therefore, motivation is the best predictor of one’s commitment to future sports and physical activities (Iso-Ahola & St. Clair, 2000), and in turn, because physical activities and sports are associated with important health benefits, motivation is defined as a strong desire, wish or powerful stimulus that comes from within the person to propel the individual towards achieving a goal (Petz, 2005). Self-determination theory (SDT) inculcates the macro-theory of human personality and motivational behaviour and discusses the three basic human psychological needs, namely, the perceptions of competence, relatedness, and autonomy (Mallett et al., 2007), which are regarded as powerful underpinnings of intrinsic motivation and psychological health. The perception of competence is a sign of one’s personal capabilities, whereas autonomy refers to the ability to act or express oneself in ways that align with one’s own needs and value system (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan et al., 1992; Vallerand, 1997). Similarly, relatedness reflects one’s perceptions of personal connections, thus creating an individual’s interpersonal environment.

SDT assumes that sports participation motivation is multidimensional, and as such, it consists of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation factors (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Vallerand, 1997). Intrinsic motivation correlates with internal satisfaction, enjoyment and mastery regarding the area of concern (Deci & Ryan, 1985). In contrast to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation (EM) is related to external rewards or compensations (Mallet, 2005), i.e., “engagement as a means to an end and not for the sake of the activity itself”. More specifically, people perform an activity for instrumental reasons, such as external rewards and appreciation (Deci, 1975, p. 23). Finally, amotivation, which is the lowest form of motivation, is comparable to the concept of learned helplessness and is an indication that the person has no motivation to participate (Abramson et al., 1978, p. 50). SDT proposes that amotivated athletes cannot identify any positive reasons to train or play, and hence, they may eventually disengage from the activity or sport. Research with respect to SDT and the incorporation of such areas as PE, sports, exercise and physical activities when examining individuals’ basic needs has gained significant interest in recent years (Pedro et al., 2012).

The current study is grounded in the self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and achievement goal theory (AGT) (Nicholls, 1989) framework, which have successfully been applied to the context of physical activity and sports engagement among different age groups, including adults (Pelletier et al., 2013). In their research, Bosnar and Balent (2009) found that construct motivation is associated with multiple engagement motives and different types of motivation, thus explaining it in a single model is quite complex.

5. Hypothesis formulation based on the review of literature

The literature on sports motivation based on gender differences is inconclusive. A study by P. Sarrazin et al. (2002) of 335 French handball players revealed that female athletes were more intrinsically motivated than their male counterparts. In contrast, however, a study conducted by Kingston et al. (2006) of 172 US collegiate student athletes, found that male athletes with sports scholarships demonstrated significantly higher levels of extrinsic motivation, specifically with respect to external regulation (obtaining measurable rewards), compared to female athletes. Similarly, Monazami et al. (2012)’s study, which was comprised of 112 Iranian athletes, revealed that male athletes scored higher than their female counterparts on intrinsic motivation (IM) with respect to internal regulation, higher on EM with respect to external regulation, and on total EM. Kim et al.’s (2003) study on 101 US and 298 Korean athletes found that IM was more prominent among males. Dropout rates in youth sports continue to be a major concern for sports leaders, coaches, and physical educators. Therefore, sport psychology researchers have sought to investigate the motives behind sports participation in an attempt to decrease the high dropout rates (P. G. Sarrazin et al., 2007). Additionally, a number of studies have determined that young people are not as physically active as they should be to gain and enjoy the health benefits of physical activity. Accordingly, it is evident that more developmental research is needed to understand the variations in the reasons for participating in and withdrawing from sports and physical activity (Kondrič et al., 2013). According to a study by Bauman et al. (2009), males more frequently reported higher PA than females in 17 of 20 countries studied. The prevalence of low PA ranged from 7 to 41% among males and from 6 to 49% among females. Gender differences were noted especially for younger adults, with males being more active than females in most countries. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis. H_o1: There are significant gender differences in motivation to participate in sports activities, with male athletes scoring higher than their female counterparts.

A study conducted by Kondrič et al. (2013) with the aim to examine the differences in motivation to participate in sports activities among athletes from three countries, namely, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany) (n = 390), found significant gender differences in motivation to participate in sport activities for all sports students from the three countries. However, no age-based differences were found among the students. In another study, researchers found that male students were more motivated by intrinsic factors, such as power, competition and challenge, while female students were driven more by extrinsic motives, such as body weight and physical appearance (Egli et al., 2011). Thus, we propose the following hypotheses. H_o2: It was thus hypothesized that across all the age categories, there would be significant differences for the level of motivation to participate.

The threefold task of this study was to: 1) establish the latent structure of the athletes’ types of motivations, 2) differences in motivation to participate in sport activities among the athletes from the three different age categories and finally, 3) potential gender differences in the motivation to participate in sport activities.

6. Methods

6.1. Study permission

Institutional permission has been obtained to conduct this study. In India, if the sample include school students then it is important to have an approval from the school authority/principal/trustee/school board of governance. Therefore, prior to conduct the present study, principal of the schools were contacted who further checked and approved all the items included in the questionnaire.

6.2. Participants

A stratified random sample of 382 adolescent male (n = 192) and female (n = 190) athletes from different schools in the region of Assam, India participated in this study. The sample was stratified across participants’ choice to attend physical education classes at the various institutions. Data were collected from the educational institutions where physical education was presented as a formal subject. The sample included students from a variety of sports. All students participated in school level tournaments conducted by the district office under the Directorate of Sports in Assam. The participants were categorized into three age groups according to Steinberg’s (1993) developmental approach to adolescents, namely, early adolescence (11 to 14 years), middle adolescence (15 to 18 years) and late adolescence (19 to 21 years). Descriptive statistics of the age categories are provided in Table 1 and present a cross-tabulation with the mean age and standard deviations of the age groups according to gender and for the total sample. The number of participants in each category is also presented. Data were collected during lessons and exercises for each group. At the time the questionnaires were distributed, these students had received basic lessons in physical education.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the age categories: early, middle and late adolescence

Age Categories	Gender	Mean	Std. Deviation	N
Early Adolescents Students (11–14 years)	Male	12.81	.753	60
	Female	13.56	.598	57
	Total	13.17	.776	117
Middle Adolescent Students (15–18 years)	Male	17.04	.542	56
	Female	17.45	.431	74
	Total	17.27	.522	130
Late Adolescent Students (19–21 years)	Male	19.81	.639	76
	Female	19.79	.822	59
	Total	19.80	.722	135
Total	Male	16.81	3.007	192
	Female	17.01	2.54	190
	Total	16.91	2.785	382

7. Instruments

The Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) developed by Gill et al. (1983), which consists of 30 items, was used in this study. The PMQ has been used widely in several studies of motives for participation in youth sports. The students completed the PMQ (Gill et al., 1983), which included listing possible reasons students may want to participate in sports. Respondents used a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important) to respond to item stems such as “I participate in sports because it is … ”.

Results of the factor analysis of the PMQ revealed achievement/status, team atmosphere, fitness, energy release, skill development, friendship and fun are basic motives for student participation in sports activities (Gill et al., 1983). Zaharidis et al. (2006) identified six motivational factors, namely, skill development and competition (Cronbach’s α reliability = 0.89), status/recognition (α = 0.85), energy release (α = 0.77), team atmosphere (α = 0.82), friendship and social interaction (α = 0.63), and fitness (α = 0.83) as reasons students engaged in physical activities (Kondrič et al., 2013). Kondrič et al. (2013) found six factors in their study, namely, sport activities with friends (α =.868), popularity (α = .877), fitness and health (α = .856), social status (α = .765), sports events (α = .568), relaxation (α = .572) that motivated adolescents to participate in sports activities.

8. Data analysis

The data were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistics (20.00) software. Basic descriptive results were calculated, i.e., mean, standard deviation, frequency of answers, and a factor analysis, using maximum likelihood method with a direct oblimin rotation, was then performed for all items on the PMQ. One-way ANOVA was calculated to determine the differences between and among students in all three age categories, i.e., early (11 to 14), middle (15 to 18) and late (19 to 21), for each of the factors identified through factor analysis. Mean comparisons among the different age categories were determined with one-way ANOVA and Scheffe’s post hoc test for unequal samples to gain an insight into individual differences among students of the different institutions in the motivational structure of participating in a physical activity (sport). To determine the gender-wise mean comparison, an independent samples t-test was used.

9. Results

The descriptive results for each item on the PMQ (means and standard deviations) for the three age groups and the total sample are presented in Table 1. However, as an analysis at the item level is too broad and does not provide for synergy, a factor analysis was conducted on all items to reduce them to their underlying structure.

To better define the latent motivational structure of all respondents, a maximum likelihood analysis (factor analysis) with a direct oblimin rotation was used. The high value (.812) of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (MSA) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were significant (approx. chi-square 2553.017, df = 171, p < .000), thus confirming the factorability of the items. Several criteria, including differences between adjacent eigenvalues, a scree plot, and differences in the percentage of variance accounted for, were used to determine the number of factors, which are presented in Table 2. Four significant factors were extracted, which, together, explain 48.077% of the variance. The purpose was to account for the adjacent factors and, more importantly, to take into consideration the factor structure.

Table 2. Factor structure of the participation motivation questionnaire for students from three age categories of adolescent period (maximum likelihood, direct Oblimin rotation)

No.	Items	Mean	SD	h^2	Factor 1 Sports Action with friends	Factor 2 Fitness and Health	Factor 3 Social Status	Factor 4 Popularity
16	I like to have something to do	2.12	.681	.759	.869
15	I like to get exercise	2.09	.642	.608	.778
17	I like the action	2.08	.658	.607	.770
6	I want to stay in shape	1.28	.506	.554		.733
5	I like to travel	1.24	.466	.496		.694
4	I want to get rid of energy	1.27	.482	.455		.672
10	I want to learn new skills	1.47	.582	.478		.660
12	I like to do something I’m good at	1.42	.520	.437		.655
8	I like the teamwork	1.52	.591	.412		.628
11	I like to meet new friends	1.42	.569	.344		.572
29	I like to have fun	1.16	.396	.636			.794
30	I like to use the equipment or facilities	1.11	.330	.556			.745
28	I want to gain status or recognition	1.15	.373	.314			.557
21	I like to feel important	1.92	.635	.569				.749
23	I want to go on to a higher level	1.99	.641	.435				.654
22	I like being on a team	1.93	.663	.364				.637
20	I like to compete	2.01	.671	.428				.625
19	I like to get out of the house	2.00	.621	.249				.600
24	I want to be physically fit	1.95	.650	.433				.494
	Factor mean				6.30	8.22	3.43	11.83
	Factor standard deviation				1.73	2.31	.890	2.74
	Cronbach’s alpha				.848	.831	.735	.800
	Items				3	7	3	6
	Eigenvalues				4.36	3.18	1.99	1.51
	Variance explained (%)				19.01	14.86	8.00	6.19
	Average Variance Extracted (AVE)				0.65	0.43	0.49	0.39
	Composite reliability (CR)				0.84	0.84	0.74	0.79

10. Underlying structure of the motivation to participate among athletes

The MSA is an index used to quantify the degree of inter-correlation among items and the appropriateness of the factor analysis. A value above .50 for either the entire matrix or for an individual variable indicates the appropriateness of acceptance (Field, 2000). The results of the factor analysis are presented in Table 1. All items with factor loadings greater than .50 were retained. When the pattern matrix (factor and structure matrix were considered because of cross-loading) was considered, the four subscales were determined to retain and reflect the conceptual framework. Of the 30 items, 11 with low factor loadings were excluded from the analysis. Thus, the original set of 30 items was reduced to 19 items and are listed in Table 2 for reference.

Factor one, labelled sports action with friends, has a high eigenvalue (4.13) and high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = .848), thus explaining 19.01% of the variance. This factor includes items that express enjoyment from exercise and pleasure in an active lifestyle with friends. The main projections of the statements offered in the questionnaire on this factor are related to action and friendship. This encompasses motives such as “I like the action”, “I like to have something to do”, “I like to have fun”, “I like to get exercise”. Factor two, fitness and health, explains 14.86% of the variance. It also has a high eigenvalue (3.18) and high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = .831). Items in this factor express the enjoyment achieved from fitness and the various health consequences associated with exercise. This factor is determined by intrinsic motives related to good health and include items such as “I want to stay in shape”, “I like to travel”, “I want to expend of energy”, “I want to learn new skills”, “I like to do something I am good at”, “I like teamwork” and “I like to meet new friends”. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations contribute to this factor as the adolescents are motivated by competition social approval (Bosnar & Balent, 2009). In factor three, social status, the items express enjoyment from participation in physical activity as well as from the social recognition that can be gained from it. It has an eigenvalue of 1.99 and acceptable internal consistency of .026, thus explaining 8.00% of the variance. The factor is defined by statements such as “I like to have fun”, “I like to use the equipment or facilities”, “I want to gain status or recognition”. The items in factor four, popularity, express the feeling of importance associated with performance and success in physical activity. The factor explains 6.19% of the variance, has an eigenvalue of 1.51 and acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = .800). The fourth factor is defined by motives related to the popularity and sense of importance physically active people achieve through sports, such as “I like to feel important”, “I want to go on to a higher level”, “I like being on a team”, “I like to compete”, “I like to get out of the house”, “I want to be physically fit”. The PMQ was adapted and administered to participants in various sports fields, to athletes (Miran Kondrič et al., 2013), to participants in various physical activities and to students in school physical education settings (Zahariadis & Biddle, 2000). Hence, the number of factors and the component items identified through factor analysis have varied results on the sample under investigation (Gill et al., 1983). This conclusion is also evident in this research. Furthermore, as the factor with the highest mean (11.83 ± 2.74), the students perceived popularity as the most important motivation for physical activity in the development of quality physical education programmes. This factor was followed by Fitness and health (8.22 ± 2.31). Sports action with friends (6.30 ± 1.73) and social status (3.43 ± .890) both had low mean scores, indicating that they were perceived to be less important motivating factors than popularity and fitness and health. The results of the factor analysis indicated that the 19 items on the final version of the questionnaire demonstrated sound and good inter-correlation results.

A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS 21.00 (IBM) was conducted to examine the retained four-factor structure from the exploratory factor analysis using a separate data set to determine the robustness of the analysis process and the psychometric properties of the retained factors and the excluded items as well (Byrne & Watkins, 2003).

The overall model fit was evaluated using multiple goodness-of-fit indices including the chi-square value, comparative fit index (CFI), Bentler-Bonett normed fit index (NFI), parsimony comparative fit index (PCFI), and toot mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) accompanied by its 90% confidence interval (90% CI). Although much debate surrounds the selection of precise thresholds of fit, especially relevant within the field of theory-based multi–item/factor CFA testing (Marsh et al., 2004), it is commonly accepted that thresholds >.90, close to (or less than) .08 (Bentler, 1995), and up to .08 (Browne & Cudeck, 1993; Bollen, 1989) for the CFI and RMSEA are indicative of acceptable model fit.

To verify the retained factors’ item loadings, a measurement model was evaluated using multiple goodness-of-fit indices, including chi-square value, CFI, NFI, PCFI, and RMSEA accompanied by its 90% confidence intervals (90% CI). The results of the robust CFA, using the maximum likelihood estimation method, suggest that the four-factor model provided an adequate fit to the data (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Measurement model of the retained factors of Participation Motivation among adolescents.

Note: SAF = Sport Action with Friends, FH = Fitness & Health, SS = Social Status, P = Popularity

Group differences were calculated for the age groups (early, middle and late adolescence) and are presented in Table 4. Participants were divided into three age groups, namely, early adolescence (11 to 14 years), middle adolescence (15 to 18 years) and late adolescence (19 to 21 years). A one-way between-groups analysis of variance was conducted to explore the age group differences for the four factors of perceived motivation for physical activity. Significant differences were found for two of the perceived motivations, sport action with friends (F (2, 380) = 17.28, p = .000), and social status (F (2, 380) = 9.60, p = .000). The differences among the groups were small, despite statistical significance. The effect size for the two factors was small, with eta squared calculated to be .121, and .050, respectively. Post hoc comparisons using the Bonferroni test indicated that the difference for sport action with friends and social status was between the latter two age groups, i.e., middle and late adolescence. Furthermore, sport action with friends is a stronger motivating factor for physical activity during middle adolescence (M = 6.92 ± 1.53) than it is during late adolescence (M = 5.71 ± 1.76). However, social control seems to be a stronger motivating factor for physical activity during late adolescence (M = 3.70 ± .993) than it is during middle adolescence (M = 3.28 ± .789). No significant differences were found among the age groups regarding fitness and health and popularity as a motivating factor for physical activity (Table 3).

Table 3. Age group (early, middle and late adolescence) (ANOVA) differences regarding motivation for physical activity

Factor	Early Adolescents (11–14 years)		Middle Adolescents (15–18 years)		Late Adolescents (19–21 years)		F	Sig.
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Sport Action with Friends	6.30	1.68	6.92	1.53	5.71	1.76	17.28	.000
Fitness & Health	8.30	2.24	7.89	2.31	8.47	2.36	2.20	.112
Social Status	3.30	.803	3.28	.789	3.70	.993	9.60	.000
Popularity	12.10	2.31	11.99	3.11	11.45	2.68	2.09	.125

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Table 4. Gender group differences regarding the motivation for physical activity

	Gender	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	Sign.
Sport Action with Friends	Male	192	6.35	1.76	.127	.569
	Female	190	6.25	1.70	.123
Fitness & Health	Male	192	7.82	2.10	.151	.001
	Female	190	8.62	2.46	.178
Social Status	Male	192	3.55	.980	.070	.013
	Female	190	3.32	.775	.056
Popularity	Male	192	11.91	2.49	.180	.560
	Female	190	11.75	2.98	.216

Gender group differences were calculated using the independent-samples t-test for all four of the perceived motivational factors, and the results are presented in Table 4. No significant differences between males and females were found for sport action with friends, and popularity. However, a significant difference was identified for social control, with a small difference between the mean scores for males (M = 3.55 ± .980) and females (M = 3.32 ± .775; t (380) = 2.49, p = .013, two-tailed). The effect size of the difference was also small (eta squared = .026). The factor fitness and health also showed a significant difference, with a small difference between the mean scores for males (M = 7.82 ± 2.10) and females (M = 8.62 ± 3.55; t (380) = 3.40, p = .001, two-tailed). The effect size of the difference was also small (eta squared = .088).

11. Discussion

An alarming obesity problem and an increase in the number of people involved in sedentary activities have resulted in an increase in the number of non-communicable diseases. Hence, participation in sports and other physical activities is being promoted as an essential means to sustain healthy lifestyles and well-being among people. Additionally, adolescence is a critical stage in human life, and thus, healthy habits established during this age best predict a healthy entry into adulthood. On a related note, motivation is regarded as a strong predictor of participation in sports and physical activities. Regular participation in any physical activity is based on the individual’s level of motivation and his or her own reasons for participating in physical activity. Hence, the current study attempted to investigate the level of motivation to participate in physical activities and sports during three specific age periods of adolescence, namely, early adolescence (11 to 14 years of age), middle adolescence (15 to 18 years of age) and late adolescence (19 to 21 years of age) (Steinberg, 1993). A study by Kondrič et al. (2013) examined the differences in motivation to participate in sport activities conducted on a sample of 390 athletes from Slovenia, Croatia and Germany and retained all 30 items with six factors using the PMQ. However, in our study, we used the robust maximum likelihood analysis MLA, whereas in Kondrič et al. (2013)’s study, principal component analysis was used. Although the MLA is robust with its unique feature of identifying minimum variance unbiased estimators as the sample size increases, it could also be the reason our analysis retained only 19 items. Kondrič et al. (2013) also recommended the use of more sophisticated methods, such as structural equations modelling. Therefore, in our research, we used CFA for the retained items with the same sampling and found sound psychometric properties with a RMSEA of .068 and a CFI of .896. In addition to the adequate psychometric properties, high reliability scores, i.e., internal consistency for all factors indicated that the items were consistent within each factor and that the factors were consistent within the model, thus permitting meaningful further analysis. To establish convergent validity, the factor loading of the indicator, composite reliability (CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE) must be considered. The value ranges from 0 to 1. AVE value should exceed 0.50 so that it is adequate for convergent validity (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988; Fornell & Lacker, 1981; Hair et al., 2014; Henseler et al., 2009). Hence, for future research to examine the motivational orientation of athletes, we highly recommend the use of optimal instruments such as the Sport Motivation Scale or the Behavioural Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (Lonsdale et al., 2008) rather than the PMQ (Gill et al., 1983), as it may be outdated (Kondrič et al., 2013).

Small but significant differences have been identified among age groups for three of the perceived motivational factors, i.e., sport action with friends, and social status. A post hoc analysis on the factors sport action with friends (SAF) and fitness and health (FH) revealed significant differences between middle and late adolescence, with SAF being a stronger motivational factor with respect to PA during middle adolescence than late adolescence. Sport action with friends was described as motivational because exercise is enjoyable and physical activity provides an active lifestyle with friends. This factor included items such as I like the action, I like to have something to do, I like to have fun, I like to get exercise. These findings are congruent with those of Maturo and Cunningham (2013)’s review of 106 studies in which evidence of how friendship influences children’s PA was investigated. Their study found that encouragement from friends, engagement with friends in PA, and friends’ own PA are strong predictors of enhancing children’s PA. Additionally, their study determined that lifelong healthy habits can best be predicted by acknowledging the influence of friendships in childhood. Finally, their study recommends that exercising with peers should be implemented in health promotion programmes (Maturo & Cunningham, 2013). Social status is expressed through the enjoyment of participation in physical activity and the social recognition that can be gained from such participation. From a psychological perspective, adolescence has been identified as a period of identity development in which the individual explores possible selves and makes significant life decisions that inform on various aspects of their lives (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1966), including ideological, i.e., occupation and values, and interpersonal, i.e., family, friendships, romantic partnerships, and gender roles, domains (Balistreri et al., 1995). Thus, this could explain why social status a higher mean difference during late adolescence has compared to early and middle adolescence.

Finally, an independent samples t-test was implemented to identify the gender-based difference of the perceived motivational factors. However, no significant differences between the genders were identified for the factors sport action with friends, and popularity. A significant difference between the genders was found only for the factors of fitness and health, and social status. Accordingly, the present findings partially reject the hypothesis, except for one sub-factor, as no significant differences between the genders were found for the other two sub-factors.

Fitness and health is also a strong motivational factor that promotes participation in physical activity for those in the late and middle adolescence age groups. This factor is determined through intrinsic motivation defined as a preference for fitness and the various health consequences associated with exercise. The present study results provide continuing support for the investigation conducted by Allender et al. (2006), which highlights that a majority of the research indicates that young people are based in community settings and that during the period of adolescence, individuals are often competitive and demonstrate a challenging attitude with respect to tasks; hence, they have a greater tendency to maintain a positive body image as a form of competition with their peers. This is perhaps the reason why fitness and health receives such a high score in girls. The activities that contribute to fitness and health are substantially aligned with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and they contribute directly to issues such as competitiveness with respect to abilities and skills and social approval (Bosnar & Balent, 2009). Furthermore, Allender et al. (2006) determined that weight management, social interaction and enjoyment were common reasons given for participating in sports and physical activities. It is evident that the period of adolescence is highly dedicated to the development of body muscle.

This finding is well corroborated by the results of McDonough and Crocker (2005)’s study, in which they examined two structural models and found that self-worth weakly predicted a commitment to sports, thus suggesting the mediator model was impractical. They also determined that the quality of friendship was found to have a weak relationship with self-worth and sport commitment. Our findings, however, found that male adolescents exhibited higher mean scores (3.55 ± .980) than females (3.32 ± .775) on the factor social status. The statements used to evaluate the importance of social status as a motivating factor of related to why people engage in physical activities include, for example, “I like to use the equipment or facilities”, “I want to gain status or recognition”, “I like to feel important”. In India, boys are more inclined than girls to initiate participation in sports and physical activities. However, again, it is acknowledged that girls do sometimes initiate these activities as they are perhaps wanting to compete with their male counterparts in an attempt to show them (males) that they are no less than males in any aspect. Thus, this could be why girls exhibit higher mean scores than boys. Nonetheless, this same finding would be difficult to generalize among the Indian population given that physical education is not a compulsory subject in India, people are not well aware of the benefits of participating in PA, and the unsupportive environment does not encourage people to participate in physical activities. Hence, the current findings are highly attributable to peer environments and sports cultures within institutions and locations where physical activities and sports are promoted and supported, as such behaviours motivate adolescents’ determination to engage in physical activities (Kondrič et al., 2013). Kondrič et al. (2013) also found significant sex differences in motivation to participate in sport activities for all athletes from three different countries. Desiring a healthy body image and making PA fun are also higher rated among girls (Butt et al., 2011). Though the participants in this study were all students recruited from different schools, it was assumed they were more associated and aware of publications from various media sources. The media has a huge impact on adolescents’ decision making and personality. Adolescence, as a pivotal transition stage, is highly influenced by the development of body image (positive or negative) which in turn affects their body shape, weight status, and appearance. Reality television and social media have a specific impact on the current diets, exercises, and beauty trends that are followed, which could contribute to unhealthy adolescent body perceptions. The research of Tiggemann and Netgirls (2013) found that among 13- to 15-year-old girls, concerns regarding body image increased as time spent on the Internet and Facebook increased. Similarly, Perloff (2014) determined that the Internet and social media immensely influence body image among adolescents. Additionally, a substantial decline in body satisfaction is identified in girls under the age of 19 following exposure to media images of overtly thin females (Groesz et al., 2002). The research indicates that a variety of cultural, social, physical, and psychological changes that characterize adolescence uniquely interact to shape body image for those between the ages of 12 years and 18 years. These cultural ideas and beliefs are also reinforced by significant others in the adolescents’ immediate environments, including family, peers, and romantic partners. In India, parents are immensely concerned with the nuptials of their daughters. In fact, it can be assumed that this is one of life’s goals for every parent in India. Hence, some of the parents highly encourage their children to participate in PA as a way to control their body weight (D. Ahmed et al., 2016; D.M. Ahmed et al., 2017; Helfert & Warschburger, 2011; Ho et al., 2017; Sánchez et al., 2017). The changes that occur during puberty are among the most rapid and diverse in human development, including changes in weight, height, body shape, and body composition, as well as primary and secondary sex characteristics. Paxton et al. (2005) found that body dissatisfaction among tenth grade girls was strongly predicted based on the belief that thinness was a critical factor with respect to them being perceived as attractive by males. Furthermore, 85% of boys did indeed perceive thinness to be an attractive quality in girls. Accordingly, research by Voelker et al. (2015) indicates that how adolescents perceive their bodies is strongly influenced by the larger sociocultural context. Hence, it is likely that factors related to body image have resulted in a phenomenon that has motivated female adolescents in the current study to make a strong interpersonal commitment to physical activity, which then resulted in the high mean score for the popularity factor (Kondrič et al., 2013). In a study of late adolescent Swedish youth, Wängqvist and Frisén (2013) found that girls with stronger interpersonal identity commitments also had more positive views about how others evaluated their appearance. These findings suggest that body image may improve as the adolescent’s sense of self becomes increasingly more stabilize (Voelker et al., 2015).

Sustaining motivation among athletes is a vital aspect of both recreational and competitive sports. In a country such as India, where physical education is not a compulsory subject, therefore this study would have high relevancy, specifically with respect to the differences between the sexes regarding the transitions related to the age groups and the level of motivation among the various age groups to participate in games and sports. Hence, motivation as a construct has been the subject of substantial research by sports psychologists. Exploring the latent structure using exploratory factor analysis, our study identified four types of motives. The intercorrelation of the extracted factors ranged between −.028 and .413, which indicates a moderate correlation among all factors. Furthermore, retained factors using EFA were also analysed using CFA, which provided sound psychometric properties, e.g., CFI = .896 and RMSEA = .067. The study also identified statistically significant factors of differences in motivation to participate in sports activities among the three age groups, i.e., early adolescents (11 to 14 years), middle adolescents (15 to 18 years) and late adolescents (19 to 21 years). However, with respect to the fitness and health, and popularity factors, no significant differences were found among the cohorts, thus indicating that these two factors were not a motivating factor influencing physical activity. However, a gender-based analysis found a significant, albeit small, mean difference between the genders with respect to fitness and social status, with females and males achieving higher scores than their counterparts.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interest.

correction

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their cordial thanks to all of the participants in this study, who were immensely cooperative during the tests. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Bahniman Sarmah (Kendriya Vidyalaya, Nagaon) for his great support and cooperation with the data capturing. The authors are also thankful to Miss Mehbiz Begum (Ramanujan College, Nagaon) and Shaheen Begum (Abeda Inamdar College, Pune University) for their great help with the data entry.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Md. Dilsad Ahmed

Dr Dilsad Ahmed obtained his PhD from the SGB Amravati University.He worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta, Canada and University of Macau, Macau. He was also visiting scholar at the Korea Institute of Sports Science. Currently, he is working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Oregon State University, USA.

Walter King Yan Ho

Dr Walter King Yan Ho serves as Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Macau.Walter received his Undergraduate (Edith Cowan University), Master and PhD (Sydney University) from Australia.

Ahmed Al-Haramlah

Dr Ahmed Alharamlah, is the department head at the College of Arts, and Associate Professor of Applied Sport Psychology in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Activity at the University of Hafr Al Batin, Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Leonardo Jose Mataruna-Dos-Santos

Dr Leonardo Mataruna is an Assistant Professor at the Canadian University of Dubai: Dubai, UAE. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Coventry University, UK. His key research interests in the legacies of Olympic and Paralympic Games, Sport Media, Sport for Peace.