Exploring intrinsic and extrinsic motivational differences according to choice of physical activity

Participation motivation research in the domain of physical activity has typically
addressed a number of demographic and contextual factors in which there are differences in key constructs. An omission from this work has been the context of the type of sport or exercise activity that participants are involved in. Using categories of individual, coactive, and interactive activities as described by Cox (2002), this study examined intrinsic and extrinsic motives using the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, Briere, & Blais, 1995). A sample of 635 early adolescents, ages 12–15 years, were surveyed
on their participation in physical activity outside of compulsory school-based activity. Those who were involved in interactive activities had been doing so for a longer period, at a more competitive level, and participated for more hours per week than those who were involved in coactive or individual pursuits. The results indicated no significant difference across activity groups in terms of amotivation or introjected regulation scores. Significant differences were observed for the three intrinsic motivation scales, external and identified regulation. Participants involved in interactive activities scored consistently higher across these constructs than coactive and individual participants. In addition, coactive participants reported higher scores for a number of participation motivation constructs than did individual activity participants.