Experiencing variety in exercise from a Self-Determination Theory perspective: Prospective effects in relation to motivation quality in exercise settings

Abstract

Beyond the three basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness) embedded within Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000), additional psychosocial experiences may exist and should be explored to better understand motivation. Experiencing variety has been found to be intrinsically motivating (Kahn & Ratner, 2005) and may be particularly salient in exercise contexts as expectations of task variety have been found to be conducive to intrinsic motivation (Dimmock et al., 2012). In this study, we used a prospective observational design to examine the extent to which competence, autonomy, relatedness, and variety predict the quality of internal and external behavioural regulations in exercise. Participants (N = 365) completed an online questionnaire at two time points, six weeks apart. Ratings of competence, autonomy, relatedness, and variety were found to positively predict intrinsic (R² = .41), integrated (R² = .32), and identified (R² = .36) regulation, and negatively predicted external regulation (R² = .14) and amotivation (R² = .07). In addition to the basic psychological needs, variety was found to be a unique predictor of intrinsic (B = .13, p < .001), integrated (B = .13, p = .002), identified (B = .11, p < .001) and external (B = -.09, p = .025) regulation. Theoretical implications regarding the basic psychological needs and the experience of variety in exercise settings are discussed along with how variety may supplement our understanding of motivation.

Acknowledgments: Funding for this project was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada