Understanding the dynamics of physical activity practice in the health context through Regulatory Focus and Self-Determination theories

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis research aimed to associate for the first time in the literature the Regulatory Focus and Self-Determination theories to understand the dynamics of physical activity practice in the health context. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted with 603 (Study 1) and 395 (Study 2) French volunteer participants aged from 18 to 69 and 19 to 71 respectively, and healthy or concerned by a health condition. The main results of structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated that across the two studies, health promotion focus was positively associated with intrinsic motivation (.44 < β < .74, p < .001), integrated regulation (.47 < β < .72, p < .001), identified regulation (.40 < β < .69, p < .001) and introjected regulation (.41 < β < .53, p < .001), whereas health prevention focus was positively related with external regulation (.31 < β < .45, p < .001) and amotivation (.32 < β < .38, p < .001). Bootstrapping analyses main results in Study 2 showed that health promotion focus was indirectly associated with physical activity through intrinsic motivation (95% CI [.02 to .11]), integrated regulation (95% CI [.00 to .08]), identified regulation (95% CI [.00 to .09]) and introjected regulation (95% CI [.04 to .12]), whereas health prevention focus was indirectly associated with physical activity through external regulation (95% CI [.00 to .12]). These studies reveal meaningful associations between Regulatory Focus and Self-Determination theories’ variables which support the relevance of associating these two models to understand the processes underlying the physical activity practice.