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New study published in the journal Bewegungstherapie und Gesundheitssport!
In cooperation with the Department of Psychology and Society and the General University Sports Department, a study was carried out on the subject of motives for sports activities among university members. The aim of the study was to investigate the motives for exercise among members of the University of Kassel in relation to gender, age, BMI and fitness. From this, indications for the planning and implementation of target group-specific exercise programs in university sports were to be uncovered.
A university-wide online survey was conducted at the beginning of 2019 to record the motives for exercise. Using the BMZI (Berner Motiv- und Zielinventar) instrument, the motive areas of fitness/health, figure/appearance, activation/enjoyment, distraction/catharsis, contact, competition/performance and aesthetics were recorded.
The results of the study show that the motive area of fitness/health is the most important for university members, followed by activation/enjoyment. There were further significant differences between the sexes. While the motives figure/appearance dominate for women, men show higher values in contact as well as competition/performance. With increasing age, the motif of fitness/health becomes more important, whereas the importance of competition/performance and distraction/catharsis decreases.
For the design of target group-specific exercise programs in the university setting, it can be seen that health-related aspects and facets of active recreation are of great importance. Overall, the results indicate that exercise programmes can generally be organized jointly for all university members. Nevertheless, there were tendencies that advocate a more specific orientation of the content of exercise programs. For example, it is suggested that parallel programs be created that differ in terms of their content focus and can thus cover the spectrum of motivational characteristics.
The study was published in February 2021 in the journal Bewegungstherapie und Gesundheitssport.