Exercise participation motives: A case of Turkish participants

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that motivate individuals to participate in exercise and to test the differences in exercise participation motives with regard to selected demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, frequency of facility use, and level of education). One hundred and ninety male and 256 female exercisers participated in this study. The Recreational Exercise Motivation Measure (REMM) was administered to all participants. Descriptive analyses revealed that health, appearance and skill development were the three most important motives for all participants. The analyses indicated significant gender and age differences in health motives. Furthermore, results revealed significant differences in mean scores of the health and appearance subscales with regard to the frequency of facility use. As a result, it can be concluded that health, appearance and skill development were the most important motives for all participants.