Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Aug 2024)
Influencing Factors of Women’s Sports Participation Based on Self-Determination Theory: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Abstract
Songbiao Zhang,1 Jiawen Huang,1 Huilin Wang1,2 1School of Business, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 2Moray House School of Education and Sport, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UKCorrespondence: Huilin Wang, Moray House School of Education and Sport, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH8 8AQ, UK, Email [email protected]: The lack of physical exercise is a global health concern, particularly affecting women. However, there is limited research on factors influencing women’s sports participation. Recent studies on increasing women’s physical activity levels differ in methodologies and conclusions. Motivation, as the cornerstone of most human behaviors, has important effects on female motor participation. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is an important method to study human behavioral motivation and supported by empirical evidence. In the field of women’s sports, the SDT is also widely used. This review explores the impact of SDT-related factors on women’s sports participation, considering age variations. It aims to guide future empirical research and promote PA across demographics.Methods: This review, by searching the existing empirical literature in Web of Science, Google Scholar, Elsevier ScienceDirect, CNKI, obtained 32 independent studies, conducted a meta-analysis after coding them, considering 11 influencing factors from the integration of SDT and Basic Psychological Needs Theory.Results/Conclusion: The study found a significant positive correlation between autonomous motivation and women’s sports participation, with identified regulation having the strongest influence. Controlled motivation showed no significant impact on women’s exercise, while amotivation had an inhibitory effect. Enhancing women’s perception of autonomy, competence, and relatedness significantly promotes sports participation. Age differences were observed in the relationship between autonomous motivation, basic psychological needs, and sports participation, with the strongest effects on women aged 25– 40, while the impact was relatively weaker in older women. The correlation between basic psychological needs and female sports participation also has a significant age difference. Thus, different measures should be taken to improve exercise participation in women of different age groups.Keywords: sports participation, self-determination theory, women, meta-analysis
