Sports motivation in Chinese college students: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: According to the 2014 National Physical Fitness and Health Monitor, people aged 9 to 22 exhibit limited physical activity, with a large proportion exercising for less than 1 h daily. China has focused on the study of college student sports motivation. This study comprehensively analyzed sports motivation studies and their relevant factors on Chinese college students. Methods: The researchers searched CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), WANFANG DATA, Cqvip, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library for sports motivation in Chinese college students. Articles from 2018 to 2023 were searched. The final analysis included 30 pieces of literatures that met the topic criteria. Results: The results show that Chinese college students' sports motivation studies used large sample sizes and covered most of China. The main sports motivations are health, shape, and relaxation. Demography, psychology, social support, physical environment, and policy aspects affect sports motivation. Lack of use of qualitative and longitudinal studies. Conclusion: In the future, scholars who research the sports motivation of Chinese college students need to pay more attention to social support, physical environment, and policy. Furthermore, scholars may try to use qualitative and longitudinal studies.

Keywords

• Sports motivation
• Influencing factors
• Status
• Chinese college students
• Systematic review