Personal investment predictors of adolescent motivational orientation toward exercise.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the psychosocial components of Personal Investment Theory and exercise behavior among 237 adolescents. Specifically, the adolescents' personal incentives for exercise, perceptions of sense of self, and perceived options for exercise were examined as predictors of physical activity level. A secondary purpose was to determine the interdependence between the components reflecting personal investment and self-reported exercise behavior separately by gender and activity level. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the personal investment variables accounted for 19% of the variance in exercise behavior among male adolescents and 25% of the variance in exercise behavior among female adolescents. Discriminant analysis correctly classified 76.5% of the males and 71.8% of the females as well as 80.4% of high-active adolescents and 73.3% of low-active adolescents on the basis of the three meaning components. Further, the results indicated that the significant predictors of exercise behavior varied as a function of gender as well as the adolescents' level of physical activity.