Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as moderators of the association between exercise frequency and exercise behavior

Purpose Motivations underlying exercise may contribute to the extent to which exercise is maladaptive, independent of exercise frequency. Extrinsic and intrinsic exercise motivation may independently moderate associations between exercise frequency and 1) compulsive and 2) healthy exercise. It was expected that among individuals with high extrinsic motivation, greater exercise frequency would be associated with more compulsive exercise, whereas among individuals with high intrinsic motivation, greater exercise frequency would be associated with more healthy exercise. Methods A total of 446 university students (50.9% female; 67.0% White) completed measures of intrinsic and extrinsic exercise motivations, exercise frequency, compulsive exercise, and healthy exercise. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for exercise were entered as simultaneous independent moderators of the associations between exercise frequency and 1) compulsive exercise and 2) healthy exercise in multiple linear regressions. Results Moderation effects of exercise motivation were not supported for compulsive exercise. Only main effects of frequency ( b = 0.04, p