“Coveting thy neighbour’s legs”: A qualitative study of exercisers’ experiences of intrinsic and extrinsic goal pursuit

Simon J. Sebire, Martyn Standage, Fiona B. Gillison, Maarten Vansteenkiste

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Goals are central to exercise motivation, although not all goals (e.g., health vs. appearance goals) are equally psychologically or behaviorally adaptive. Within goal content theory (Vansteenkiste, Niemiec, & Soenens, 2010), goals are adaptive to the extent to which they satisfy psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. However, little is known about what exercisers pursuing different goals are feeling, doing, thinking, and paying attention to that may help to explain the association between goal contents and need satisfaction. Using semistructured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis, we explored experiences of exercise among 11 adult exercisers who reported pursuing either predominantly intrinsic or extrinsic goals. Four themes emerged: (a) observation of others and resulting emotions, (b) goal expectations and time perspective, (c) markers of progress and (d) reactions to (lack of) goal achievement. Intrinsic and extrinsic goal pursuers reported divergent experiences within these four domains. The findings illuminate potential mechanisms by which different goals may influence psychological and behavioral outcomes in the exercise context.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)308-321
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Volume35
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2013

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '“Coveting thy neighbour’s legs”: A qualitative study of exercisers’ experiences of intrinsic and extrinsic goal pursuit'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this