The correlation between motivation in physical education lessons and their exercise habit among junior secondary school students

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between different motivation in Physical Education (PE) and their exercise habit. Base on the results, suggestion on how teachers should do to enhance students’ exercise habit would be given. The participants, 207 junior secondary school students (girls = 133; boys = 74) completed a survey with CSMS – II and GPAQ. The results revealed that there was a negative relationship on amotivation (AM) and controlled motivation (CM) towards physical activity, while it showed a positive relationship between autonomous motivation (ATM) and exercise habit. It showed that both higher grade and female students were more likely to have higher amotivation (AM), controlled motivation (CM) and lower autonomous motivation (ATM) than lower grade and male students. It also indicated that female students generally spent less time in doing physical activity than male students. And lower grade students had higher physical activity level than higher grade students. It is suggested that teachers should increase students’ autonomous motivation in PE so as to enhance their exercise habit. Further investigation should be conducted on how to enhance students’ motivation effectively and with a more comprehensive investigation on factors affecting students’ motivation.