Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Jacob Levy

Committee Members

Barbara Murphy, Kirsten Gonzalez, Deb Baldwin

Abstract

This dissertation examined hypothesized differences in college students’ exercise behaviors, motivations, and readiness for change. Previous research confirms longstanding health benefits of regular physical activity and corresponding wellbeing and mortality risks of a sedentary lifestyle. Despite this evidence, people become increasingly more inactive over time. Overall, college students perpetuate these life-long sedentariness trends. Music students encounter physical performance demands unique to degree programs, endorsing more physical and mental health complaints than most undergraduates. Self-determination theory and the transtheoretical model of behavior change postulate individuals with strong self-directed motivations and willingness to enact behavior changes are more likely to be physically active. This project’s purpose was two-fold: to determine the differences in music majors’ exercise behaviors, motivation, and readiness for exercise behavior change, and to examine the extent to which exercise motivations and readiness for change predict exercise behaviors. Selection controls comprised two criteria: (1) being 18 years of age or older and (2) being currently enrolled in a 4-year college or university. The participant sample (N = 214) consisted of 100 non-music and 114 music majors. They completed an online survey containing the following: an informed consent, Basic Demographics Questionnaire (BDQ), Godin Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (GLTPAQ), Stanford Brief Activity Survey (SBAS), Exercise Motivation Scale (EMS), and University of Rhode Island Change Assessment - Exercise 2 (URICA-E2). Descriptive statistics, Multiple Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs), and multiple linear regressions were used in data analysis. Results indicate music majors’ and non-music majors’ exercise behaviors, motivations, and readiness for change significantly differed. Music majors reported engaging in significantly less physical activity and endorsed more amotivation towards exercise, while non-music majors were more active and made stronger endorsements for three more self-determined motivations. Music students did not differ in their overall readiness for change score, but they made significantly stronger endorsements of precontemplation statements. The results of the regression analyses suggested music students who endorsed more self-directed extrinsic motivations and maintenance-stage statements exercised more frequently and had greater levels of global physical activity. Results of the above analyses are discussed, including implications for future research and calls for targeted, evidence-based interventions.

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