EXAMINING GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

In today’s world, where people are increasingly exposed to high levels of stress and demanding living and working conditions, finding the right motivation for exercise and engaging in physical activity (PA) presents a significant challenge for the modern individual. Contemporary working conditions, especially following the development of information technologies, have led to changes that different generations experience and adapt to in various ways. One way to overcome the challenges of the modern era is to find motivation for PA, whether driven by internal satisfaction or external factors. The research, which examined generational and gender differences in exercise motivation, included 204 participants from the Republic of Serbia, and the Exercise Motivations Inventory – EMI-2 was used to assess their motives. To test the differences, a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc analysis were applied. Based on the results, it was concluded that there is no significant interaction effect between generation and gender on intrinsic motivators. On the other hand, the study revealed a statistically significant moderate effect of generation on extrinsic motivators, with differences observed only between Generation X and Generation Z. In this way, the research provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of motivation for physical activity in a national context and serves as a foundation for further studies in this field.