Participating in sports is an effective way for individuals to maintain and improve their physical and psychological health. People have various reasons for continuing or discontinuing exercising. In the domain of physical activity, the theory of planed behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1988) is used to understand factors affecting intention and behaviors (e.g., Armitage, 2005; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, & Biddle, 2002; Hausenblas, Carron, & Mack, 1997). According to the TPB, attitudes are an individual’s evaluation of his or her own behavior, and subjective norms pertain to one’s perceptions of important others thoughts about that behavior (Ajzen, 1988). Further, perceived behavioral control is an individual’s assessment of his or her own ability to control the behavior (Ajzen, 1988). In previous studies, the TPB has been applied to various behavioral intentions across different cultures (Chiu, Lee, & Won, 2014; Park & Lee, 2009; Yang, 2013; Yun & Park, 2010). For example, the TPB has been found to be useful for explaining intention to participate in recreational sports activities among high school students in Malaysia (Chuan, Yusof, Soon, & Abdullah, 2014). It also explained a significant amount of variance in behavioral intention among Koreans (Park & Lee, 2009; Yun & Park, 2010).

Considering its usefulness across different cultures and also in the domain of physical activity intentions, the TPB can be used to examine whether or not the type of sports that Koreans play or practice alone or with other people at public fitness and sports centers may moderate how attitude, subjective norms, or perceived behavioral control are related to the behavioral intention to continue exercising. It is possible that the type of sport or physical activity could affect how each TPB component is related to behavioral intention to play or practice sport. For example, Eves, Hoppéa, and McLaren (2003) reported that perceived behavioral control was the only significant predictor of intention to walk for exercise, whereas affective attitudes appeared to be a stronger predictor of intention to do aerobics and swimming to keep fit.

When people go to public fitness and sports centers in Korea, they can take group lessons (e.g., swimming) or have individual coaching sessions (e.g., golf), and they can play or practice sports alone (e.g., running on a track, weight training) or with others (e.g., tennis, badminton). Working out alone or having individual coaching in fitness and sports centers may require greater motivation and commitment compared to working out with others or taking group lessons. Given that Korea has been identified as a collectivistic culture where individuals are sensitive to the norms and expectations of their social and personal groups (Hofstede, 2001), when people important to those individuals, such as family, think that the individuals should continue to exercise at a center, this can be an important reason for those individuals to do so. On the other hand, it is unclear whether or not the characteristics of a sport can be a factor in how perceived behavioral control and attitude are related to intention to continue to exercise in a fitness or sports center. The individuals’ own evaluation of the behavior, or their perception of behavioral control, may not differ across different types of sports. Past researchers have reported that attitude and perceived behavioral control are more likely to be consistent and/or strong predictors of various physical activities than are subjective norms (e.g., Eves et al., 2003; Gucciardi & Jackson, 2015; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, & Biddle, 2001; Hagger et al., 2002).

In sum, we used the TPB to examine factors that might explain why people form an intention to continue working out at public fitness and sports centers in Korea. We hypothesized that subjective norms would be more strongly related to intention to continue to play or practice solo sports at public fitness and sports centers than it would be for sports played or practiced with others. We also explored whether or not perceived behavioral control and attitude were related differently to intention to exercise at public fitness and sports centers for sports played or practiced alone versus sports played or practiced with others.

Method

Sample

Participants were 115 women and 150 men who were members of four public fitness and sports centers in Korea. Their mean age was 37.15 years (SD = 13.22, Mdn = 34, mode = 25, range = 18–70). Sports in which people engaged at the centers were tennis, squash, badminton, golf, swimming, cardio training, strength training, and aerobics.

Procedure

We visited each center and contacted instructors and directors of the various sports programs to get access to places where people were taking a break from exercise at the centers. Participants were approached and those who agreed to complete our survey did so and returned the completed forms.

No personal identification information was requested.

Measures

To develop the measures for the current study, we modified items used in previous studies conducted with Korean samples (e.g., Park & Lee, 2009; Yun & Park 2010) to be appropriate for measuring intention to continue exercising. All the measures were written in Korean language and responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 5 = very much). Four items were used to measure intention to continue exercising at the sports centers. Example items were “I intend to continue exercising at this center,” and “I like to do this sport at this center whenever I have time.” Attitude was assessed with four items (e.g., “It is beneficial to use this center,” and “It is good to exercise at this center”). Four items were used to measure perceived behavioral control (e.g., “It is easy to use this center,” and “I know how to use this center well”). Subjective norms were assessed with four items (e.g., “People who are important to me expect me to use this center, and “People who influence me think positively about me exercising at this center”). The 16 items were factor analyzed to see if they showed a four-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis of normed fit index (NFI), comparative fit index (CFI), incremental fit index (IFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) yielded an acceptable fit (NFI = .94, CFI = .95, IFI = .95, RMSEA = .08) for the four-factor solution, indicating that each item loaded well on its corresponding factor. Reliabilities, means, and standard deviations of the variables, and correlations among these are shown in Table 1.

Categorization of Sports Type

The sports type categorical variable was used to characterize whether the respondents participated or practiced mostly individually or in groups. Sports such as weight training and golf were categorized as the type of sport that people would participate in or practice mostly alone. For golf, people took individual lessons only because the centers were not equipped for playing golf in groups. We distributed our survey to swimmers who were taking group lessons and not to people who swam alone at the center, so this was categorized as a group sport. For tennis, badminton, and squash, many people were taking individual lessons but all of the survey respondents also played these games with other members of the centers.

Results

Before conducting a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the categorical variable of sports type was dummy coded (0 = sports played or practiced alone in the center, 1 = sports played or practiced with others in the center), and three continuous independent variables (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) were mean centered to avoid nonessential multicollinearity. The first block of the regression analyses contained the four independent variables. The second block included interaction terms between each of the TPB variables and sports type (e.g., attitude × sports type).

The regression analysis showed that the predictors in the first block significantly contributed to intention to continue playing or practicing the sport, F(4, 254) = 119.23, p < .001, adj. R² = .65. Attitude (β = .493, p < .001) and perceived behavioral control (β = .316, p < .001) were significant, whereas subjective norms (β = .093, p = .057) and sports type (β = .071, p = .065) were not significant.

Hypothesis and Research Question

The predictors in the second block significantly contributed to intention to continue playing or practicing the sport, ΔF(3, 251) = 4.88, p = .003, ΔR² = .019. The result for subjective norms by sports type (unstandardized coefficient B = -.230, β = -.197, p = .026) was significant. The relationship between subjective norms and intention to play or practice the sport was stronger for sports played alone (β = .277, p = .002) than for sports played with others (β = .019, p = .747). Thus, the data supported our hypothesis.

The result for the attitude × sports type interaction (unstandardized coefficient B = .406, β = .30, p = .001) was significant and the relationship between attitudes and intention to play or practice the sport was stronger for sports played with others (β = .598, p < .001) than for sports played alone (β = .250, p = .003). The result for perceived behavioral control by sports type (unstandardized coefficient B = -.182, β = -.134, p = .193) was not significant. The relationship between perceived behavioral control and intention to play or practice the sport did not differ significantly between sports played alone (β = .424, p < .001) and sports played with others (β = .267, p < .001). In terms of the research question, sports type moderated the relationship between attitude and intention to play or practice the sport, but not the relationship between perceived behavioral control and intention to play or practice the sport.

Discussion

Our findings can be summarized into three main points. First, the TPB can be used to explain the behavioral intention to continue working out at public fitness and sports centers. Second, the TPB is useful in explaining Koreans’ behavioral intentions to play or practice the sport. Third, the way attitudes and subjective norms were related to intention to exercise varies according to sports type.

As Armitage (2005) noted, the TPB has been popular for use in explaining physical activity. However, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control may not make equally important contributions to intentions and behaviors. In this study, we found that sports types were considered collectively, subjective norms did not reach a level of statistical significance in relation to intention to play or practice sport. In other studies (e.g., Eves et al., 2003; Hagger et al., 2002; Hamilton & White, 2008), the results also showed that subjective norms appeared to play a weaker role in the forming of intention than did other TPB variables. In order to gain a better understanding of the role of subjective norms, conceptualization and measurement of the construct may need to be clearer, more specific, and more rigorously refined. On the other hand, the role of subjective norms may be flexible, depending on what aspects of an individual’s perception of the expectations of important others become salient for his or her intention to perform a behavior.

We found that the attitudes and intention to play sport of people who practiced or played sports with others (e.g., tennis, swimming lessons) at public fitness and sports centers were related more strongly than were the attitude of other users. On the other hand, for people who practiced or played their sport mostly alone (e.g., weight training, golf), their perceptions of the expectations of family, friends, and others important to them about using the centers were important for intention to continue to do so. For sports, physical activity, and exercises that are done mostly alone at a public fitness and sports center, in addition to an individual’s self-determination and strong will, subjective norm perceptions may imply beneficial effects of social support for that individual’s intention to keep working out at the center. For those sports that are played and practiced mostly with other members, social interaction is already built into the sports and physical activity programs (e.g., group lessons). Consequently, there may be scope for the individual’s own positive or negative evaluation of the behavior to vary to a greater extent. Alternatively, that individual’s evaluation of the behavior may include implicit assessment of positive and negative aspects of participation in lessons as a member of a group and the entire condition and experience of being with others for sports.

There were limitations in our study that need to be addressed and considered when designing future studies. First, as we assessed only intention to play or practice the sport in our study, future researchers will need to examine whether or not this intention is related to actual behavior of continuing to enroll in programs at public fitness and sports centers. Although some previous researchers (e.g., Armitage, 2005; Webb & Sheeran, 2006), have shown the predictability of intention in regard to future behavior, other researchers have questioned this (e.g., Sheeran, Conner, & Norman, 2001). Considering that various factors (e.g., behavior type, measurement instrument) could influence how closely intention is related to behavior (Webb & Sheeran, 2006), future researchers will need to examine whether or not factors such as sports type, service, and social interaction qualities at fitness centers can affect whether people continue to participate and practice, or stop doing so.

Second, we used a somewhat rough categorization of the sports and physical activities available at the public fitness and sports centers, and did not examine the specific nature of each sport and physical activity separately. For example, although we categorized swimming group lessons and tennis into the same category of sports played or practiced with others, people can practice swimming alone later when they reach a certain level of competence. For tennis, however, even if beginners take individual coaching lessons, eventually they will play with others when they reach a certain level of competence at the game. Additionally, we did not consider the role of coaches in our measurement of the TPB variables and intention to play or practice sport. Thus, future studies may benefit from more detailed categorization of sports type, characteristics of social interaction with others (e.g., availability of other center members who can function as peers with similar skills), and the teaching and leadership styles of the coaches.

Considering that exercising regularly can improve self-esteem and reduce feelings of hopelessness (Yìğìter, 2014), it is beneficial to find a way to encourage this. As we showed, it is not only individuals’ own attitudes but also their perceptions of others’ expectations that affect the intention to continue to exercise. Additionally, the social aspects of sports can be another significant factor. This being so, personnel at sports centers may need to consider these factors when trying to promote healthy behaviors, and public campaigns for health promotion should also factor in these considerations.

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Hee Sun Park, School of Media and Communication, Korea University, Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea. Email: [email protected]