Abstract

Insufficient participation in physical exercise has become a common issue among Chinese college students. Taking physical education classes in Chinese universities as the research context, this study examined the relationship between perceived motivational climate in physical education classes and exercise identity among college students, and further tested the mediating role of physical exercise self-efficacy. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 453 freshmen and sophomores majoring in non-physical-education disciplines from three general undergraduate universities in Anhui Province, China. SPSS was used to perform correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediation analysis. The results showed that perceived motivational climate in physical education classes, physical exercise self-efficacy, and exercise identity were significantly and positively correlated. Perceived motivational climate in physical education classes was significantly and positively associated with both exercise identity and physical exercise self-efficacy. Physical exercise self-efficacy was also significantly and positively associated with exercise identity. In this cross-sectional study, perceived motivational climate in physical education classes was positively associated with exercise identity both directly and indirectly through physical exercise self-efficacy.

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