A Sense of Connection: Examining Social Identity and Adherence to a School-Based Exercise Club

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social identity and adherence in the context of a school-based, 8-week structured group exercise program. Methods: Secondary students (N = 116; M[subscript age] = 15.52 years) from 10 newly formed school-based exercise clubs reported...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of teaching in physical education 2022-07, Vol.41 (3), p.544-548
Main Authors: Bruner, Mark W, McLaren, Colin, Spink, Kevin S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attendance
Clubs
Correlation
Exercise
Gender Differences
Identification (Psychology)
Instructional Program Divisions
Intention
Predictor Variables
Secondary School Students
Social Influences
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social identity and adherence in the context of a school-based, 8-week structured group exercise program. Methods: Secondary students (N = 116; M[subscript age] = 15.52 years) from 10 newly formed school-based exercise clubs reported social identity perceptions specific to their exercise group, which were used to predict attendance and intentions to return to the club in the future. Results: Controlling for sex and grade level, the results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that exercise group social identity was significantly positively related to program attendance ([delta]R[superscript 2] = 0.09, p < 0.01). A positive relationship was also found between exercise group social identity and intentions to return to the exercise club in the future, while also controlling for sex, grade level, and program attendance ([delta]R[superscript 2] = 0.05, p < 0.05). Discussion/Conclusion: The findings suggest that stronger exercise group social identity in the form of ingroup ties is associated with greater attendance and intention to return to the school-based exercise club among secondary school students.
ISSN:0273-5024
1543-2769
DOI:10.1123/jtpe.2020-0273