




































    

 American Journal of Medical and Physical Education 
Vol.8, Issue 2; March-April 2023; 

ISSN: 2994-0524 

Impact Factor: 6.14 

1252 Columbia Rd NW, Washington DC, United States 

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"UNDERSTANDING THE INFLUENCE OF PERCEIVED BENEFITS ON 

SPORT PARTICIPATION" 
 

 
1Dr. Sarah Johnson, and 2Prof. Michael Anderson, 
1Department of Sport Management, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. 
2Department of Sports Psychology, Florida State University, USA 

 

Abstract: Sport has the potential to promote social good, but understanding how it accomplishes this remains a 

challenge. This study seeks to shed light on the perceived benefits of sport participation, examining how these 

benefits are perceived by individuals and their impact on participation in sports. Physiological, psychological, 

and sociological benefits are all associated with engaging in sports, yet little is known about the relative 

importance of each benefit in influencing participation behaviors. This knowledge gap may contribute to the 

growing issue of physical inactivity and poor health in society. 

To address this gap, we employ an alternate conceptualization of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explore 

the underlying psychological processes associated with sport participation. By delving into how individuals 

perceive the benefits of sports and their influence on participation, we aim to provide insights that can inform 

sport management practices and enhance the contribution of sports to social well-being. 

Keywords: Sport participation, social good, benefits, psychological processes, Theory of Planned Behavior 

(TPB).  

 

 

Introduction  

Sport management researchers have been challenged to advance our understanding of how sport can promote 

social good (Chalip, 2006; Zeigler, 2007).  One way to contribute to an enhanced understanding of how sport can 

promote social good is to examine the benefits of sport participation available to both individuals and society as 

a whole.  Specifically, sport administrators should strive to understand how benefits are perceived by participants, 

and how perceptionsfit into the larger psychological process that drives participation in sport.    

Physiological (Warburton, Nicol,andBredin, 2006), psychological (Deciand Ryan, 1985; 

HaggerandChatzisarantis, 2005) and sociological (Coalter, 2007) benefits are all believed to be attainable through 

sport participation.  The respective salience of each benefit in the minds of both sport and non-sport participants 

remains unknown however, despite the fact that itmay explain some differences in sport participation behaviors 

(Koivula, 1999).  Academicians have not yet successfully developed and empirically tested an effective model 

explaining the psychological process that underlies sport participation.  A collective lack of focus and inability to 

model sport participation effectively may be responsible for troubling trends related to physical inactivity and ill-

health that have recently emerged in society.  The objective of this research is to contribute to an enhanced 

understanding of the underlying psychological processes associated with sport participation.  This is 

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 American Journal of Medical and Physical Education 
Vol.8, Issue 2; March-April 2023; 

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Impact Factor: 6.14 

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accomplished by exploring the phenomenon within an alternate conceptualization of the Theory of Planned 

Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991).  

The current research includes a modified version (Naylor and Kim, 2010) of Kang’s(2004) societal quality 

instrument designed to measure the importance that sport participants place on physical, sociological, and 

psychological benefits.  The researchreported here builds on the Naylor and Kim study by testing how the 

importance of these benefits fit into the larger psychological process that leads to sport participation.  Developing 

an understanding of the psychological processes that lead to sport-related behavior will allow sport marketers to 

more effectively develop and implement relevant messages that will resonate with consumers (Ko, 

Park,andClaussen, 2008).Examining a set of relationships beginning with attitudes and incorporating behavioral 

intention is also a traditional framework for marketing research (Bagozzi, 1981).  

The research is significant because of inactivity (Sapkota et al., 2006), which is directly related to ill-health in the 

form of obesity (Kelly et al., 2008).  From this we can conclude that the physiological benefits available through 

sport are not currently being taken advantage of to the extent that would benefit both individuals and society.  

Therefore, an examination of the way in which benefits are perceived, and how that perception fits into a larger 

psychological process is important (Koivula, 1999).  The research is also significant because to date, marketing 

efforts designed to increase sport participation have been criticized (Lera-Lopez andRapun-Garate, 2005).  The 

research has the potential to inform marketing practices designed to increase sport participation.    

The research is significant because it addresses calls for inquiry in this area and has recently received increasing 

attention from the broader sport community including sport management scholars (Chalip, 2006; Zeigler, 2007), 

sport psychology scholars (NiggandEstabrooks, 2003),government (Sapkota et al., 2006)and nongovernmental 

agencies (World Health Organization, 2004).    

Literature Review  

Participant Sport  

Sport is a pervasive and valued social institution around the world.  It is intertwined with economic activity, 

character building, patriotism and personal health (Coakley, 2003).  For the purpose of the current research, 

participant sport is defined as the performance of activities which inherently require moderately intense physical 

exertion, and are perceived by the individual as relatively freely chosen, and either beneficial or enjoyable (Beaton 

and Funk, 2008).    

Although contemporary sport participation rates for subsets of the population have been described as sporadic 

and difficult to quantify (Balaskaand Kouthouris, 2014; Barber and Havitz, 2001; Lera-Lopez andRapun-Garate, 

2005, 2007), some general trends have emerged. Humphreys and Ruseski (2009) report that just over 50% of the 

U.S. population participates in sport regularly, based on data available from the National Sporting Goods 

Association.  Sport participation declines as young people move from primary school to middle school, and then 

eventually high school (Pharr and Lough, 2014).  Among adults, the percentage of sport participants in the U.S. 

falls drastically from early life stages to 18.2% (Ham et al., 2009).  Understanding why this takes place should be 

of interest to scholars and practitioners.  

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It has been speculated that the recent overall decline in sport participation may be due to multiple factors 

(Johnston, Delva,and O’Malley, 2007).  It is commonly accepted that modern conveniences backed by large 

advertising budgets have facilitated sedentary lifestyles in North America (Barber and Havitz, 2001; Putnam, 

1995). It is very difficult for administrators promoting participant-based sport to compete with the complexity 

and pervasiveness of messages supporting mainstream commercial goods and services, many of which facilitate 

inactivity (Mowenand Baker, 2009).    

Increasing participation in sport has become an important priority of governments and government-related 

organizations such as the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States, an organization that regards the 

issue as a matter of public health (Graham and Graham, 2008).  Owners of participant-based sport businesses are 

also interested based on the potential to increase profits (Vail, 2007).  Sport marketers who develop and sell 

equipment and apparel would also benefit from increased sport participation.  Sport scholars have recently made 

sport participation a priority based on the benefits potentially available (Coalter, 2007; Wicker, Breuer, and 

Pawlowski, 2009). Representatives of the sport management academy have also specifically called for inquiry 

related to sport participation (Scheerder ,Vanreusel and Taks, 2005; Zeigler, 2007).  All in all, there is a wide 

spectrum of those interested in growing participant based sport for a variety of reasons.  

Benefits of Participant Sport  

Benefits from sport participation can be categorized broadly as physiological, psychological and sociological 

(United Nations, 2003). Potential physiological benefits attainable through physical activity such as sport 

participation are significant (Humphreys, McLeod and Ruseski, 2013) and include, but are not limited to, a 

reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, type-2 diabetes and obesity (World Health Organization, 

2004).  Physical inactivity is more prevalent than any other modifiable risk factor for the above-mentioned health 

problems (Warburton et al., 2006).  Research has shown that if money were to be invested into increased levels 

of physical activity in communities, health care costs would drastically decrease (Colditz, 1999).    

Psychological benefits of physical activity are numerous and have also been thoroughly examined over the years 

(ChatzisarantisandHagger, 2007).  In general, psychological benefits are believed to be related to three innate 

needs, autonomy, competence and relatedness (HaggerandChatzisarantis, 2005).  All three can be experienced 

through sport.  It has also been argued that psychological benefits may be generated through hedonic enjoyment, 

an emotion that reflects pleasure as opposed to displeasure and satisfaction with life (Deciand Ryan, 1985).  

Landers (1997) argued that involvement in physical activity can provide relief from symptoms of depression and 

anxiety as well as improve mood and self-esteem.  Evidence from one study demonstrates that psychological 

benefits associated with physical activity were highest among everyone over age forty and women of all ages 

(Stephens, 1988).   

A variety of sociological benefits are also attributable to sport participation (Cabane, 2014).  Sport participation 

can build social capital (Coalter, 2007), which is linked to positive social networks in communities.  Social capital 

is a by-product of social interactions (Putnam, 1995), such as those found in sport.  Sport participation has been 

linked to lowered delinquent behavior among adolescents (Milleret al., 1998), another sociological benefit.  Pate 

et al., (2000) found that both male and female sport participants enrolled in high schools were less likely to report 

the use of cigarettes and other illicit drugs which might be considered both sociological and physiological benefits.    

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Impact Factor: 6.14 

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It stands to reason that if individuals consider these benefitsto be important, it would drive involvement in sport 

participation.  However, it remains largely unknown what impact one’sperception of the importance of these 

benefits has on the underlying psychological process that leads to sport participation.  A better understanding of 

the role of benefits perceptions would be very useful to those charged with marketing participant-based sport.  

Marketing of Participant Sport  

There have been calls in the sport literature for an increasing focus on participation in the context of the larger 

academic field of consumer behavior, with particular emphasis on how people become involved in sport and what 

makes them committed (Bodet, 2012; Shank, 2009; TaksandScheerder, 2006).  This involves looking beyond 

demographic variables in isolation (i.e., age, gender, income) which are generally not as useful to marketers as 

more powerful psychographic indicators (Ko, Park and Claussen, 2008).  Attitudes, motivational structures and 

other relevant psychological processes must be examined to give sport marketers the best opportunity to develop 

effective messages that will resonate with consumers.  

Marketing plans in sport participation settings “should be based on extensive marketing research related to a 

variety of aspects of sport participation and consumer behavior” (Alexandrisand Carroll, 1999, p. 329).  For 

example, if sport marketers are aware of benefits sought, they can tailor programs and potentially satisfy 

participants (Gray-Lee andGranzin, 1997).    

Despite calls for research examining the marketing of sport participation, few scholars have examined sport 

participation from a consumer behavior perspective (notable exceptions includeBalaskaand Kouthouris, 2014; 

Latimer et al., 2008; Naylor and Kim, 2010; TaksandScheerder, 2006).  This lack of research is particularly 

noteworthy, given that traditional marketing strategies used by sport administrators have not generally been 

successful in stemming declining sport participation rates (Graham and Graham, 2008; Lera-Lopez andRapun-

Garate, 2005; Vail, 2007).   

Increasing inactivity in North America, combined with the fact that there are significant benefits available from 

sport participation,suggests that marketing strategies need to be improved.  Effective consumer behavior based 

research is required to guide future efforts to market sport participation. Ineffective marketing efforts may be at 

fault for declining involvement in participant sport, perhaps because sport administrators took for granted the fact 

that people wanted to participate in sport.  Now because people perhaps have more alternate ways to spend 

discretionary time and money than ever before, sport administrators will have to market participation 

opportunities based on a fundamental understanding of the underlying psychology of sport participants.    

Theoretical Framework  

A single, universally-accepted theoretical framework to shape research activities related to sport participation 

does not exist (Beaton andFunk, 2008).  The majority of theory in this area has been shaped in the field of health 

(e.g., SusserandSusser, 1996) and sport psychology (e.g., Spence and Lee, 2003) with little contribution from 

sport and recreation social scientists, and almost no contribution from sport marketing scholars.  A theoretical 

framework is essential in the domain of sport participation because it is a complex behavior determined by many 

factors and is not easily linked to demographic correlates (Funk, Mahoney,and Havitz, 2003).    

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Psychographic variables (i.e. measures of attitudes, values and beliefs) are vital to build a full understanding of 

participant sport because they can be used by marketers to effectively communicate the availability and benefits 

of goods and services (Ko, et al., 2008; Shank, 2009). A useful conceptual framework in sport participation 

settings should also provide functional meaning to practitioners (Beaton, Funk, and Alexandris, 2009). One 

framework to consider is the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991).  

Theory of Planned Behavior  

The TPB is a model of social cognition designed to predict and explain human behavior in specific contexts 

(Ajzen, 1991). The TPB is based on the notion that behavior is explained by the valence of behavioral, normative, 

and control beliefs.  These three belief systems – Attitudes, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behavioral Control 

– are determinants of first intentions and then behaviors.    

Attitude refers to the degree that an individual “has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation or appraisal of the 

behavior in question” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188).  The TPB integrates specific attitudes toward the target behavior, 

because general attitudes tend to be poor predictors of behavior in specific situations (Ajzen, 1991).  The attitude 

component of the TPB is further broken down into affective and instrumental attitudes. The second of the TPB 

determinants is subjective norms.  Subjective norms “summarize an individual’s perceptions of social influence 

such as beliefs that significant others want them to participate in the target behavior” (Hagger et al., 2007, p. 2).  

Subjective norms are also conceptualized as a perception and refer to social pressure that an individual feels to 

either perform or not perform a behavior (Ajzen, 1991).  In the context of sport participation, this construct 

captures the pressure than an individual feels from others around them to participate in sport. The third 

determinant, Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) is similar to Bandura’s (1977) notion of self-efficacy, a 

person’s belief that they are able to take action to deal with certain situations.    

Two endogenous components are featured in the TPB. The intention construct, together with its three 

determinants, captures strength of motivation associated with a given behavior (Ajzen, 1991).  Intention is 

believed to be the most proximal determinant of the target behavior.  

Within the TPB, the relationship between the determinant constructs (PBC, Subjective Norms and Attitude) and 

behavior is completely mediated by behavioral intention. Sport participation is the focal point of the research and 

the target behavior.  The most important outcome of the decision making process associated with participant-

based sport from a marketing perspective is the participation decision itself (Shank, 2009).   

In TPB frameworks, behavior is typically operationalized using self-report measures of past behavior (e.g., 

Hagger et al., 2007) asking respondents to identify the number of times they have participated over a given period.  

One example of how this construct has been operationalized comes from Hagger et al., (2007) who asked survey 

respondents how many times they had participated within the last five weeks.    

A model has been derived to shape the current research project (Figure 1) based on the TPB. While the 

Instrumental Attitude component has been measured as a unidimensional construct (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980, 

Rhodes and Courneya, 2004) within TPB frameworks, it is measured here using a multi-dimensional scale 

incorporating the notion of benefit importance as related to each of the three benefits of active sport participation 

that have been identified. It has been found in previous research that many identify highly with the benefit from 

recreational sport participation (Spivey and Hritz, 2013). It is theorized that this alternate conceptualization is a 

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Vol.8, Issue 2; March-April 2023; 

ISSN: 2994-0524 

Impact Factor: 6.14 

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useful addition to the traditional TPB framework in the context of sport participation.  In fact, instrumental value 

is believed to lead to persistent behavior (Ryan andDeci, 2007).  If individuals value the benefits available, they 

may adhere to sport participation, which is essential to accrue those benefits.  Exploring attitude in sport contexts 

is particularly important because they have been previously linked to adherence and behavioral patterns (Tomik, 

Olex-Zarychta and Mynarksi, 2012).    

  
Figure 1:  Reconceptualized TPB Model of Participant Sport  

The TPB provides a thoroughly tested and accepted framework to examine physically active behavior (Hagger, 

Chatzisarantis, and Biddle, 2002).  In addition, the TPB incorporates psychological antecedents as well as a 

manifest behavioral variable, both of which are of interest from a marketing perspective.  The appropriateness of 

the TPB in the context of sport participation has been widely lauded (e.g., Chun, Yusof, Soon and Abdullah, 

2014; Hagger, et al., 2007).Reconceptualizing the instrumental component to incorporate an assessment of 

potential benefits is important because this construct may be linked to behavioral persistence (Ryan andDeci, 

(2007), a desirable outcome which may facilitate benefit attainment.  

Method  

Participantsand Procedure  

Participants representing a variety of age groups and a relatively equal combination of men and women 

werepurposefully sampled using aquota scheme.    

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Data collection was conducted by 68 research assistants(graduate students) in a variety of communities across the 

Southeastern United States.Adult sport participants (n = 691) were given a questionnaire to complete; the data 

collected were utilized to test the behavioral model.     

Questionnaire  

Demographic variables including age, gender, marital status and ethnicity were included in the instrument.The 

items used to measure the multi-dimensional instrumental attitude construct were adapted from the work of 

Naylor and Kim (2010) and Kang (2004).  Twelve items were selected to measure three dimensions of 

instrumental attitude. Respondents indicated their level of agreement with statements based on a 7-pt scale. 

Respondents were asked to respond to three Affective Attitude items on a continuum anchored by pairs of bipolar 

adjectives.  The three pairs utilized in the research are taken from the work of Rhodes et al. (2006), and include 

unenjoyable/enjoyable, unpleasant/pleasant, and boring/exciting.    

In order to measure the Subjective Norms construct, three items were utilized.Hagger et al., (2007) used two items 

(listed first in Table 3) to measure the construct in their research.  A third item was developed specifically for this 

research, essentially to ensure that the construct was measured effectively and thoroughly.  The Hagger et al. 

study is also the source for three items used to measure perceived behavioral control.  For both constructs, 

respondents indicated the extent to which they agree with each item on a 7point scale anchored by disagree and 

agree.A single continuous level variable is employed in the current research to measure sport participation 

intentions.  Respondents were asked to report the number of times they intended to participate in sport over the 

upcoming year.  Finally, respondents were asked to report their average weekly sport participation over the past 

year.    

Analysis  

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using MPlus statistical software to examine the quality of the 

questionnaire items and the structure of the constructs of interest. CFA was appropriate because the nature of the 

research met three criteria as set forth by Thompson (2004). Going into the analysis, there were specific 

expectations about the number of factors, which variables reflected given factors and that the factors would be 

correlated.  

One of the most common means of assessing fit associated with CFA models is an examination of the significance 

of the chi-square statistic.  Other fit indices should also be examined (Weston and Gore, 2006). Two incremental 

fit indices, the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and comparative fit index (CFI) have been recommended (McDonald 

and Ho, 2002) and two absolute fit indices, the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and root mean 

square error of approximation (RMSEA) statistics are also used in the current research. Hu and Bentler (1989) 

have recommended a combinatorial approach in the assessment of the magnitude of fit indices rather than 

evaluating model fit using any of the fit indices in isolation.    

Assessing the reliability of measures used in the current research is through the use of the construct reliability 

statistic (Hair et al., 2010).  The construct reliability statistic measures the degree to which two or more indicators 

share in their measurement of a construct (Hair et al., 2010).  If the value of the coefficient exceeds .70, a scale 

can be considered reliable.  It is also important to provide evidence of validity, in order to show that research 

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instruments are performing effectively.  There are two main types of construct validity, and statistical evidence 

was generated for both.   In order to assess convergent validity, average variance extracted (AVE) scores 

werecalculated (Hair et al, 2010).  If a construct has an AVE score above .5, it is an indication that the variance 

associated with that construct is greater than the variance associated with error and an argument can then be made 

that the scale has convergent validity.  The second major type of construct validity is discriminant validity, which 

refers to a construct differing from other constructs that it theoretically ought to.  In order to provide evidence of 

discriminant validity, latent construct correlations can be examined. Correlations among constructs that are meant 

to measure different concepts should be low (Hair et al., 2010), although related concepts can be expected to 

correlate to some degree.    

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a confirmatory technique used to test theory (TabachnickandFidell, 2007).  

If the measurement model is deemed a good fit to the data, then structural relations amongst the latent variables 

can be estimated and tested for model fit, using similar assessments as employed for the measurement model. It 

has been suggested that samples of over 200 are generally acceptable for SEM (Weston and Gore, 2006).  The 

sample used for both the initial CFA procedure (n = 200) andthe estimation of the full structural model (n = 491) 

are appropriate based on this benchmark.  

Results  

Table1displays statistics related to several demographic and behavioral variables.  The final sample included more 

males than females, but the mean (35.21) and standard deviation (13.60) for the age variable indicate that a range 

of ages participated in the research.  The majority of the sample self-reported as White/Caucasian (67.7%).  The 

sample can be considered quite active sport participants as on average, respondents reported more than three 

weekly intention and behavioral participant sport episodes.  In addition, the respondents collectively attributed a 

relatively high level of importance to the benefits attainable through sport participation (i.e., between 5-6 on a 7 

point scale; Table 2).    

Table 1: Demographic and Behavioral Characteristics of Sport Participants  

  

  Sport Participants     n  %   

Gender       

male   371   53.70   

female   320   46.30   

   Mean   Standard Deviation   

Age (years)   35.21   13.60   

Sport Participation Episodes Per Week   3.04   3.75   

Sport Participation Intentions (weekly episodes)   3.08   4.50   

Table 2: Means and Standard Deviations for Instrumental Attitude Items  

Item*   Instrumental Attitude Variables   Mean   Standard 

Deviation   

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PHYS1   It is important that participating in sport improves 

physical health.   

5.73   1.47   

PHYS2   Sport promoting a participant's physical well-

being is important.   

5.72   1.44   

PHYS3   Sport fostering physical health within society is 

important.   

5.50   1.48   

PHYS4   It is important that participants experience 

physical benefits through sport.   

5.61   1.45   

SOC1   It is important that sport builds friendships among 

participants.   

5.47   1.54   

SOC2   It is important that sport cultivates friendships 

within communities.   

5.31   1.55   

SOC3   Sport participants sharing a sense of camaraderie 

is important.   

5.42   1.50   

SOC4   It is important that sport fosters a sense of 

togetherness.   

5.40   1.49   

PSYCH1   It is important that sport provides psychological 

benefits to participants.   

5.40   1.51   

PSYCH2   Sport promoting a participant's psychological 

well-being is important.   

5.45   1.47   

PSYCH3   Participants enhancing their psychological health 

through sport is important.   

5.49   1.48   

PSYCH4   Sport helping participants achieve better mental 

health is important.   

5.46   1.45   

*PHYS – Physiological, SOC – Sociological, PSYCH – Psychological  

Confirmatory Factor Analyses  

A random subset (n=200) of respondents was generated in order to explore the scale psychometrics ofthe TPB 

constructs.  Multivariate normality of data is an important assumption associated structural equation modeling 

procedures.  As such, Mardia’s coefficient, a measure of multivariate kurtosis, was calculated using LISREL 8.80 

statistical software.  The test was statistically significant (x2= 2866.97, p<.01) and accordingly, the MLM 

estimator was used on subsequent analyses.  The chi-square test of model fit (x2= 299.86, df = 174, p<.01) was 

significant indicating poor fit of the data to the proposed data, but as noted, this is not an uncommon result for 

unsaturated models and relatively large data sets.    

The SRMR (.05) and RMSEA (.06) combinatorial thresholds as suggested by Hu and Bentler (1988) was reached 

indicating good model fit, while the CFI (.94) and TLI (.93) values were very close.  Psychometric statistics for 

the constructs and variables are depicted in Table 3.  Factor loadings, AVE and construct reliability statistics were 

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almost exclusively indications of the scales’ quality based on the thresholds identified previously. Although 

correlations among the Instrumental Attitude constructs were quite high (.83 - .93) this may be a result of the 

factors represent associated concepts. Nevertheless, this finding is discussed further in a subsequent section.  

Table 3: Scale Psychometrics for TPB Constructs and Variables  

Item   Factor Loading   AVE   Construct Reliability   

Phys1   0.770   0.60   0.85   

Phys2   0.772     

Phys3   0.793     

Phys4   0.749     

Soc1   0.859   0.73   0.92   

Soc2   0.875     

Soc3   0.813     

Soc4   0.865     

Psych1   0.848   0.72   0.91   

Psych2   0.854     

Psych3   0.829     

Psych4   0.854     

Aff1   0.804   0.66   0.86   

Aff2   0.819     

Aff3   0.824     

Pbc1   0.812   0.46   0.70   

Pbc2   0.679     

Pbc3   0.445     

Sns1   0.841   0.59   0.81   

Sns2   0.619     

Sns3   0.832     

Structural Model  

The next stage of the data analysis involved an estimation of a full structural model of the TPB variables (Figure 

2) using the data from the second subset of participants (n = 491), and the measurement structure examined with 

the first participant subset (n = 200).    

  

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Figure 2: Full Structural Model of Participant Sport  

The chi-square statistic was significant (x2 = 475.35, df = 220, p< .01) but other fit indices including CFI (.95), 

TLI (.95), SRMR (.04), RMSEA (.05)suggested good model fit when interpreted in combination as per Hu and 

Bentler (1989).  

The Attitude construct was supported by the Affective and reconceptualized Instrumental Attitude latent 

constructs.  These relationships were not tested in the initial assessment of measurement structure. As was evident 

from the CFA, the Instrumental Attitude construct itself was well-supported by the three importance sub-scales 

that lie underneath it.  In all cases, paths between first and second order factors were significant and reasonably 

large.  In contrast the path coefficients from Attitude (β =.216, p <.01), SNS (β = -.142, p = .26) and PBC (β 

=.056, p = .52)to Intention and from Intention to Participation (β = .374, p = .01), serve to explain only a small 

portion of the variance for the two endogenous components of the model  

(R2
Intention = .03, R2

Participation= .14). Of note is the fact that the paths from attitude to intention and from intention 

to participation are significant while the paths from subjective norms and PBC to intention are not significant.  

Discussion  

Instrumentation  

This project represents a scale development exercise for the newly conceptualized Instrumental Attitude factors 

and an initial test of the construct within a behavioral model. The performance of the first-order Instrumental 

Attitude factors was promising based on factor loadings, good AVE values and adequate construct reliability 

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statistics.  However, the three latent factors that underlie the Instrumental Attitude construct were relatively highly 

correlated with one another. The correlations among the Physiological, Sociological and Psychological factors 

can be taken as evidence that the three factors were perhaps actually measuring one construct, instrumental 

attitude, and that slicing the construct more thinly was not appropriate.  

The lack of differentiation among the Instrumental Attitude sub-scales may not be a reflection that the multi-

dimensional conceptualization of Instrumental Attitude didn’t work, but rather that the respondents indicated 

relatively equal importance in all three forms of benefit attainable through sport.  In making this case, one would 

weigh the body of evidence supporting the benefit factors’ face validity as more compelling than the lack of 

statistical discriminant validity associated with the factors.    

Another possible explanation for the lack of discriminant validity for the Instrumental Attitude factors is described 

as acquiescence, which is a tendency to agree with attitude statements regardless of content (Winkler, Kanouse, 

and Ware, 1982).  

The psychometrics from the first administration of the Instrumental Attitude variables (Naylor and Kim, 2010) 

were a stronger indication of the multi-dimensional conceptualization of Instrumental Attitude than those 

calculated in the current project. Specifically, the Physiological, Sociological and Psychological factors 

discriminated from each other in the Naylor and Kim study, which can be interpreted to mean that respondents 

were able to differentiate conceptually among the categories of benefit.  The correlations among the Physiological, 

Sociological and Psychological factors in the study ranged from .62 to .69.  No rationale is immediately apparent 

as to why the Instrumental Attitude factors discriminated from one another in the Naylor and Kim study but not 

in the current project.    

The data collection procedure was similar, although there were less items used to measure the Instrumental 

Attitude factors.  Best performing items from the Naylor and Kim study(i.e., those that had high factor loadings 

and limited cross-loadings on alternate factors) were utilized in the current project.  

Despite relatively minor psychometric nuances, the current project contributes to the ongoing development of a 

scale to measure Instrumental Attitude towards sport participation. Based on the sound theoretical foundation 

from which the instrument has been developed as well as the importance of understanding the underlying 

psychology of sport participation, it is advisable to continue to improve and test the instrument.  Psychometric 

statistics for the Affective Attitude and Subjective Norms factors provided evidence that the items performed 

well. The factor loadings were sufficiently high and AVE and construct reliability scores were acceptable.  This 

was not unexpected as both constructs are theoretically and empirically well established within the TPB (Hagger, 

Chatzisarantis, and Biddle, 2002).  Overall, the PBC construct did not perform as well.One of the items used to 

measure this construct had a low factor loading (.445) which can be interpreted to mean thatthe indicator had less 

than half of its variance accounted for by the latent variable.  A review of the wording of the poorly performing 

individual item (PBC3) did not reveal any particular reason why the item did not work well.  The PBC items were 

taken directly from the work of Hagger et al., (2007) and had been shown to perform well previously.   

Structural Model of Participant Sport  

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One of the main purposes of the current project was to empirically examine a behavioral model including 

Instrumental Attitude in the context of participant sport.  With a measurement model shown to fit the data 

reasonably well, the next step was therefore to estimate a full model including paths among the latent TPB 

constructs.  The hypothesized higher order relationships within the Attitude Construct (i.e., from Affective 

Attitude and Instrumental Attitude) were well supported by the data.  In addition, the path from the Attitude 

construct to Intentions was positive and significant although the magnitude of the coefficient was quite small.  

The Subjective Norms construct did not significantly drive the intention to participate in sport as had been 

hypothesized.  The path was negative and insignificant.    

There is a substantial body of research that supports the existence of a meaningful path between these two 

constructs, a portion of which is reviewed by Hagger, Chatzisarantis, and Biddle(2002).  The fact that the path 

was not significant suggests that in this context with this sample of sport participants, Subjective Norms do not 

play an important role in an individual’s intention to participate in sport.  This may be reflective of a more 

individualistic culture in the southeastern United States in which the influence of others is not as important in 

sport participation decisions as it may be in other parts of the United States or the world.  Alternatively, results in 

this study may provide evidence that social influence on an individual’s decision to participate in sport is not as 

important as compared to behaviors in other domains of physical activity and perhaps other non-sport behaviors 

as well.  This might be explained by the nature of sport itself, which is a voluntary, free-time activity.  Social 

influence may be more important in behaviors related to parenting, employment or civic responsibilities than it is 

in one’s decision to participate in sport.  The Intention construct was measured with just a single variable which 

may have limited its effectiveness in this explanatory model, and thus the statistical impact of the two constructs 

which were hypothesized to drive it. Likewise, data did not support the PBC construct as a significant driver of 

Intention among the sport participants as had been hypothesized.    

Taken together the current project represents good evidence of the potential role that the re-conceptualized attitude 

factors may play in the psychological process that drives participation in sport.  Specifically, the factor appears 

to be linked to the intent to participate in sport and subsequently the participation behavior itself.    

The path from participation intentions to participation was positive and significant.  Attitude and behavioral 

intention are two of potentially many factors that impact sport participation so the expectation of these constructs 

generating significant variance for endogenous constructs in a research project like this is probably unrealistic.  

As a result, R-square values for the two endogenous variables employed in the current research were quite low 

(R2
Intention= .03, R2

Participation= .14).Nevertheless, the two significant positive paths within the structural model 

provide evidence supporting the re-conceptualized Instrumental Attitude factor developed and tested in this 

research.    

Managerial Implications and Implications for Future Research  

Perhaps most significantly in terms of managerial implications, evidence has been found in the current research 

to support the notion that people across an array of demographics value the importance of the benefits attainable 

through participation in sport.  This suggests that sport managers should highlight the benefits available in 

promotional efforts.  Further, the construct has been statistically linked to both the intention to participate in sport 

and participation itself – desirable outcomes for sport managers across the industry.    

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Considering the work that has now been done in the development of a scale to measure Instrumental Attitude 

towards the benefit available through participant sport, ongoing research is essential.  Although a multi-

dimensional conceptualization of instrumental attitude makes sense theoretically and has been thoroughly 

justified based on prior academic inquiry but in reality, it is still not clear whether individuals really conceptualize 

the categories of benefit as is put forth here.  In other words, benefits attainable through participant based sport 

may be a singular, uncomplicated notion that cannot be broken down into component parts.  A qualitative exercise 

in which sport and non-sport participants provide an in depth perspective on the way in which they conceptualize 

the benefits attainable through participant sport is warranted to ensure their appropriateness. This exercise would 

provide evidence of whether differences do in fact exist regarding the categories of benefit importance that have 

been theorized.   Another option would be to revert back to the increased number of items used to measure the 

Physiological, Sociological and Psychological importance factors in the pilot study and initiate further 

psychometric exercise to identify good items.    

Although strong evidence was not found supporting the hypothesized model in its entirety,exploring the 

relationships among TPB variables remains an important direction for future research.  The hypothesized structure 

of the Attitude construct in this research was supported by the data. Overall the implication of the current project 

for future research is that the reconceptualized factor has potential, but its items need ongoing refinement. In 

addition, the construct should continue to be modeled in conjunction with outcome variables of interest, perhaps 

beyond a self-report of past participation frequency.  Duration of participation would be one outcome variable of 

interest.   

The goal of this line of research ought to be the examination of psychological constructs in ways that maximize 

the variance explained on the key outcome variable – sport participation.  Another intriguing area of potential 

research would be to examine the level of physical activeness associated with particular sports compared with 

others and how that may be linked to the importance that an individual places on the physical benefits attainable 

from their involvement.  If it is discovered that some individuals play sport purely for the physiological benefit, 

than that would have clear marketing implications (i.e., promotional images and messages could reflect the 

potential for an individual to attain these benefits).  Likewise, the importance of sport infrastructure (Hallman, 

Wicker, Breuer and Schonherr, 2012) for various benefit inducing sports and other constraints must be considered 

as an understanding of participant sport moves forward.    

Although the sample in the current study features a relatively representative racial profilefor the United States, 

the underlying psychology of sport participants within specific racial groups (e.g., African Americans or other 

groups around the world) remains of interest and could be examined specifically in future research.  In fact, 

establishing Instrumental Attitude factorial invariance across racial groups would be useful given recent interest 

from scholars in race-related sport management research (e.g., Armstrong, 2011).   

Limitations   

One of the most significant limitations of the data collection is the fact that it was cross sectional.   A longitudinal 

design may have provided a superior means to examine the relationships among the target variables – specifically 

Intention and Participation.    

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The TPB framework incorporates the relationship between Intention and Behavior, which take place at separate 

moments in time. Therefore, a cross sectional data collection is not ideal.  In fact, the behavior construct in this 

project was measured as a self-report of past behavior. This methodological nuance, although relatively common 

in cross-sectional research studies, does represent counter intuition. Self-reporting can be fraught with recall 

inaccuracies and other biases. Another weakness of the data collection is the convenience sampling procedure 

that was employed.  Steps were taken during the data collection to create a diverse sample in terms of age, gender 

and weekly sport participation but the fact that a truly random sample was not generated does limit the conclusions 

that can be drawn somewhat.    

There are ongoing definitional issues associated with exactly meant by the notion of “sport” in sport management 

research circles.  Lera-Lopez and RapunGarate (2011) lamented the lack of a single, universally accepted 

definition of sport available to researchers.  Inevitably, and despite an attempt on the instrumentation itself to 

clarify what was meant, respondents would have different views of what exactly comprises sport and what 

doesn’t. Unique interpretations of what comprises “sport” in the mind of each respondent impact not only 

frequency and intention measures but also items representing the other constructs.Despite these limitations, the 

research represents an important step forward in developing our understanding of the underlying psychology of 

participant sport.    

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