آزمایش نمونه‌ی دو-عاملی برای بازآرایی عوامل کلی و ویژه‌ی انگیزه در نظریه‌ی خودمختاری

• Bi-factor analysis is useful for examining specific and general factors of motivation.• Identified and intrinsic regulation were related to physical activity at Time 1.• General motivation predicted physical activity at Time 1.• General motivation predicted Time 2 outcomes above quality of motivation.• Examining specific and general factors of motivation has important implications.We examined the utility of the bi-factor model for disentangling general motivation and specific motivations (i.e., amotivation, external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic regulations) in relation to goal progress and physical activity (PA). Participants (N = 186 undergraduate students; Mage = 19.26 years) completed assessments of motivation and PA at Time 1. Four weeks later, PA and goal progress were assessed at Time 2. Results indicated that the exploratory bi-factor model specifying motivational regulations as the specific factors and general motivation as the general factor was a good fit to the data. Results of the structural equation model indicated that identified and intrinsic regulations and general motivation predicted concurrent PA at Time 1. A novel finding was that controlling for concurrent PA at Time 1, general motivation emerged as the only predictor of Time 2 goal progress and PA. Results highlight the importance of examining general motivation in addition to quality of motivation in tandem because general motivation emerged as the sole significant longitudinal predictor of PA outcomes.

.

The results of our EBFA indicated that self-reported motivation encompasses distinct forms of regulations as well as a general factor of motivation that captures the extent to which a person is motivated by a certain activity. This research represents an initial attempt to highlight how the specific regulations proposed in SDT and a general factor of motivation can be simultaneously studied to better understand the complex nature of motivation and behavior. Notably, we found that general motivation, beyond the specific regulations or qualities of motivation, was the most salient predictor of goal progress and changes in PA over 4 weeks. These findings have important implications for how motivation can be fully elucidated and we recommend that researchers continue to explore the utility of bi-factor models.