5. The Individual component is often seen as the most
powerful, due to the fact that forms of intrapersonal
behaviors and constraints are psychological in nature.
6. Individual Factors
Age
Sex
Family situations
Level of Education
Socio-economic Status
Skills
Abilities
Disabilities
Injuries
Knowledge
Attitudes
Behaviors
Beliefs
Perceived Barriers
Motivation
Enjoyment
Appeal
Self-Efficacy
7. • Low-self esteem
• Poor body image
• Influence of children
• Upbringing
• Previous experiences
• Feeling self-conscious
• Inability to set goals
• Lack of appeal of the activity
• Socio-economic status
Individual Constraints
8. Knowledge
Attitudes
Behaviors
Beliefs
Perceived Barriers
Motivation
Enjoyment
Appeal
Self-Efficacy
Age
Sex
Family situations
Level of Education
Socio-economic Status
Skills
Abilities
Disabilities
Injuries
What Can We Impact?
9. “Confidence in personal
ability to carry out
behavior that influences
the direction, intensity,
and persistence of
behavior”
Self-Efficacy
• As self-efficacy improves,
physical activity increases
• People who believe they can
succeed, will be more include to
be persistent in their physical
activity goals
13. Sources
Dishman, R. K., Motl, R. W., Sallis, J. F., Dunn, A. L., Birnbaum, A. S., Welk, G. J., . . . Jobe, J. B. (2005). Self-
Management Strategies Mediate Self-Efficacy and Physical Activity. American Journal of Preventive
Medicine, 29(1), 10-18.
Minkel, K. V. (2010). The Physical Activity Patterns and Constraints of Diverse Female College Students (Master's
Thesis). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved from: http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/
viewcontent.cgi?article=1720&context=thesesdissertations
Victorian Curriculum and Assesment Authority (VCAA, 2001). Social-Ecological Model. 3, 1–8. Retrieved from:
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=http%3A%2F %2Fwww.vcaa.vic.edu.au
%2FDocuments%2Fvce%2Fphysicaledu %2Fsocialecologicalmodelandphysicalactivity.doc
Editor's Notes
Determining the behaviors and motivations behind physical activities are extremely complex and are often difficult to identify. Some of these elements include
interests
Needs
Desires
Internal & external factors
Accessibility to resources
and
Perceived barriers
To better understand the complexity surrounding physical activity motivation, researchers developed the social-ecological model. The use of this model helps explore individual characteristics and how they play into one another.
At the center of this model is the individual component. This is defined by the personal factors that may influence an individual’s behaviors and choices in physical activity, as well as, increase or decrease their likelihood of being physically active.
The Individual component is often seen as the most powerful, due to the fact that forms of intrapersonal behaviors and constraints are psychological in nature.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority suggests that there are a vast number of factors that can influence an individual and their physical activity behaviors.
Factors of the individual component can help identify constraints within the individual. These often include:
Low-self esteem
Poor body image
Influence of children
Upbringing
Previous experiences
Feeling self-conscious
Inability to set goals
Lack of appeal of the activity
Socio-economic status
As you probably noticed, the majority of these constraints relate to the individual’s perceptions. Once overcome, the individual will have a more positive outlook on their abilities which can alter their overall desire to be physically active.
As Dr. Kanters mentioned in our lecture this week, we need to focus on the opportunities to make an impact in order to strengthen these perceptions. For example, there isn’t much to be done about someone’s age or gender. The most successful strategies which bring change at the individual level tend to focus on changing an individual’s skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.
A primary factor within the individual component it self-efficacy. This is loosely defined as, "confidence in personal ability to carry out behavior that influences the direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior.”
It is believed that as self-efficacy improves, physical activity increases because individuals dedicate themselves to being more physically active.
In addition, people who believe they can succeed or have successfully negotiated a previous attempt will be more inclined to be persistent in their physical activity tasks and goals.
By identifying factors and barriers related to individual physical activity participation, we can effectively design intervention strategies and evaluations to fit personal needs and goals. The social-economic model can aid in developing individual intervention techniques that “focus on changing an individual’s skills, knowledge, attitude, and behavior”
Intervention strategies can include support groups, educational programs, counseling to improve individual perceptions, incentives targeting the individual, and mass media to create awareness and influence living a more active lifestyle.
Overall, the social-economic model acknowledges that individual level interventions are vital in achieving substantial changes in behaviors, motivations, and perceptions for physical activity participation
