Exploring basic psychological needs within and across domains of physical activity

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study explored variations in adults’ experience of satisfaction, unfulfilment and frustration of basic psychological needs within and across four domains of physical activity: Transport, household, occupation, and recreation.

Methods

We utilized a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of 42 Danish adults. The participants ranged in age from 16 to 79 years (mean age 49 years, SD 21 years), gender (45% men, 55% women), and physical activity levels (38% low, 33% average, 29% high). Data were analysed using a thematic analysis, applying Self-Determination Theory as the guiding framework.

Results

In the Transport domain, while most activities were seen as utilitarian necessities, autonomy satisfaction emerged for some through control over their means of transport. In Household domain, tasks were generally viewed as obligatory; however, activities with personal significance led to autonomy satisfaction and skill development. Occupation-wise, physical activity satisfaction varied, with the nature of the job impacting feelings of autonomy and competence. For Recreation domain, personal choice dictated autonomy satisfaction, with competence and relatedness varying according to goal achievement and social interactions.

Conclusion

The variations in the findings across domains indicate the effectiveness of applying strategies tailored to specific domains for enhancing need satisfaction.

KEYWORDS:

• Lifestyle contexts
• qualitative research
• motivation
• self-determination theory
• contextual variations

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable contribution to this article from the project managers of the research project “Moving Denmark”, Bjarne Ibsen and Jens Høyer-Kruse.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was granted by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Southern Denmark, Research and Innovation Organization (RIO), prior to participant recruitment. The approval was granted on 08.11.2029 under protocol code 10.680. All individual participants included in the study provided informed consent.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [BWD], upon reasonable request.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2024.2308994

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Nordea Foundation under [Grant 02-2019-00025].

Notes on contributors

Birgitte Westerskov Dalgas

Birgitte Westerskov Dalgas, cand.scient, is a PhD student at the University of Southern Denmark. Her research centres on why persons are (not) physically active and emphasises the relationship between persons’ social and environmental contexts and their development of motivation for physical activity.

Karsten Elmose-Østerlund

Karsten Elmose-Østerlund, PhD, is associate professor at the Centre for Sports, Health and Civil Society belonging to the Research Unit of Active Living at the University of Southern Denmark. Karsten has particularly done research into physical activity participation, social integration and the organisation of sport, particularly in sports clubs and sports organisations.

Thomas Viskum Gjelstrup Bredahl

Thomas Viskum Gjelstrup Bredahl, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark. His research focuses on motivation, behaviour change processes and health promotion among different populations. The main theoretical frameworks used in his research are the Transtheoretical Model, Self-Determination Theory, Theory of Planned Behaviour and Self-efficacy.