Personality correlates of exercise behavior, motives, barriers and preferences: An application of the five-factor model

The health benefits of regular exercise and the low participation rates combine to create a strong rationale for research into the determinants of this important health behavior. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between personality and exercise behavior, motives, barriers and preferences. The five-factor model (FFM) of personality was selected to guide this investigation. Participants were 264 undergraduate students who completed a battery of self-administered questionnaires including the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin & Shephard, 1985). Consistent with hypotheses, the results of the study indicated that: 1. (a) extraversion and conscientiousness were positively related whereas neuroticism was negatively related to exercise behavior,2. (b) each “Big Five” dimension correlated with theoretically expected exercise motives,3. (c) neuroticism and conscientiousness were the personality dimensions most consistently related to exercise barriers4. (d) all “Big Five” personality dimensions were related to some aspect of preferences for exercise context and structure. It was concluded that the FFM may be a useful framework for understanding not only how much exercise people perform, but also their exercise motives, barriers, and preferences.