The Attribution Roles and Self-Efficacy in Determining Individual Exercise Behavior

The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between exercise self-efficacy and attributions with exercise behavior and to what extent the two independent variables that can determine the individual exercise behavior. Respondents are consists of 274 students (86 men, 188 women) aged between 20 and 24 years (M = 21.31, SD = 1.27). They were undergraduate students in various fields of specialization at the Institute of Teacher Education, Islamic Education Campus, Ministry of Education Malaysia. The Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ; Godin & Shephard, 1985) is used to determine the level of their involvement in physical activity within a week. While the independent variables of exercise self-efficacy is measured using the Marcus’ Self-efficacy for Exercise Questionnaire (Marcus, Selby, Niaura, & Rossi, 1992) and the revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDSII; McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992) was used for measuring their attributions towards success and failure in physical activity. The findings showed there was a weak relationship between exercise self-efficacy and exercise behavior, and exercise self-efficacy also contributed significantly to the behavior of exercise. However, the four dimensions of attribution does not show a significant relationship with exercise behavior. The study is expected to enhance the understanding of motivational factors that contribute to the individual exercise behavior.