Viktorija Piščalkienė, Laura Žlibinaitė, Lijana Navickienė, José Amoroso, Paula Simões, Essi Kahkonen, Lassi Pöyry, Marita Mattila, Petra Muraus, Elisabeth Cans, Stefan Delen
Motivation is of two types: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation involves someone being interested in what he/she performs and in the practice process itself. Extrinsic motivation is related to individuals who engage in practice because it is a means to an end, relatively separated from the content and subject of practice.
Aim of article – to compare practice and motivation for physical activity among Finnish, Portuguese, Lithuanian and Belgian students.
The comparative analysis was performed while participating and doing a research in a EU project „Villages on the Move Network“ (2018 – 2651 / 001 – 001). Five institutions from four European countries were involved in the project: South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) and Southern Savo Sports Federation (ESLi) from Finland, University College Limburg – Leuven from Belgium, Kaunas University of Applied Sciences/Kauno kolegija from Lithuania and School of Technology and Management and School of Education and Social Sciences – Polytechnic of Leiria from Portugal.
Methods of the research: for the study a structured questionnaire was composed and circulated by using online survey. 843 students from four EU countries (Finland, Portugal, Lithuania and Belgium) participated in the study.
Results. Most students walk 5.001 to 10.000 steps a day. Finnish and Belgian students take the most steps per day, Portuguese and Lithuanian students take the least steps per day. The most popular form of physical activity among students are walking, cycling or running. Finnish students, more than students from other countries, practice the following forms of physical activity: bicycle, gym, gymnastics, yoga / Pilates, Nordic walking, ultimate sport. Dancing is more popular among Lithuanian students, swimming – among Belgian and tennis – among Portuguese students. Attitudes towards physical activity motivation were found to be most expressed by Portuguese students. It was found that the greater the motivation for physical activity, the more physically active students are in choosing different forms of physical activity.