ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicMotivations For Physical Activity - Volume IVView all 24 articles
Online Fitness Content as a Behavioral Catalyst: Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior to Unmask Time-Dependent Effects on Resistance Training Engagement
Provisionally accepted
- 1Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- 2The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 3Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
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Resistance training plays a vital role in promoting physical and mental health among university students. However, approximately three-quarters of students globally fail to meet recommended guidelines, with a significant intention-behavior gap persisting. Based on an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework, this study aimed to examine the dual-chain mediating effects of Online Fitness Content (OFC) on students' resistance training behavior through Planning (PL) and Positive Emotion (PE), and to test the suppressing effect of Consumption Time (CT). A stratified random sampling method was administered to 356 college students (60.39% male, 39.61% female) regularly engaged in resistance training across 17 Chinese universities. Structural Equation Modeling (AMOS 20.0) was employed to analyze the chain mediation pathways, with multi-group comparisons testing the moderating effect of CT. The results showed that core TPB variables (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control) significantly predicted intention (path coefficients: 0.265–0.494, p<0.01), and intention significantly predicted behavior (β=0.229, p=0.032). OFC demonstrated significant dual-path mediation effects through both PL (β=1.215, p=0.001) and PE (β=1.074, p=0.001). The key finding revealed a suppressing effect when daily usage exceeded 30 minutes: the path effect from OFC to PL attenuated by 72% (β >1h = 0.192 vs. β <1h = 1.145), the path effect from OFC to PE attenuated by 73% (β >1h = 0.301 vs. β <1h = 1.101), and the direct effect of OFC on behavior became significantly negative (β >1h = -0.690, p < 0.05). The study demonstrates that OFC serves as an effective digital mediator in bridging the intention-behavior gap in university students' resistance training, but its efficacy exhibits a critical threshold (30 minutes/day). Future health communication should optimize content distribution strategies and implement CT control mechanisms to achieve sustainable behavior change.
Keywords: Resistance Training, social networking sites, Theory of Planned Behavior, Online Fitness Content, Consumption time
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wei, Su, Lin, Meng and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wei Wei, m18811475103_1@163.com
Ronghai Su, sronghai@bnu.edu.cn
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