ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1652984
This article is part of the Research TopicPsychological Factors in Physical Education and Sport - Volume VIView all 16 articles
How grit enhances physical exercise in college students: mediating roles of personal growth initiative and self-efficacy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
- 2Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, China
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Objective: This study aims to investigate the impact of Grit on physical exercise (PE) among college students and explore the underlying mechanisms, particularly focusing on the mediating roles of personal growth initiative (PGI) and self-efficacy (SE). It also examines how these psychological factors interact to influence physical activity, offering insights for educational interventions. Methods: A survey was conducted among 2,559 college students using the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S), the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), and a single-item measure of physical exercise (PE). Results: (1) Grit, PGI, SE, and PE were significantly positively correlated with each other. (2) PGI and SE played significant mediating roles in the relationship between Grit and PE. Specifically, three mediating pathways were identified: the independent mediating effect of PGI, the independent mediating effect of SE, and the chain mediating effect of PGI and SE. Conclusion: Grit significantly influences PE among college students through the mediating effects of PGI and SE. Enhancing these psychological factors can be an effective strategy for increasing PE participation. This study provides a theoretical basis for developing targeted interventions to promote PE among college students.
Keywords: physical exercise, grit, Personal growth initiative, self-efficacy, chain mediatingeffects
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Zhang, Huang and Jin. 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:
Chang Hu, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
Chanjuan Jin, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.