ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport, Leisure, Tourism, and Events
This article is part of the Research TopicPsychological dimensions of sport and active living: Impacts on health and performanceView all 15 articles
Motivation for Recreational Sport Participation and Leisure Constraints: A Segmentation Perspective
Provisionally accepted
Apostolia Ntovoli1
Georgia Stavropoulou2
Thomas Karagiorgos2
Yannis Lianopoulos3
Garyfallos Anagnostou1
Kostas Alexandris4*- 1Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Frederick University, Limassol, Cyprus
- 2Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
- 3Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
- 4Department of Physical Education & Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
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Introduction: Physical inactivity is a global problem today, with multiple negative impacts on physical and psychological health. This study used the self-determination perspective and the hierarchical model of leisure constraints to study recreational sport participation within the framework of the leisure negotiation proposition. Methods: Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed in order to cluster individuals according to their motivation level (intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation) and to compare the cluster groups’ scores on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints. The sample of the study included three hundred and eighteen (N=318) individuals of the general population in Greece. Results: Three distinct segments emerged from the latent class analysis, based on the motivation scores. The study revealed that the cluster with the highest intrinsic and extrinsic motivation scores had the lowest intrapersonal constraints scores, providing support for the important roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in successful negotiation and overcoming intrapersonal constraints. Conclusion: The role of extrinsic motivation should be noted, as it is equally important in the context of recreational sports, alongside intrinsic motivation, through the individual's internalization processes.
Keywords: barriers3, Latent Class Analysis6, LeisureConstraints5, motivation2, Recreational Sport Participation4, Recreational Sports1
Received: 02 Sep 2025; Accepted: 19 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ntovoli, Stavropoulou, Karagiorgos, Lianopoulos, Anagnostou and Alexandris. 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: Kostas Alexandris
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