An Investigation of Runners’Motives, Health Behaviors and Perceived Health

• Main Authors: Hung-Ju Kuo, 郭鴻儒
• Other Authors: Wan-Chun Hsiung
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/90365983418244688299

碩士 === 大葉大學 === 運動事業管理學系碩士在職專班 === 96 === The purpose of the study was to investigate the motives, health behavior and perceived health of marathon runners, as well as their differences based on runner’s background characteristics (i.e. race distance, gender, age, location, and education) and sport involvement (i.e. club participation, years of running experience, exercising habit, and running frequency). Subjects were runners who participated in 2007 ING Taipei International Marathon Race. A total of 2400 questionnaires were distributed and 953 responses were received. Of the 953 runners, 913 complete responses were obtained which produces a response rate of 38%. Respondents completed the Runners’ Motives, Health Behavior, and Perceived Health Questionnaire, a self-report instrument designed by the researcher. The measures include individual demographic information, sport involvement, motives for running, health behavior, and perceived health. Data were analyzed using SPSS 12.0. Descriptive analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe Post-hoc test and Non- parametric test were conducted to answer the research questions. Findings from the study indicated that: 1) the strongest motive of the runners is social support, followed by self- actualization, attraction of the contest and social network; 2) there were significant differences of motive for running, health behavior and perceived health among the runners with varied background characteristics and different level of sport involvement; 3) a significant difference of race distance was found among the runners with different level of sport involvement, and 4) Level of sport involvement was also found significantly different bet- ween male and female runners. According to the findings, recommendations for administrative institutions, business enterprises, and running associations as well as future research were discussed.