Corporate Fitness Members’ Perceptions of the Environment and Their Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of employees’ perceptions of the motivational climate in their corporate fitness center to their intrinsic motivation towards exercise, and their perceptions of their employer’s concern for their health behaviors. Members of corporate fitness centers (N = 143) in the Midsouthern region of the US were invited to complete a survey with the following measures: 1) the Perceived Motivational Climate in Exercise Questionnaire (i.e., task- and ego-involving scales), 2) Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (four subscales), and 3) Valued by Employer Scale. Regression analysis revealed that perceptions of a task-involving climate were positively related to employees’ interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort/importance with regard to exercise and their sense of feeling valued by their employer. The PMCEQ can be a valuable tool in the exercise psychology literature to measure employees’ perceptions of their fitness center environment