The influence of perceived constraints on the attitudes toward recreational sport participation

This study used the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988) as a theoretical framework to predict intention to participate in recreational sports and to test the influence of perceived constraints on the elements of the theory of planned behavior. Three hundred and sixty adult individuals (N = 360), who were residents of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, participated in the study. The results indicated that the theory of planned behavior provides a very effective theoretical approach to predict intention (R2 = 0.65). Perceived behavioral control (PBC) was found to be the major determinant of intention, followed by the attitudinal (ATT) component. In terms of the relationship between perceived constraints and the components of the TPB, the results indicated that PBC was the most effectively explained component by the constraint factors (R2 = 0.27). Constraints explained a small number of variances in the subjective norm (R2 = 0.07) and attitude (R2 = 0.06) components. Furthermore, the results indicated that the PBC was negatively influenced by psychological, time, lack of knowledge, and lack of interest related constraints. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.