Men’s goal-oriented motives, physical activity experiences and body-related perceptions: a latent profile analysis

Goal-oriented exercise motives are important predictors of men’s physical activity behaviours and experiences, and body-related perceptions. To date, men’s exercise goal motives have been studied predominantly in isolation, and person-centred approaches that identify distinct goal motive profiles and their correlates have been limited. To address this gap, 322 men (mean age = 34.15, SD = 11.53) were recruited to participate in an online multi-national cross-sectional survey, and latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles based on an adapted version of the Reasons for Exercising Inventory. Comparisons were made for levels of LTPA, physical activity enjoyment, body surveillance, and body attitudes between the profiles. Five profiles were identified, with three profiles having low, average, and high levels of all forms of goal-oriented motives, respectively. Additionally, one profile was characterised mainly by appearance goals and one profile by weight loss goals. Participants in the low overall goal-oriented motivation profile participated in less LTPA than the other profiles, and the participants in the weight loss and appearance profiles reported significantly less exercise enjoyment than the high overall goal-oriented motivation profile. As expected, participants in the profile motivated by appearance reported greater body surveillance and more negative body attitudes. Leveraging a person-centred approach, these results advance previous literature on men’s exercise goal-oriented motives, and the ways in which distinct goal-oriented motive profiles are associated with physical activity experiences and body-related perceptions. Interventions targeting different forms of goal-oriented motivation may have the potential to enhance men’s physical activity experiences and body-related perceptions.