Discussion of direct effects
With the continuous development of society, SWB has gradually received more and more attention from researchers, which not only promotes the physical health of individuals, but also serves as a protective factor for psychological health [43]. This study is based on the SDT perspective, which was confirmed by data analysis that there is a linear relation between EM and SWB, i.e., EM positively predicts SWB, which is consistent with the results of previous studies, such as autonomous exercise motivation in older adults positively predicts well-being [12]. Meanwhile, based on the SDT, it is known that autonomy, competence, and relatedness are important prerequisites for individuals to satisfy psychological needs so as to obtain SWB. Therefore, based on SDT, it is hypothesized that the direct predictive effect of EM on SWB is related to the following two aspects. The first one is at the psychological level. According to SDT, individual self-needs are one of the most important factors in satisfying well-being, and EM usually stems from an individual’s endogenous choices and interest preferences, which can help to promote a higher level of positive emotions [44]. Therefore, individuals who satisfy the need for autonomy are more inclined to treat subsequent practice behaviors as self-fulfilling and not externally conditioned, so that individuals with stronger EM produce enhanced SWB. The second one is at the social level. Analyzing based on the Social Identity Theory, junior high school students’ daily life is mostly in group activities. Individual EM often derives from the social support and role identity obtained when participating in collective sports. This kind of emotional support helps middle school students to acquire stronger perceived social capital, which can effectively alleviate their developmental stress and improve SWB [45, 46]. Therefore, EM may be effective in promoting individuals’ SWB levels by enabling them to develop stronger positive emotions and social connections.
In summary, the strength of individual EM can have a direct impact on individual SWB, and the following suggestions are put forward: Firstly, the main position of school sports should be brought into play to enhance the motivation of adolescents’ sports participation. Schools of all levels and types should be based on their own actual situation, considering regional characteristics, campus environment and students’ needs and other multi-level factors, and actively set up diversified sports activities such as different sports and different forms of development under the premise of the physical and mental development of adolescents [47], so as to mobilize students’ interest in sports and enhance their intrinsic EM. It is worth noting that physical education teachers in this process should uphold the principle of teaching according to the talent, a group teaching model should be adopted for young people with different levels of athleticism, grouping students who are close in level or have similar sport preferences. Flexibly choose exercise programmes with scientific control of load and intensity, so as to promote the enhancement of the effectiveness of the exercise of young people. Secondly, family members should do a good demonstrating job and promoting the development of healthy lifestyles among adolescents. Family upbringing is an important factor influencing adolescents’ active and healthy behaviors [48, 49], thus family members should create a healthy living atmosphere in the process of guardianship, so as to help children develop healthy lifestyles and ensure that they have a high EM. Thirdly, the sports department should do a good job of publicity to help the youth establish a correct perception of sports participation. With the popularity of the Internet, network propaganda has become one of the most important channels to influence the cognition of young people. At present, the “fans circle culture” is breeding, so sports and other relevant departments should take the positive energy of sports as the main line of propaganda to help young people correctly realize the value of exercise [50], so as to effectively stimulate their intrinsic EM, and to help them enjoy themselves, enhance their physical fitness, improve their personality and strengthen their will in sports activities.
Discussion on mediation effect
Exercise motivation (EM) is one of the most important factors that determine the duration, amount, and frequency of an individual’ s participation in PA [51] and based on the SDT, individual psychological needs can stimulate autonomous motivation, and when psychological needs are satisfied, it can influence his or her SWB [52]. It can be concluded that individuals who have highly EM and participate in PA of a certain intensity usually show higher SWB. Some studies have shown that PA can directly and positively predict an individual’s SWB [53], which is consistent with the results of this study. However, it has also been shown that excessive participation in PA without adequate recovery can cause individuals to experience fatigue, mood swings, and psychological stress [54]. By analyzing the intrinsic reasons, it may be related to two aspects: On the one hand, it enriches emotional experience. During moderate physical exercise, individuals can effectively vent their negative emotions such as stress and anxiety, which satisfies the physiological-psychological mechanism of emotion regulation. Meanwhile, the process of physical exercise involves competition, cooperation, and winning and losing, which also helps individuals to form a richer emotional cognition, such as the sense of team belonging, self-efficacy, and other emotional experiences [55], thus helping individuals to develop a higher sense of SWB through the cumulative effect of positive emotions. On the other hand, it is the feeling of being healthy and physically fit. It is well known that moderate PA has the benefits of improving physical fitness, enhancing immunity levels, and improving cardiorespiratory fitness, etc [56]. A healthy body is the basis for satisfying the individual’s daily life, and it is also an important prerequisite for SWB [57]. Interestingly, the results of this study suggest that EM may positively influence junior high school students’ SWB through the mediating role of PA. Tian Yong et al. [58] also found a similar finding in a group of senior college students that EM may indirectly affect the level of an individual’s mental health through the mediating role of PA, thus helping improve their SWB. In summary, combining the results of this study, we hypothesized that EM could effectively promote individuals’ participation in moderate PA, and in the process help them to obtain rich emotional experiences and good feelings about their own physical health, thereby enhancing their SWB levels.
A good SEC is an important foundation for adolescents’ successful transition through adolescence [59]. A Meta-analysis showed that improving individual SEC can significantly improve students’ academic performance, establish positive peer relationships, improve emotional health, reduce problematic behaviors, and promote the development of moral character [60], a healthy body is the basis for an individual’ s daily life and is also an important prerequisite for influencing an individual’ s subjective well-being (SWB) [61]. The results of this study showed that SEC was significantly and positively related to SWB, while SEC mediated the influence of EM on SWB. It may result from relating to the following two aspects On the one hand, self-awareness influences adolescents’ SEC. Individual EM is one of the manifestations reflecting the level of self-awareness [62]. When adolescents hold different EM, such as health needs, ability development, and social interaction, not only can they participate in physical exercise more purposefully, but they can also achieve self-worth during the process of participation, and they can also have a clearer self-awareness of themselves [63], which helps to improve their SEC. On the other hand, SEC helps adolescents to better adapt to their living environment. Adolescents in puberty are susceptible to be influenced by different environments, such as family, school and society, which may lead to psychological disorders [64]. A good SEC can help adolescents communicate and negotiate with others more effectively, cope with the frustrations and pressures of life, and establish harmonious interpersonal relationships and a strong resistance to pressure [65], thus contributing to a higher subjective sense of well-being. Thus, EM may help adolescents to construct SEC by enhancing the developmental function of individual self-cognition, and then form a virtuous cycle of ‘environmental adaptation – psychological adjustment’, which will lead to changes in individual SWB.
In addition, this study constructed a structural equation model of “PA and SEC” as a chain mediator, and found that between adolescents’ EM and SWB, the “PA and SEC” chain mediation effect also reached a significant level. It is speculated that the intrinsic reasons may be related to the following two aspects. On the one hand, it is analyzed from the perspective of the mechanism of the psychological effect of physical activity. Adolescents’ participation in PA-related activities is usually accompanied by interactive behaviors such as helping and supervising among peers, which may help them to obtain immediate social support and improve their social network structure in the long term, and such continuous social interactions can help adolescents to improve their interpersonal skills, emotional regulation and stress resistance, thus systematically improving Sect. [66]. On the other hand, PA is an important medium for developing social-emotional competence. The difficulties and setbacks faced in the process of physical activity can help adolescents to sharpen their will and enhance their stress resistance. More importantly, physical activity emphasizes respect, equality and responsibility, as well as ethical standards and social norms, which are of unique value to the development of their sense of social responsibility, and will have a certain transferable value to adolescents’ growth in the future [28]. In summary, this paper confirms that EM can influence adolescents’ SWB through the chain mediation of PA and SEC on the basis of the results of the previous studies. It is further revealed that EM can promote individual PA levels and in the process can enrich emotional experiences and enhance social interactions, thus effectively enhancing SEC and ultimately improving and enhancing SWB.
Limitations
This study has the following limitations. First, study is a cross-sectional design, and it only considering adolescents in junior high school in Hebei as the survey group, which may limit the efficacy of causal inference, and the findings may not apply to non-Chinese groups or older adolescents. We will expand the sampling range of the sample in the future, and test or improve the results of the study by combining the longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. Second, The data obtained in this study only reflect the state of the adolescents over a given period of time, which does not allow for a valid judgement of the order of the mechanism of action between the variables. Third, this study did not investigate the effect of latent variables such as economic level, parenting styles, peer relationships, etc., and these unmeasured factors may lead to biased the results. Finally, this study mainly examined the relationship between EM and PA, SEC, and SWB as a whole, and there was no categorical comparison of adolescents’ types of EM. Subsequent studies can categorize and compare the sub-dimensions of EM to enrich the findings continuously.
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