Analysing the influence of autonomous and controlling social factors within the theory of planned behaviour

The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of autonomous (i.e., autonomy support from parents and peers) and controlling (i.e., social physique anxiety) social factors on future intention to exercise, integrating the distal (i.e., basic psychological needs satisfaction and self-determined motivation) and proximal (i.e., attitudes, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms) determinants of intention defined in self-determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Self-report questionnaires were distributed to 390 secondary school pupils (male=218, female=172, M_age=15.10, standard deviation=1.94). The results of path analysis, controlling for past behaviour of physical activity, showed that social factors predicted future intention to exercise through the influence of the distal and proximal determinants. The main contribution of the study was to provide evidence that the proximal determinants of the TPB captured the direct influence of social factors, independent of the mediating effects of psychological needs satisfaction and self-determined motivation towards exercise. Results supported the integration of the two theories, clarifying the processes of influence of autonomous and controlling social factors within the variables of SDT and the TPB.