THE INFLUENCE OF CAMPUS SPORTS FACILITIES AND CULTURE ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ENGAGEMENT AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY FROM XI’AN, CHINA

Abstract

Physical activities are important for students for their physical as well as mental health improvement. The study focuses specifically on the campus sports facilities and culture on the physical activity engagement among the college students of Xi'an, China. The improvement of such engagement can reduce physical inactivity, obesity and stress, however, many colleges in Xi'an exhibit low levels of consistent physical engagement for their students. Hence, the study is developed to address the existing gap based on the self-determination theory. Aspects under campus sports facilities like competence, autonomy and relatedness and their relationship with physical activity engagement is investigated in the study along with considering the mediating impact of culture. Primary data is gathered from 430 students of Xi'an Jiaotong University. The data analysis outcome shows that autonomy may not be a directly related factor to the growth of physical activity engagement. However, the mediating role of culture is supported through the Sobel test outcome. Therefore, the study result is impactful for universities to invest more on the accessibility and the maintenance of facilities that can be able to make students competent. However, the context of socioeconomic backgrounds of students in terms of achieving sport facilities is not explored in the study, however, it can be researched further in future.