Physical activity is known to enhance the lives of older adults by reversing decline in physical and mental function as well as reducing morbidity (Wolinsky, Stump, & Clark, Reference Wolinsky, Stump and Clark1995). Research has shown that older adults who increase their physical activities in their discretionary time have better health and daily functioning (Owen, Leslie, Salmon, & Fotheringham, Reference Owen, Leslie, Salmon and Fotheringham2000). In a study of the impact of a physical activity program on health-related outcomes of older adults, Hughes et al. (Reference Hughes, Seymour, Campbell, Whitelaw and Bazzarre2009) reported that older adults who participated in physical activities expressed benefits such as self-efficacy for exercise, adherence in the face of difficulties, and increased upper and lower body strength. Research has also shown associations between physical activity participation and health among older adults, such as reduced risks for disease (Grove & Spier, Reference Grove and Spier1999), improved physical strength and functioning (Skelton, Young, Greig, & Malbut, Reference Skelton, Young, Greig and Malbut1995), and increased psychological well-being (Gill, Williams, Williams, Butki, & Kim, Reference Gill, Williams, Williams, Butki and Kim1997; McAuley & Rudolph, Reference McAuley and Rudolph1995).
The Senior Games, amateur athletic competitions for individuals age 50 and older, offer an opportunity for older adults in the United States to engage in physical activity. State games are held annually and usually hosted by regional game organizers dedicated to encouraging older adults to lead healthy lifestyles. The state games held on even-numbered years are used as the qualifying competitions for the biennial National Senior Games, which are held on odd-numbered years. In other words, senior athletes have to compete at the state level in order to qualify for participation at the national level. According to the National Senior Games Association (2016), the first National Senior Games were held in 1987 and had 2,500 participants. Since 2003, the number of athletes competing at each national event has exceeded 10,000. The Canada 55+ Games is the equivalent to the National Senior Games and held biennially in most provinces and territories in Canada. Although some activities (e.g., ice curling, crokinole, floor curling, stick curling) in the Canada 55+ Games are unique to that country (Canada 55+ Games, 2016), many other activities in this event are similar to those activities in the U.S. games.
Contemporary investigations of Senior Games’ participants have focused on various topics, such as stress coping (Hoar, Evans, & Link, Reference Hoar, Evans and Link2012), motivation (Merrill, Shields, Wood, & Beck, Reference Merrill, Shields, Wood and Beck2004; Reed & Cox, Reference Reed and Cox2007; Shaw, Ostrow, & Beckstead, Reference Shaw, Ostrow and Beckstead2005), eating behaviors (Merrill & Shields, Reference Merrill and Shields2003), physical performance (Wright & Perricelli, Reference Wright and Perricelli2008), and physical strength (Leigey, Irrgang, Francis, Cohen, & Wright, Reference Leigey, Irrgang, Francis, Cohen and Wright2009; McCrory, Salacinski, Hunt, & Greenspan, Reference McCrory, Salacinski, Hunt and Greenspan2009). Most of the studies that have explored the behaviors of senior athletes have demonstrated the benefits and positive aspects of participating in competitive sports. For example, Cardenas, Henderson, and Wilson (Reference Cardenas, Henderson and Wilson2009) examined senior athletes from North Carolina and suggested that the Senior Games contributed to older adults having socially and physically active lifestyles. Dionigi (Reference Dionigi2002) examined the motivations of the participants in the Australian Masters Games and found that competitive sports can serve to express youthfulness as well as the development and construction of identity. She viewed participation in competitive sports as an important strategy by which older adults can adapt to their later lives. Senior Games participants have acknowledged, in previous studies, the importance of physical activity in regard to maintaining active lifestyles.
In this exploratory research we aimed to investigate, using in-depth interviews, the determinants and considerations of older adults in regard to their engagement in the Senior Games and related leisure-time physical activities. Understanding these aspects may provide insights into how to facilitate physical activities for older adults, which may contribute to their well-being. The results of this research may also offer valuable theoretical insight into physical activity engagement by older adults.
Arguably, one of the most widely applied theoretical frameworks by which to explain behavioral performance is Ajzen’s (Reference Ajzen1991, Reference Ajzen, Lange, Kruglanski and Higgins2012) theory of planned behavior (TPB). This theory postulates that an individual’s intention to perform a behavior is a central motivational factor to influencing a behavior and that the intention is assumed to be directly influenced by three determinants: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. These direct determinants are affected by respective counter-beliefs in regard to performing the behavior. Attitude towards the behavior is formed by behavioral beliefs, which are the expected outcomes and consequences of performing the behavior as well as the evaluation of each of the outcomes and consequences. Subjective norm is constructed via normative beliefs, which are the perceived social pressures of whether important referents approve or disapprove of his or her performing the behavior. Perceived behavioral control is formulated via control beliefs, which are the perceived presence of factors that may facilitate or impede the ease of the behavioral performance. The TPB allows researchers to understand what types of beliefs are likely to influence an individual to perform a particular behavior and, therefore, enables researchers to understand how to increase the likelihood that certain behaviors will occur.
A number of researchers have successfully applied the TPB framework to the field of physical activity (Andrykowski, Beacham, Schmidt, & Harper, Reference Andrykowski, Beacham, Schmidt and Harper2006; Norman & Smith, Reference Norman and Smith1995; Plotnikoff, Lippke, Courneya, Birkett, & Sigal, Reference Plotnikoff, Lippke, Courneya, Birkett and Sigal2008). For example, Norman and Conner (Reference Norman and Conner2005) administered questionnaires to university students in the United Kingdom at two different points in time to predict intention and exercise behavior. Their findings demonstrated that the TPB was highly predictive for exercise intentions when one used attitude and perceived behavioral control as the significant predictors. In addition, perceived behavioral control was reported as a significant contributor to physical activity (Armitage, Reference Armitage2005; McEachan, Conner, Taylor, & Lawton, Reference McEachan, Conner, Taylor and Lawton2011), in particular for older adults (Courneya, Reference Courneya1995; Wankel, Mummery, Stephens, & Craig, Reference Wankel, Mummery, Stephens and Craig1994). In a meta-analytic review in a physical activity context, both Hagger, Chatzisarantis, and Biddle (Reference Hagger, Chatzisarantis and Biddle2002) and McEachan et al. (Reference McEachan, Conner, Taylor and Lawton2011) recognized that, in addition to the TPB constructs, past behavior has a significant impact on behavior and intention. According to these authors, intentions of older participants, who presumably have accumulated experience, were more strongly associated with behaviors than were younger participants. Of particular importance for older adults is that their engagement in exercise can be influenced by successfully strengthening their perceived behavioral control.
With regard to subjective norms, researchers have reported a positive relationship to intentions in a physical activity domain (Ball, Jeffery, Abbott, McNaughton, & Crawford, Reference Ball, Jeffery, Abbott, McNaughton and Crawford2010; Emmons, Barbeau, Gutheil, Stryker, & Stoddard, Reference Emmons, Barbeau, Gutheil, Stryker and Stoddard2007; Okun et al., Reference Okun, Ruehlman, Karoly, Lutz, Fairholme and Schaub2003). Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz, and Birkett (Reference Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz and Birkett2000), for example, conducted interviews with randomly selected residents in Canada in order to investigate the importance of subjective norm and social support for predicting exercise intentions within the TPB framework. In their study, the subjective norm referred to the perceived pressure given by others to perform a behavior, whereas social support referred to the aid, assistance, help, or support received by others in performing the behavior. They found that social support was superior to the subjective norm in predicting exercise intentions. Other researchers have also reported that the available social support perceived by older adults contributes to an increase in physical activity (Costanzo & Walker, Reference Costanzo and Walker2008; Sasidharan, Payne, Orsega-Smith, & Godbey, Reference Sasidharan, Payne, Orsega-Smith and Godbey2006; Shaw & Janevic, Reference Shaw and Janevic2004). The results of these studies suggest considering social support within a framework of the subjective norm in order to better understand physical activity engagement. Although relatively few researchers have reported a weak relationship between subjective norms and intentions (Chatzisarantis, Hagger, & Smith, Reference Chatzisarantis, Hagger and Smith2007; Hagger et al., Reference Hagger, Chatzisarantis and Biddle2002), subjective norm can be viewed as contributors to physical activity.
Other researchers have shown links between the TPB variables and intention to engage in physical activities (Fortier, Kowal, Lemyre, & Orpana, Reference Fortier, Kowal, Lemyre and Orpana2009; French et al., Reference French, Sutton, Hennings, Mitchell, Wareham, Griffin and Kinmonth2005) and supported the use of the TPB in regard to explaining physical activity engagement (Fortier et al., Reference Fortier, Kowal, Lemyre and Orpana2009; Hagger et al., Reference Hagger, Chatzisarantis and Biddle2002; Hausenblas & Carron, Reference Hausenblas and Carron1997) and that of older adults (Benjamin, Edwards, & Bharti, Reference Benjamin, Edwards and Bharti2005; Brenes, Strube, & Storandt, Reference Brenes, Strube and Storandt1998; Conn, Reference Conn1998; Conn, Tripp-Reimer, & Maas, Reference Conn, Tripp-Reimer and Maas2003; Courneya, Reference Courneya1995; Estabrooks & Carron, Reference Estabrooks and Carron1999; Michels & Kugler, Reference Michels and Kugler1998; Wankel et al., Reference Wankel, Mummery, Stephens and Craig1994).
Despite the plentiful research evidence supporting the use of TPB in physical activity or exercise domains, the TPB has not been without criticism. One of the most frequently mentioned concerns about this theory is the limit of predictive validity (e.g., Buchan, Ollis, Thomas, & Baker, Reference Buchan, Ollis, Thomas and Baker2012; Schwarzer, Reference Schwarzer2008; Sheeran, Reference Sheeran2002). Possible reasons for low predictability include longer intervals between the measurements of intention and actual behavior (McEachan et al., Reference McEachan, Conner, Taylor and Lawton2011) and a lack of actual control over a behavior (Armitage & Conner, Reference Armitage and Conner2001; Kor & Mullan, Reference Kor and Mullan2011). Based on the recommendations of the theory (Ajzen, Reference Ajzen2011), the longer the intervals, the less accurately the intentions can predict the behavioral performance, and perceptions of behavioral control cannot accurately determine actual control.
Another criticism is that the theory postulates a rational actor who is not influenced by emotions (Rivis, Sheeran, & Armitage, Reference Rivis, Sheeran and Armitage2009) or that the theory does not contain accurate measurement of affective attitudes (French et al., Reference French, Sutton, Hennings, Mitchell, Wareham, Griffin and Kinmonth2005; Sandberg & Conner, Reference Sandberg and Conner2008). According to Ajzen (Reference Ajzen2011), emotions function in two ways: (a) serving as background factors that influence behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, and (b) helping to select the behavioral, normative, and control beliefs that are readily accessible in memory. Emotions can have indirect effects on intentions and behaviors by influencing salient beliefs as well as the strength and importance of those beliefs.
In contrast to the abundance of studies that have quantitatively measured the relationships between the TPB’s components, a limited number of researchers have focused on the salient beliefs pertinent to particular leisure behaviors (e.g., Ajzen & Driver, Reference Ajzen and Driver1991; Chatzisarantis & Hagger, Reference Chatzisarantis and Hagger2005; Conn, Reference Conn1998; Sutton et al., Reference Sutton, French, Hennings, Mitchell, Wareham, Griffin and Kinmonth2003).
This exploratory research has attempted to investigate the determinants of older adults in regard to engagement in the Senior Games and related leisure-time physical activities in order to obtain insights on engagement. The participants’ salient beliefs on their engagement should be investigated and incorporated into the design and management of such events and activities. The results of our study may provide insights to professionals who work with older adults in regard to how to encourage physical activity engagement.
Methods
The interview respondents were recruited with the cooperation of a state Senior Games organizer in the United States. Ten respondents were selected for this exploratory study using purposeful sampling, and the following criteria were met for each individual: (a) participated in the Senior Games at the national level, (b) invested significant effort and demonstrated athletic achievement in their sport(s), and (c) lived in the United States. The respondents’ ages ranged from 52 to 71 with an average of 63. Of the 10 respondents, nine were Caucasian and one was African-American. Six were men and four were women. Five of the participants were retired at the time of the study. The interviewees participated in various individual and team events, such as track and field, cycling, swimming, shuffleboard, race-walk, volleyball, and table tennis. Although most of the participants had competed at the National Senior Games the year prior to the interviews, one participant informed the investigators that, due to heart surgery, four years had elapsed since his last competition. Although eight interviewees had been engaged in chosen sports for several decades, two interviewees only started playing their sports after retirement. The participants were free to choose where to be interviewed: some chose to be interviewed at local coffee shops or restaurants; others chose to be interviewed at fitness centers. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the sponsoring university. All of the respondents signed a letter of consent containing the purpose of the study, confidentiality in regard to the data, and permission to record and transcribe the interviews. After the interview, each respondent was compensated with $20 (USD).
Using an interview guide, each interviewer began with semi-structured, open-ended, grand tour questions that asked about the participant’s involvement in the Senior Games and related issues. The questions included: “Please tell us about your strategies to maintain a healthy life style” and “What advice would you give to others who would like to continue their athletic participation as they mature into older adults.” Then, the interviewer continued with mini tour questions about the strategies used to maintain healthy lifestyles and the types of physical activities that the respondents participated in. Each interview concluded with detailed questions about the advantages and disadvantages of, the importance of interpersonal support for, and difficulties and easiness encountered in participating in the Senior Games. The investigators strove for a flexible style that allowed the participants to discuss in-depth issues related to the present study. At the end of the interviews, the participants completed demographic questionnaires.
The in-depth interviews lasted approximately one hour but ranged between 45 and 90 minutes. They were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, analysed, and discussed with the co-author. Following the approaches of Maxwell (Reference Maxwell1996) and Strauss and Corbin (Reference Strauss and Corbin1998), all of the interviews were transcribed and subjected to open coding in order to break the texts into discrete elements so as to better examine the similarities and differences and identify recurring conceptual categories within the text. In this process, key phrases were highlighted in order to identify major ideas. After all of the conceptual categories were identified, codes with similar meanings were merged in order to identify themes in accordance with the TPB framework. They were later re-examined for coding checks and adequate agreements between data and codes. The researchers discussed any differences in coding until they reached a consensus. Direct quotes from the respondents are provided in the following section in order to support the key findings presented. Each respondent’s age, employment status, and activity participated in at the Senior Games are also presented in parentheses following his or her pseudonym, which is used to protect the confidentiality of the participants.
Several strategies were used to ensure the trustworthiness of the study and accurately reflect the participants’ experiences. Prolonged engagement in the field was central to credibility. By the time the study was conducted, one of the researchers had been involved with the management of the Senior Games for several years. This researcher has actively been engaged in the Senior Games as a member of the organizing committee and, as such, understands the logistics of the event. Because of this involvement, all of the participants were made aware of the researcher’s role in the games. This researcher devoted enough time (more than 10 years) to learn about the culture, have informal interactions with the participants prior to the interviews, and build relationships of trust with them.
In addition, while one of the researchers who analysed the transcripts has experience with qualitative methods, she was relatively new to the subject area (Senior Games) and, thus, had few biases and underlying assumptions in regard to the data. Member checks were conducted with the participants in order to determine if the participants’ voices and thoughts were accurately transcribed (Lincoln & Guba, Reference Lincoln, Guba, Bryman and Burgess1985). All of the participants received the interview transcripts and were asked to verify the accuracy of the reports, which were approved afterward. Triangulation also occurred via a combination of interview transcripts and field notes.
Results and Discussion
The findings of the interviews illustrated how the respondents determined their participation in the Senior Games and related physical activity, presented in the following section along with the three types of TPB-based beliefs. These beliefs are described in the form of advantages and disadvantages (i.e., behavioral beliefs), social support and pressure (i.e., normative beliefs), and facilitators and impediments (i.e., control beliefs). The components of each belief are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of findings
Advantages
According to the TPB, behavioral beliefs about an expected outcome of performing a particular behavior and evaluation of the outcome influence an attitude towards the behavior. Competing at the Senior Games provided tangible and intangible outcomes to the study participants. The interview respondents perceived some advantageous outcomes to participating in the games, including contributions to health, camaraderie, self-actualization, family togetherness, and travel experience.
First, participating in the Senior Games indirectly contributed to the improvement or maintenance of health conditions by encouraging regular exercise. Joan (age 69, retired, race-walk) described why she engaged in her chosen activity. “My goal is to do the best I can, and I’m in it for the health, and if I win a medal or two, that’s icing on the cake, but really my goal is to stay healthy.” Pam (age 70, retired, table tennis) similarly mentioned that she was engaged in her activity for exercise purposes. Adam (age 52, employed, cycling) recognized the contribution of his participation in the Senior Games to his health:
(It is good for your) mind and body; gives me the chance to work on getting fit. It’s good for you. I do it because it makes me feel good. I’ve been at a level to know what it really feels like to feel good. I always try to get to that level again.
Carol (age 63, employed, track and field) said her husband began attending the Senior Games because of her participation, which resulted in a contribution to his own health:
He was in the Senior Games in June as well. And it kind of inspired him because we’re not out there to get a gold medal all the time. It’s just being able to get active, and that kind of thing just kind of helps along the way, so he’s done that. And it’s really helped him, I think, physically, maintaining weight and things like that.
Obtaining better health was one of the positive outcomes of participation in the Senior Games. Of the 10 respondents, four indicated that their engagement in the Senior Games contributed to their health. Other researchers have reported the health benefits of physical activities by older adults (e.g., Caldwell, Reference Caldwell2005; Cress et al., Reference Cress, Buchner, Prohaska, Rimmer, Brown, Macera and Chodzko-Zajko2005).
A second advantage to participation in the Senior Games was that it helped most of the respondents to socialize. Joan acknowledged the opportunities to begin and maintain camaraderie that have occurred due to her activity in the games:
You talk with other athletes [who] compete in different areas; you build a community so that when you go there, you meet friends that you haven’t seen before, that you haven’t seen for a long time and you kind of catch up and you have community and you do things together outside the competition.
Joan often talked on the phone with friends across the nation whom she met at the Senior Games and even trained with one of her friends whom she met at the games. The friendships made at the Senior Games often seemed to last beyond the games, as Trent (age 53, employed, track and field) stated:
I actually made a couple of friends who all participate in the games and we still all keep in touch. A few e-mails here and there asking about how training is going and to see if they were going to participate in certain events.
In addition, training with friends was important for Trent. “Well, we try to train every day just because we had friends that would come over. …. That was kind of our social life. We have people come in and we practice and train.” Fargo (age 71, retired, volleyball) was even excited at “seeing people from around the state” and enjoyed going to the games where he would not otherwise see so many senior athletes. These findings were supported by Ryan and Lockyer (Reference Ryan and Lockyer2002) who had found that one prime motive of competitors at the South Pacific Masters Games in New Zealand was related to meeting and making friends. The findings were also supported by Dionigi, Baker, and Horton (Reference Dionigi, Baker and Horton2011) who explored friendship and social interaction as two of the benefits gained from participating in the World Masters Games in Australia. The Senior Games offered a vital opportunity for socializing, which is a psychological human need suggested by Maslow (Reference Maslow1968).
A third advantage resulting from Senior Games participation was the self-actualization perceived by the participants. According to Stebbins (Reference Stebbins1992), self-actualization refers to an activity’s ability to allow participants an opportunity to grow and develop knowledge, talents, or skills and “to fulfill part of their potential as human beings” (p. 7). Self-actualization is considered to be the highest level of human need in Maslow’s (Reference Maslow1968) needs model and is viewed as a search for one’s new aspect. Competition is a challenge in itself, but it also allows individuals to perceive his or her own growth. Flint (age 67, employed, volleyball) stated, “If I feel I’ve played my best, that’s what’s most rewarding.” Trent illustrated his experience as follows:
I had a goal within myself to reach 43 feet … It’s more of a competition within myself. Of course, I’d like to win it. I like to place as high as I can, but what I try to do is be the best that I can be to compete within myself.
For Carol, challenging herself in the Senior Games was an opportunity to see her own growth:
The competition is myself, really. Because, really, what I do is I look at my time and I see what I’ve done, and I always compare it to see how I can improve on it. … I look at myself to see what I can do to improve.
The respondents regarded opportunities for self-challenge as important and tended to engage in the games and related activities for these opportunities. Self-challenge was also reported as a primary motivation for senior competitors to participate in the Masters Games (Dionigi et al., Reference Dionigi, Baker and Horton2011; Ryan & Lockyer, Reference Ryan and Lockyer2002). This concept was well-illustrated by Sally (age 66, employed, swimming) who described herself as a competitive person. “I want to challenge myself. I want to prove to myself that I’m capable of achieving something. I want to stand out.”
This development of skills and abilities may be described as optimal leisure experience – that is, flow, which contributes to psychological growth and discovery (Csikszentmihalyi, Reference Csikszentmihalyi1990). Flow activities require opportunities for an individual to exercise an appropriate level of challenges and skills. The Senior Games, therefore, could offer participants such an opportunity for self-actualization and the flow state.
Participating in the Senior Games had a fourth advantage: it advanced the respondents’ family togetherness. The Senior Games presented the participants opportunities to share time and experiences with their family members. James, for instance, played tennis with his wife, and they participated in the games together. Joan enjoyed traveling with her husband to the Senior Games: “He’s my picture taker! He does ride a bike, and he will go when I go to the international and some of the national ones.” Carol explained that she enjoyed sharing her hobby with her children. “When the three of us, my son, my daughter and I, we get together and we talk track. It’s like ‘Okay, we’ve got to stop this!’” Her family members contacted each other because of their common hobbies and often supported each other:
He [her husband] had to go. He was always there supporting us. He would be the driver to take us to the different meets, and he would be there cheering and doing the camera thing in the stands and that kind of thing. … Through his kids, that’s kind of inspired him to be supportive of them and be there. … I still was interested in track, so I did put my schedule together and all of that and I talked to him. So he’s been very, very supportive as far as being there with me.
Carol’s statements are consistent with previous studies’ findings that perceived social support contributes crucially to an individual’s intention to engage in physical activities (Courneya et al., Reference Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz and Birkett2000; Wankel et al., Reference Wankel, Mummery, Stephens and Craig1994). Participation in the Senior Games provided an opportunity for family members to gather together.
Finally, travel experience that could be gained from participation in the Senior Games seemed to influence the respondents’ participation. Trent decided to participate in the games at another location because he and his family could make a vacation out of it. For Drew (age 54, retired, shuffleboard), traveling to a new place was an important consideration for participating in the Senior Games. Trent mentioned in his interview how impressed he was with his trip to the Senior Games because it offered a pre-event at Disney World. Carol decided to travel to a particular Senior Games because she wanted to visit the location where the games were being held: “Well, I wanted to go to Hawaii for one thing, and then I’m really just looking at maybe participating in some meets in other states that I haven’t [been to before].” Carol anticipated a certain outcome from the Senior Games. For her, travel was essential to her participation in the games because they were hosted in a different state every year:
I travel for a reason and for vacation. One reason is competing, so it helps me physically. The other reason is it does help my career as far as my work, because I can go and talk to other people and get more insight into what they’re doing and how they are working with older adults, supporting them in their homes and things like that.
Travel to a particular destination in which the Senior Games were taking place appeared to have been a key determinant for the participants. These findings were in line with the study conducted by Gillett and Kelly (Reference Gillett and Kelly2006) who reported that participants attached a similar meaning to the Masters Games experience when the games took place away from the participants’ home cities or states.
Disadvantages
One respondent mentioned an expected negative outcome of participating in the Senior Games: injury during training. Adam was “hit by a car six times, you know. The more miles you put on your body, the higher the probability of something happening. I’ve been pretty lucky.” Pam twisted her knee while playing a table tennis match and was then unable to play for six months. As Ajzen and Driver’s (Reference Ajzen and Driver1991) study showed, these negative outcomes could be viewed as the cost of engaging in a specific leisure activity.
The respondents reported fewer disadvantages than advantages in regard to engaging in their chosen activities at the Senior Games. In addition, the respondents acknowledged various intangible advantages more than they did tangible benefits (e.g., scores or medals). For example, mental and psychological satisfaction appeared to be valuable to the respondents. This finding is consistent with previous research that has shown that older adults perceive psychological benefits from their physical activity participation (Cardenas et al., Reference Cardenas, Henderson and Wilson2009; Dionigi, Reference Dionigi2002; Dionigi et al., Reference Dionigi, Baker and Horton2011; Gill et al., Reference Gill, Williams, Williams, Butki and Kim1997; Ryan & Lockyer, Reference Ryan and Lockyer2002). The perception of fewer disadvantages than advantages was likely because the participants achieved relatively more than those who do not participate in the Senior Games with regard to physical activities; consequently, they experienced the growth of their skills and self-actualization in the process of achieving their goals. They were achievers and, as such, looked forward to their accomplishments. Such people may find few disadvantages while engaging in their chosen activity. In addition, Senior Games participants may place more importance and higher value on the positive outcomes attained than on the negative ones.
Social Support and Pressure
The TPB suggests that social support and pressure (i.e., subjective norms) influence an individual’s decision as to whether to take a certain action. An individual considers the opinions of important others in regard to whether they would approve or disapprove of his or her taking an action. Therefore, important others may encourage or discourage the individual’s behavioral engagement. The respondents listed peers, close friends, and family members as important others who mainly support their participation in the Senior Games. For example, Flint explained how he got involved with the Senior Games and regular exercise: “Now the motivation is my significant other goes with me … We play as often as we can.” James even traveled long distances to practice with his partner with whom he participated in the Senior Games. For Drew, his close friend was of significant support in regard to his engagement in and training for the Senior Games:
Find a friend, hopefully a close friend that can not necessarily force you to go, but motivate you to go and makes you, maybe pushes you a little bit when you’re at your workout. … I think not only setting events and scheduling them and having a goal, but to have a training partner I think is extremely important.
Training partners were also influential to the participants according to Pam, who started participating in the Senior Games because of her partner:
Actually, I probably didn’t find out about the Senior Games until about then [Indiana Sports Corporation]. My doubles partners kind of got me into it. … I think that’s probably the one that got me into the Senior Games because they were in it, and then we just started every once in a while going to… even though it’s far out.
For Joan and Fargo, it was a community that influenced their involvement in their chosen pursuits. Joan perceived the subjective norm of others routinely engaged in the same activity as influencing her own Senior Games training and participation. And, as described earlier, Joan and Carol were motivated to engage in their chosen activities and the Senior Games because of their family members’ support. These findings – of the influence on participants by significant others and positive peer pressure – were consistent with previous studies’ findings on the importance of the subjective norm (Ball et al., Reference Ball, Jeffery, Abbott, McNaughton and Crawford2010; Emmons et al., Reference Emmons, Barbeau, Gutheil, Stryker and Stoddard2007; Okun et al., Reference Okun, Ruehlman, Karoly, Lutz, Fairholme and Schaub2003) and social support for participating in physical activities (Costanzo & Walker, Reference Costanzo and Walker2008; Courneya et al., Reference Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz and Birkett2000; Sasidharan et al., Reference Sasidharan, Payne, Orsega-Smith and Godbey2006).
Facilitators
According to the TPB, a behavior is partially guided by perceived behavioral controls through control beliefs. Individuals perceive the ease of undertaking an action, which may or may not contain actual control. This notion was reflected in the responses given within the interviews on two aspects: the Senior Games and physical competence. For example, Drew viewed the Senior Games itself as a facilitator for his physical activity:
I kind of need these events to motivate me to get to the gym that often. If I don’t have an event, I maybe only go once or twice a week. … I need that extra incentive to say “Okay, I’ve got to prepare for that event so I’ve got to push myself. I can’t sleep through the day and not worry about blowing off a workout; I’ve got to go do it.” I do it, so I need to schedule these events for the year just to give me that extra motivation to have a reason for going out every single day, or five days a week.
The Senior Games helped Drew set a goal in his chosen pursuit and to regularly train. The Senior Games also provided Sally with an indispensable opportunity to be active because of the scarcity of similar occasions, particularly for older people:
I don’t think we have enough competitive, non-professional sporting opportunities for people. … Unless you’re a pro, what is there? There was nothing when I was growing up, when I was a young adult. Yeah, now that I’m over 50, I can participate.
In addition, Sally influenced her partner to join the Senior Games:
I finally called him one day and I said “Bob, how about we bowl doubles,” thinking he would say no. He can’t even walk at this point. That is so exciting to him. He called me a few days later and said, “I want to do it. You’ve given me something to work toward to make myself try and feel better.” The incentive sometimes is all you need, somebody kind of inviting you or pushing you. … He is thrilled to death!
The respondents were motivated to engage in exercise as a result of participation in the Senior Games. A similar finding was reported in Trauer, Ryan, and Lockyer’s (Reference Trauer, Ryan and Lockyer2003) study in which they found that athletes were attracted to high-profile events (i.e., the Masters Games). The reputation of the games attracted athletes who were more likely to devote their time and money to travel. Ryan and Lockyer (Reference Ryan and Lockyer2002) also argued that competitors who had successful experiences in the senior games sought to repeat the experience, which resulted in being more involved over time. An opportunity to attend the Senior Games appeared to be a facilitator of engagement in the games and related physical activity. Contrarily, it may indicate that a lack of opportunity to demonstrate athletic performance reduces the likelihood of continuous engagement in physical activity, which will be discussed shortly.
Perceptions of one’s capability to perform certain actions appeared to motivate the respondents to engage in the games and related physical activity. For example, as stated, Carol, Flint, and Trent enjoyed self-challenge and were satisfied when they engaged in their best performances. Competing against oneself permits an individual to perceive physical capability, and the Senior Games provides such an opportunity. For Sally, achievements through competition with herself continuously influenced her positive self-image: “[I could] have the challenge of maybe setting a record or beating somebody. And just the self-satisfaction of knowing that after 50 years I could still do the butterfly!” These findings were supported by previous studies showing that one’s belief in physical capacity and competence was important in regard to intentions and attitudes with respect to physical activities (Courneya, Reference Courneya1995; Wankel et al., Reference Wankel, Mummery, Stephens and Craig1994). Successful past experiences facilitated engagement in physical activity as such experiences increased intention and perceived behavioral control (Armitage, Reference Armitage2005; Ryan & Lockyer, Reference Ryan and Lockyer2002). Particularly for older adults who are generally able to sense the deterioration of their physical abilities, perceptions of physical capabilities can be a significant contributor to actual exercise engagement.
Impediments
In addition to the benefits experienced by the respondents, some respondents experienced impediments to their participation. One of the largest concerns was physical constraints, such as disease and injury. James and Joan had to go through medical treatment as a result of diseases that prevented them from attending training and the games for a certain period of time. Pam also had to stop exercising and participating in competition events because of her table tennis knee injury. Adam had multiple accidents while riding his bike, which impeded his engagement in training and competition.
Another issue may include the inconvenience of traveling in regard to continuously engaging in the Senior Games and related activities. Adam explained that the monetary cost required to participate in the Senior Games was a problem:
There’s always the question of money. We aren’t sponsored. You travel and next thing you know you’re spending four days in San Francisco and after your hotel and food and race you’ve spent a couple thousand dollars. Part of doing this is figuring out how to get the money in order to continue racing.
Given that a large percentage of older adults are underemployed, or retired, the cost of traveling is an apparent and prominent issue. Drew valued the convenience of traveling with the equipment for his chosen pursuit:
The running is good because I do a lot of international traveling. It’s impossible to take my bike along. … if I’m travelling and I don’t have my bike with me, which is most of the time when I’m travelling, at least I can run or find another gym.
Drew’s point illustrated the importance of simplicity to engage in a certain physical activity. Any requirement of special equipment or preparation for participation may cause hesitation to engage in the activities. The perception of unavailable resources to perform a certain behavior can be viewed as a structural constraint in the leisure constraint model (Crawford, Jackson, & Godbey, Reference Crawford, Jackson and Godbey1991), in which the structural constraint refers to the physical environment that hinders individuals from engaging in leisure activities. Although some of the respondents may have been initially motivated to engage in an activity, they may have given it up due to a lack of money, equipment, and/or opportunity to attend the events.
As described earlier by Drew and Sally, available opportunities to attend the Senior Games or similar events was of paramount importance for older athletes particularly because such opportunities are limited. According to Sally,
I wish I would have had more physical stuff through my, especially through my age 20–50, 20–60. I wish there were more things out there for people in that age group. You’re busy taking care of your kids, and housecleaning and … Then between the [years] 40 and 60 I think there are segments that aren’t being active enough.
A lack of such opportunities was regarded as a structural constraint that cannot be controlled by individual participants. Increasing the opportunities to participate in the Senior Games can, in part, be achieved by publicity.
Advertising was a crucial issue discussed by several of the respondents who suggested that the Senior Games should be more advertised. According to Sally,
This is such an excellent program. I’m amazed that I even found it! Here’s a problem I have with it: They don’t advertise it! That has bugged me. … They don’t advertise it. … You don’t see “Hey old folks! This is coming. Practice! Here are the sports.” There’s no coverage for it, so when I talk to people about it, they don’t know what I’m talking about.
Drew agreed and stated that he discovered information about the Senior Games by chance:
Just by coincidence when I was thinking about what event do I want to do, the Indianapolis Star had a little blurb about entries for the Senior Games, and this was the last week they were taking entries. I never even knew the Indiana Senior Games existed. I’d never heard of it, so I got online. I looked at it and I said, “Wow, that’s pretty cool!”
Similar findings were reported in another study in which a lack of advertising was found to be one problem pointed out by the participants of the Masters Games (Ryan & Lockyer, Reference Ryan and Lockyer2002). Advertising is of foremost importance for the Senior Games in regard to being recognized by many individuals and attracting prospective participants. Lack of advertisement contributes to a potential structural constraint to participation in the event and to maintaining physical activity engagement. Information presented at the appropriate time in the appropriate fashion is essential for Senior Games participation and can be a facilitator or impediment depending on how and whether it is provided. To reach a larger number and wider range of participants, advertising needs careful attention.
Implications and Suggestions
Ajzen and Driver (Reference Ajzen and Driver1991) demonstrated the TPB’s applicability to understanding those dimensions that characterize behavioral determinants by examining salient beliefs regarding recreational activities. Accordingly, in this article we have explored the determinants of engaging in the Senior Games and related leisure-time physical activity by older adults by examining their salient beliefs. The interview respondents in our study were found to engage in physical activities to the extent that they associated advantageous outcomes with the Senior Games. They viewed their peers and families as supporting and approving their engagement. They recognized the physical capabilities required and structural constraints to engage in the physical activities.
The findings of this study show that the TPB framework is helpful when researchers attempt to uncover these determinants regarding engagement in physical activities. The knowledge gained from this study can be used to combine the necessary beliefs with interventions designed to encourage older adults to engage in leisure-time physical activities.
The interview respondents perceived positive outcomes (i.e., positive behavioral beliefs) derived from physical activity engagement, whereas they reported few negative outcomes (i.e., negative behavioral beliefs). We suggest that professionals who work with older adults communicate the benefits of physical activity in order to facilitate or maintain their engagements. This suggestion is supported by results presented by Chatzisarantis and Hagger (Reference Chatzisarantis and Hagger2005) who found that communication targeting behavioral beliefs (i.e., outcomes of behavioral performance) influenced attitudes towards physical activity participation. As was suggested by Crombie et al. (Reference Crombie, Irvine, Williams, McGinnis, Slane, Alder and McMurdo2004), the non-health benefits of physical activity that are important to and valued by many older people, such as camaraderie, family togetherness, self-actualization, and travel experiences, may also be highlighted.
The study respondents reported that their peers, close friends, and family members were supportive in regard to their regular engagement in training and participation in physical activity (i.e., normative beliefs). These findings provide consistent reinforcement for social support as an important determinant for physical activity engagement (Courneya et al., Reference Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz and Birkett2000; Estabrooks & Carron, Reference Estabrooks and Carron1999; Sasidharan et al., Reference Sasidharan, Payne, Orsega-Smith and Godbey2006; Wankel et al., Reference Wankel, Mummery, Stephens and Craig1994). To facilitate older adults’ exercise engagement, professionals who work at senior centers and exercise organizations may want to consider conveying supportive views and comments to older adults.
The findings also demonstrate that the Senior Games were a facilitator for the respondents to regularly train and develop their physical skills and that the lack of the event’s publicity was listed as an impediment by the respondents (i.e., control beliefs). Advertising the Senior Games is of foremost importance as, without knowing about the Senior Games, people will lose an opportunity to participate in the events (i.e., structural constraints) and may be reluctant to regularly train. Even if people can overcome some perceived behavioral controls, such as injuries, available equipment, and cost, they cannot control actual constraints. Therefore, it would be prudent to widely advertise the games at locations where senior participants might see or hear the advertisements, including the Internet, local newspapers, community newsletters, sports magazines, and senior centers as well as via word-of-mouth communication from personnel at community centers in which health promotion classes and leisure programs for older adults are typically offered.
For the elite senior athletes who had been playing the sports for a long time, it appeared that competing and practicing were central to their lives. For Sally and Drew who started playing their sports after retirement, participating in the Senior Games both at the state and national levels offered them opportunities to explore new “leisure career” paths as well as expand their social networks. Although the findings of our study seem to be quite relevant to older adults who have established their leisure careers as senior athletes, they may also be applied to older adults who are not athletes. Participation in the Senior Games is not necessarily confined to elite athlete status, and the competitions are open to anyone who meets the age requirement. As there may be a number of older adults who enter the competition without much experience, training and practicing for the Senior Games can be strategically promoted as a community-based program with an emphasis on the possible development of leisure careers. In this case, practitioners working with older adults should highlight the potential personal and social benefits (i.e., health, self-actualization, and social interactions) to be derived from participation and not necessarily insist only on elite competitors.
Some limitations should be considered. First, this study was a small-scale, exploratory study conducted in one study setting. Although all of the study participants competed at the national level, they were recruited from one U.S. state, which may constrain the transferability of the results. Future research may feature an expanded sample size and expanded geographic coverage. This study was guided by the TPB, which allowed us to investigate influences on behavioral intentions other than perceived control, because not all intentions are under volitional control. Although other theories can explain behavioral motivations and intentions in relation to one’s sense of volition and choice – such as self-determination, achievement motivation, and action control – they were not considered in this study.
Conclusion
This study offered a unique glimpse into the determinants of engagement in physical activities using the theory of planned behavior framework. It also offered a preliminary qualitative dataset that can be used to support further quantitative investigation into this topic. Our study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that participating in the Senior Games can be a strategy in maintaining quality of life among older adults. Future research should address a quantitative measurement of the importance and strength of the TPB beliefs using a large sample so as to obtain representative perspectives, especially in regard to gaining a higher level of participation from this population.
