Abstract des Autors

This study compared the participative motives of male and female runners registered in races of varying lengths (marathon, half-marathon, and 5K/10K) using the Motivations of Marathoners Scales (Masters, Ogles, & Jolton, 1993). Shorter races were composed of a higher proportion of women. Women endorsed weight concern, affiliation, self-esteem, psychological coping, and life meaning as more important motives for running than men. In addition, a select group of behaviorally identified obligatory runners (n = 42) and recreational runners (n = 47) were compared in terms of self-report motivations for running. Men were disproportionately identified as obligatory runners. Male obligatory runners are characterized by an emphasis on achieving recognizable success. That is, obligatory runners more heavily endorsed achievement motives (competition and personal goal achievement) and recognition as reasons for training. In contrast, male recreational runners more heavily endorsed physical well being motives (general health orientation and weight concern) as reasons for training. Verf.-Referat