Pipsa P.A. Tuominen and Päivi Mayor, Ph.D. of Tampere University of Applied Sciences in Finland studied the relationship between intrinsic motives and the autonomic nervous system such as heart rate, heart rate variability regulation, sleep, and physical activity levels.
Subjects
The subjects were 66 primary and high school teachers in Tampere, Finland who volunteered to participate in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 46.4, with teaching experience averaging 11.4 years. The vast majority were female (92%).
Measures
The Reiss Motivation Profile® (RMP) was administered to assess each subject’s prioritization of 16 life motives.
The Firstbeat (FB) Bodyguard 2 device was used to measure heart rate, heart rate variability, level of physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Data for each subject were collected continuously for three days.
The assessments were conducted between November 2020 and January 2021, at a time when the schools were not in lockdown due to COVID-19.
Results
The RMP motives of Acceptance, Eating, Physical Activity, Power, Tranquility, and Vengeance were found to have a significant relationship with FB-measured outcomes.
- The RMP motive of Acceptance, defined as the desire for positive self-regard, was significantly related to FB-measured sleep proportion and vigorous activity proportion.The higher the score for Acceptance, the lower was the amount of both sleep and vigorous physical activity. According to Professor Steven Reiss’s theory of motivation, people with a strong need for Acceptance are unusually sensitive to failure, criticism, and rejection. Thus, these individuals may have difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep if they are worried about their job performance, the likelihood of being criticized, or the possibility of social exclusion. Further, the lack of self-confidence characteristic of people with a strong need for Acceptance may reduce their participation in vigorous sports due to concerns about not being able to meet the higher level of expectations associated with such activity.
- The RMP motive of Eating, defined as the desire to consume food, was significantly related to FB-measured sedentary behavior proportion. The higher the score for Eating, the lower was the amount of sedentary behavior. This finding is in line with previous research showing that people with healthy eating habits engage in more physical activity. The finding also may be unique to teachers who are required to actively monitor students in the cafeteria while eating lunch themselves.
- The RMP motive of Physical Activity, defined as the desire for muscle exercise, was significantly related to FB-measured stress proportion, recovery proportion, light physical activity proportion, and vigorous physical activity proportion. The higher the score on the RMP Physical Activity scale, the lower were the amounts of stress and light physical activity – and the higher were the amounts of recovery and vigorous physical activity. It makes sense, of course, for individuals who have a strong desire for exercise to engage in vigorous, rather than light, physical activity. Further, the findings of an inverse relationship between scores on the RMP Physical Activity scale and FB-measured stress and recovery are consistent with studies demonstrating the positive effects of physical movement on health and wellness.
- The RMP motive of Power, defined as the desire for influence of will, was significantly related to FB-measured sedentary behavior proportion. The higher the score for Power, the higher was the amount of sedentary behavior. People with a strong need for Power value competence, excellence, and productivity, and they often work long hours in order to achieve challenging goals. Thus, it is not surprising that such individuals are often sedentary particularly if their work does not involve physical labor.
- The RMP motive of Tranquility, defined as the desire to avoid experiencing anxiety and pain, was significantly related to FB-measured light physical activity proportion. The higher the score for Tranquility, the higher was the amount of light physical activity. In Professor Reiss’s theory of motivation, people with a strong need for Tranquility are concerned with personal safety. Therefore, it is reasonable to predict that such individuals are likely to prefer low-key physical activities that pose little risk (e.g., walking), as opposed to vigorous exercise that may cause physical injury (e.g., downhill skiing).
- The RMP motive of Vengeance, defined as the desire to confront those who frustrate or offend us, was significantly related to FB-measured vigorous physical activity proportion. The higher the score for Vengeance, the higher was the amount of vigorous physical activity People with a strong need for Vengeance are confrontational and value winning. Since sports provide opportunities to battle opponents, it is understandable that individuals who want to win at all costs often exert maximum effort during athletic competitions.
Conclusions
The RMP motives of Acceptance, Eating, Physical Activity, Power, Tranquility, and Vengeance were significantly related to FB-measured stress, recovery, sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity, with the Physical Activity scale exerting the greatest influence. Thus, the 16 life motives assessed by the RMP can serve as a framework for understanding individual variation in behaviors that affect wellness and for devising strategies to encourage healthier habits.
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