The Effects of Competition on Intrinsic Motivation in Exergames and the Conditional Indirect Effects of Presence

Intrinsic motivation has been reported to be one of the strongest determinants of exercise adherence. The role of competition in exergames was studied to determine the ways to increase intrinsic motivation. We tested the competitive exercise setting as a contextual factor, and competitiveness as individual characteristic, to investigate their effect on intrinsic motivation using psychological, behavioral, and physiological measures. The experiment was a 2 (Competition: Competition versus Non-competition condition) x 2 (Individual competitiveness: High versus Low) between-subjects design. The results showed significant interaction effects of independent variables on intrinsic motivation, mood, and evaluation of the exergame. For highly competitive individuals, competition increased intrinsic motivation, but for those who were lowly competitive, exercising in competitive settings had detrimental effects on the exercise experience. We also found significant moderated mediation effect of presence toward exercise experience in the exergame. Keywords--exergame, competition, presence, intrinsic motivation, exercise video game