Studies using the ESE scale
The ESE scale developed by Bandura (1997, 2006) was used as a measure in this
study. Online literature searches were made to look for past studies on self-efficacy and
physical activity using the ESE scale. Two published studies were found and are
discussed below; for further details on the ESE scale see Chapter 4 – Instrumentation
Development.
A study to assess the psychometric properties and demographic response pattern of the
ESE scale among Korean adults with chronic disease was carried out by Shin et al.
(2001). The study included 249 participants (mean age, 48.94 years) of which 51.8%
were women; all were patients diagnosed as having cardiovascular disease, respiratory
disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disease, diabetes mellitus or musculoskeletal
disease. Descriptive analysis showed that the participants of this study had relatively
low exercise self-efficacy. The results also showed that participants who exercised
regularly had higher exercise self-efficacy than those who exercised intermittently or
never exercised. An important outcome of this study was that it found the ESE scale to
be a useful measure of exercise beliefs of Korean adults with chronic disease.
In addition to the above study, there was a study to compare the perceived exercise
self-efficacy, exercise benefits, exercise barriers and commitment to a plan to exercise
among Korean women with osteoporosis or osteoarthritis carried out by Shin, Hur,
Pender, Jang, and Kim (2006). This study used three instruments: ESE (Bandura, 1997,
2006), Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale (Sechrist, Walker, & Pender, 1987) and
Commitment to a Plan for Exercise Scale (Pender, 1996). The study involved 154
women of over 40 years of age with a clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteoarthritis.
Analyses of the data revealed that exercise self-efficacy accounted for a majority of
variance in commitment to a plan for exercise with 27% among patients with
osteoporosis and 53% among patients with osteoarthritis. The results provide support
for the cross-cultural relevance of exercise self–efficacy in explaining commitment to
exercise.
Self-efficacy and physical activity in Malaysia
A literature search found one published paper that used the ESE scale (Bandura,
2006) which examined barriers to exercise among cancer survivors in Malaysia. Data
on the ESE scale (Bandura, 2006) was, however, only briefly presented in the paper.
The cross-sectional study carried out by Loh, Chew, and Lee (2011) included 51
breast cancer survivors diagnosed between 9 and 83 months before data collection.
Measurement tools used in the study included IPAQ (Craig et al., 2003) and the ESE
scale (Bandura, 2006). The results showed that 88% of the participants did not
consider engaging in physical activity. Self-efficacy was relatively low with
situational/interpersonal found to be the lowest. However, there was no significant
difference across sub-factors of the scale. Lack of time was cited as the main barrier
preventing participants from engaging in physical activity. Other barriers reported were
no friends to exercise with, busy with household chores and weather.
Three other studies analysed the relationship between self-efficacy and physical activity
but did not utilise the ESE scale. The most recent study found was conducted by
Sreeramareddy, Majeed Kutty, Razzaq Jabbar and Boo (2012) to investigate the factors
associated with physical activity among young Malaysian adults. The study was carried
out online among 474 participants who had registered at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak
opinion poll survey. The mean age of the participants was 22.4 years with 53.4%
females. Results indicated that 51.1% of the participants had sufficient physical activity.
Self-efficacy, intention and facilities were strongly associated with higher physical
activity in this study.
The second study, which was conducted by Siti Affira, Mohd Nasir, Hazizi, and
Kandiah (2011), aimed to determine the socio-demographic and psychological factors
associated with physical activity among working women in Malaysia. The study was
conducted on 215 working women from four companies. The results showed that:
24.7% were overweight and 7.9% were obese; and 28.8% had low physical activity
level, 48.8% moderate and 22.3% were in high physical activity level. Analyses further
revealed an association between monthly income, current physical activity behaviour
and physical activity level. Physical activity was also positively correlated with
perceived barriers but no association was found between self-efficacy and physical
activity. Results also showed that higher socio-economic group reported higher
participation in physical activity.
The final study identified was conducted by Chiu (2009); it examined the psychological
determinants of leisure time physical activity. The study was carried out on 1352
undergraduates student using the Leisure Attitude Scale (Ragheb & Beard, 1982), Self-
efficacy for Exercise Scale (Benisovich et al., 1998), Leisure Constraints Questionnaire
(Alexandris & Carrol, 1997) and Motivation for Physical Activity Measure (Frederick &
Ryan, 1993). The results showed that motivation and self-efficacy were the best
predictors of leisure time physical activity.
Summary and research gap on self-efficacy in relation to physical activity
Previous social psychological research has shown that attitudes do not always predict
behaviour with some researchers suggesting that it is necessary to take into account
other variables to improve prediction of behaviour (Terry & O’Leary, 1995). In the TPB,
the combination of attitude, SN and PBC leads to the formation of intention and people
are expected to carry out the intention when the opportunity arises (Ajzen, 2002).
Intention is assumed to be an antecedent of behaviour but the execution of many
behaviours poses a challenges due to a limit in volitional control, so it also useful to
consider the direct effect of PBC on behaviour (Ajzen, 2002).
A review of the literature revealed limitations which the present study attempts to
address and its findings will contribute to the body of knowledge as follows:
Overall Summary and Research Gaps
Briefly, the TPB posits that human action is influenced by three major factors: attitude
towards the behaviour, SN and PBC (Ajzen, 2005). Generally, the validity of TPB in
predicting human behaviour in relation to physical activity has been demonstrated in
many studies. However, its efficacy in different populations and settings remains to be
examined.
To summarise, the following research gaps in the existing literature have been identified
in this chapter. Firstly, the TPB was shown to have good predictive utility in studies
related to physical activity; however, only a small amount of research has been
conducted in a Malaysian population. Conducting a study on physical activity using TPB
in Malaysia is important because statistics showed that 43.1% of the Malaysian
population were categorised as obese or overweight in 2006 and the percentage
increased to 47.7% in 2015.
Secondly, existing literature has also shown that self-efficacy is useful in predicting
physical activity behaviour and it is distinct from the concept of PBC in the TPB.
Similarly, studies utilising this construct in Malaysian populations are very limited.
Thirdly, from the literature reviewed here, it is apparent that physical activity has a
positive relationship with quality of life. However, most of the existing literature focussed
on populations with clinical conditions or elderly people.
