The impact of competitive and collaborative exergame play on the intrinsic motivation of undergraduate Physical Education students

Giannousi, M¹., Liakos, Ch¹., Marinakis, D². & Kioumoutzoglou, E¹.

¹Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Democritus University of Thrace, University Campus 69100, Komotini, Greece
²Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Thessaly, Argonafton 1C 42132, Trikala, Greece

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how exergames, when played in two different approaches (competitive and cooperative), affect the intrinsic motivation of undergraduate Physical Education students. Twenty-eight first-year undergraduate students at the Democritus University of Thrace were randomly divided into Xbox Kinect exercise groups of 14 students each, a competitive (8 males and 6 females) and a cooperative group (7 males and 7 females). In the cooperative setting, participants played on a team against a computer avatar, while the competitive condition had participants playing against each other. Xbox Kinect Sports Table Tennis was chosen for its cooperative and competitive options. After the completion of the 15-minute experimental period, participants completed a questionnaire to assess the psychological aspect of the intrinsic motivation for the two gaming conditions. In addition, they were given the opportunity to continue playing if they wished, in order to evaluate the behavioral aspect of the intrinsic motivation. Mann-Whitney U test analyses for independent samples were conducted to investigate the differences of psychological and behavioral aspects of intrinsic motivation among the exercise context (cooperative, competitive) of the participants. No significant difference was found between the two Xbox Kinect exercise context (cooperative, competitive) in any aspect (psychological, behevioral) of the intrinsic motivation. Conclusively, findings suggest that the use of Xbox Kinect Sports Table Tennis is a valuable, feasible and motivational approach in order to enhance physical activity behaviors of undergraduate Physical Education students, regardless of the game conditions (cooperative, competitive).

Keywords: Exergames; Cooperative; Competitive; Table tennis; Intrinsic motivation.

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