The true value of extrinsic motivation? The effect of intrinsic and extrinsic sports motivation on sports anomie behavior in college students

Sports anomie behavior hurts the fairness of sports and the physical and mental health of sports participants. Previous studies have not focused on the psychological mechanisms of youth sports anomie behavior. This study explores the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic sports motivation on students’ sports anomie behavior and provides theoretical references for reducing students’ sports anomie behavior. A total of 2340 college students from twenty universities in China voluntarily participated in the survey. The results showed that (1) both intrinsic sports motivation (τ = -0.11, 95% CI = (-0.14, -0.08)) and extrinsic sports motivation (τ = -0.07, 95% CI = (-0.10, -0.03)) were significantly and negatively related to sports anomie behavior, and (2) intrinsic and extrinsic sports motivation was significantly and positively related (τ = 0.56, 95% CI = (0.54, 0.59) ), and (3) in the structural equation model, intrinsic sports motivation could negatively predict sports anomie behavior (β = -0.28, p < 0.001) and extrinsic sports motivation could negatively influence sports anomie behavior through the mediating role of intrinsic sports motivation (β = -0.25, 95% CI = (-0.428, -0.089)). The study concluded that the stronger the students’ intrinsic sports motivation, the fewer sports anomie behavior occurred, and if extrinsic sports motivation can be better transformed into intrinsic sports motivation, it also has a suppressive effect on sports anomie behavior.