Social Catalysts and Autonomous Motivation: Peer-Driven Exercise Adherence in a Year-Long University Resistance Training Program

Abstract: Physical fitness among Japanese university students has declined over recent decades, and rates of sustained physical activity in this population remain low. This qualitative case study examines the experiences of 10 first-year students who took part in a year-long resistance training intervention at a Japanese university. Drawing exclusively on semi-structured exit interviews, we investigated the motivational beliefs, behavioral strategies, and social dynamics shaping sustained exercise engagement. Peer influence was the most prominent driver of adherence in participants’ accounts: six of the ten identified a specific “social catalyst,” a knowledgeable and committed peer whose presence, encouragement, and practical guidance they described as decisive in overcoming the friction of initiation. Several participants also described, retrospectively, a perceived shift from external regulation toward more autonomous motivation, together with self-reported improvements in nutrition, sleep, mood, and concentration. These shifts were uneven: one participant described a continuing reliance on external structure. The findings extend self-regulated learning theory into physical activity contexts and inform the design of student-centered program frameworks, with particular relevance for Japanese higher education, where campus wellness infrastructure is minimal and informal peer networks carry a substantial motivational burden.