Academic motivation, sleep quality, and exercise frequency in university students: A cross-sectional study

Academic motivation plays a critical role in students’ academic engagement, learning persistence, and academic performance during university education. This study aimed to examine the relationships among academic motivation, sleep quality, and physical activity levels in undergraduate students enrolled in the Faculty of Sport Sciences. This cross-sectional correlational study included 230 volunteer undergraduate students (136 males and 94 females) enrolled in the Faculty of Sport Sciences.Data were collected using the Academic Motivation Scale, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form, the Sleep Quality Scale, and a personal information form. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. The results indicated that physical activity levels differed significantly according to regular exercise participation and weekly exercise frequency, with regularly exercising students demonstrating higher vigorous physical activity and total energy expenditure. Academic motivation differed significantly according to grade point average, with higher GPA students reporting higher intrinsic motivation and lower amotivation. Sleep quality was significantly associated with moderate physical activity and intrinsic motivation to know. However, overall physical activity levels were not significantly correlated with academic motivation. These findings suggest that sleep quality may be linked to certain motivational and lifestyle factors, whereas physical activity alone does not appear to be directly associated with academic motivation in this sample.