© 2013 Research Academy of Social Sciences http://www.rassweb.com 405 International Journal of Management Sciences Vol. 1, No. 10, 2013, 405-415 The Attribution Roles and Self-Efficacy in Determining Individual Exercise Behavior Shamsharizal Abd Aziz 1 , Soh Kim Geok 2 , M.S. Omar-Fauzee 3 , Yahya Don 4 , Yaakob Daud 5 , Nagoor Meera Abdullah 6 , Vincent Parnabas 7 , Mohd Nizam Nazarudin 8 , Nina Sustrena 9 Abstract The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between exercise self-efficacy and attributions with exercise behavior and to what extent the two independent variables that can determine the individual exercise behavior. Respondents are consists of 274 students (86 men, 188 women) aged between 20 and 24 years (M = 21.31, SD = 1.27). They were undergraduate students in various fields of specialization at the Institute of Teacher Education, Islamic Education Campus, Ministry of Education Malaysia. The Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ; Godin & Shephard, 1985) is used to determine the level of their involvement in physical activity within a week. While the independent variables of exercise self-efficacy is measured using the Marcus’ Self-efficacy for Exercise Questionnaire (Marcus, Selby, Niaura, & Rossi, 1992) and the revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDSII; McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992) was used for measuring their attributions towards success and failure in physical activity. The findings showed there was a weak relationship between exercise self-efficacy and exercise behavior, and exercise self- efficacy also contributed significantly to the behavior of exercise. However, the four dimensions of attribution does not show a significant relationship with exercise behavior. The study is expected to enhance the understanding of motivational factors that contribute to the individual exercise behavior. Key Words: Attributions, Exercise self-efficacy, Student-teachers, Individual exercise behavior 1. Introduction Ministry of Health Malaysia statistics in 2010 showed 30 percent of Malaysians are overweight and 30 percent worse yet categorized as obese due to unhealthy lifestyle practices, including lack of exercise (Lai, 2010). Earlier, surveys by the National Fitness Council in 2008 found that only 49 percent of the youths in Malaysia exercise more than three hours a week and there are also 20 percent of youth who do not exercise at all (www.nfc.net.my). Lack of exercise among youths in Malaysia is consistent with the fact Spence et.al. (2010) state that there are many youths exercise less than the recommended 60 minutes a day, five days a week as proposed by Troiano et al., (2008). The phenomenon of lack of exercise are not only among youth in Malaysia, but also in other countries, including developed countries because according to Dishman, Washburn, and Heath (2004), 30 percent of youth in the United States not to engage in physical activity and only 15 percent exercise for 30 minutes or 1 Universiti Putra Malaysia 2 Universiti Putra Malaysia 3 Universiti Utara Malaysia 4 Universiti Utara Malaysia 5 Universiti Utara Malaysia 6 Universiti Teknologi MARA 7 Universiti Teknologi MARA 8 Universiti Malaysia Sabah/Universiti Utara Malaysia 9 Universiti Pendidikan Indonesia