THE BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS IN EXERCISE SCALE: TRANSLATION AND EVIDENCE FOR CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDITY

The present study reports on the psychometric evaluation and cross-cultural validity of the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale (BPNES; Vlachopoulos & Michailidou, 2006) translated from Greek into English. The data obtained from 346 British exercise participants supported the hypothesized 3-factor structure, showed satisfactory internal reliability coefficients, and offered evidence for the factor concurrent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the translated scale. Cross-cultural validity analyses across British and Greek participants supported configural invariance and partial metric, partial strong, and partial strict factorial invariance of the BPNES responses. The findings provide promising evidence for the validity and reliability of the translated BPNES and support the use of the scale in single-culture and cross-culture exercise-related motivational research within the self-determination theory framework.