Personal goals as motivators: Predicting bicycle helmet use in university students

The purpose of this study was to investigate motivation goals predicting bicycle helmet use by university students. Helmets are an important means of preventing or reducing head trauma. If we understand what goals motivate helmet use, we can teach students how helmet wearing can fulfill multiple personal goals. Students from three Midwestern universities (N = 241; response RATE = 78%) completed a 44-item survey comprised of eight goal subscales (safety, positive self evaluations, social responsibility, bodily sensations, self determination, individuality, resource acquisition, and material gain), ranging from two to nine items each, and 13 demographic/background items. One in five (20%; N = 49) students classified themselves as helmet wearers. Helmet wearers reported achieving significantly more personal goals by wearing helmets than nonwearers. Students most likely to wear helmets were significantly more likely to personally know someone who had been in a cycling accident and had significantly more friends who wore helmets. Helmet wearing did not differ by personal accident history, sex, race, year in school, nor riding frequency. Evidence suggests that motivation for a behavior is strongest when the behavior achieves multiple personal goals. This investigation supports this motivational model and suggests that if adolescents are taught how wearing helmets achieves many personal goals, more students may wear helmets.