Volition profile of people with physical disability

Introduction: Volition is a determinant psychological factor in the improvement of the performance of the human behavior. The aim of the study was to analyze the volitional qualities; persistence, purposefulness and expediency based on personal characteristics and disability-related characteristics. Material and methods: The participants in this study were 140 people with physical disabilities (n=107 men, and n=33 women) while 10 people did not state their gender. Their age ranging from 14 to 67 years. The participants filled the questionnaire Measure Athletes’ Volition-Short (MAV-S). In addition following factors were put into analysis: gender, age, family status, education, occupational status, disability [congenital versus acquired], type of disability [spinal cord injury, brain palsy, amputation, poliomyelitis, muscular dystrophy and other type], form of exercise [sport activities – competitive versus recreational – and any activity], type of sport [team versus individual sports], type of experience [resistance, strength and skills], and form of games [Paralympic, European, National and Sectional]). Results: show that the people with physical disabilities who mainly take part in, physical activities manifest a high level volitional qualities (persistence, purposefulness, and expediency). Conclusions: Personal characteristics like form of exercise, type of sport (team, individual) and athletic experience play a moderating role in the existence of individual differences in volitional qualities.


Procedure
Prior to participation in the study, permission to participate in the study was requested and received from coaches of individuals that participated in competitive sports activities and parents of individuals that are under the age of 18 years. From rehabilitation centers managers of individuals who were non-participants in sports activities. Finally, the researchers informed the participants of the content of the questions, as well as of the purpose of the present study, before the participants fill in the questionnaire.

Measurement
Volition: For the needs of the present study Measure Athletes' Volition-Short (MAV-S; [21] was used. MAV-S consists of 15-item where the individuals describe how intensively they use certain functions to achieve a goal in sports and physical activities on a 7-point scale Likert-type, ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree. MAV-S consists three subscales that estimate the qualities as persistence (5-items, e.g., I insist on exercising even though the conditions are not good), purposefulness (4-items, e.g., I exercise intensively because I feel fulfillment), and expediency (6-items, e.g., I feel capable of doing whatever I am asked to do). The MAV-S in the present study has demonstrated adequate internal consistency with satisfactory alpha coefficients for the three subscales (persistence α=0.84, purposefulness α=0.85, and expediency α=0.88).

Data analysis
Descriptive statistics were obtained, and preliminary data analyses were conducted to estimate the responses of people' on volition qualities. Inferential statistics (ANOVA and MANOVA) were used to analyze the extent to which the perception of the people with physical disabilities in the volitional qualities varied with gender, age, family status, education, occupational status, disability, type of disability, form of exercise, type of sport, experience, and form of games.

Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics (Table 1) revealed the total profile in volitional qualities people with physical disabilities that were used in the present study. Specifically, the descriptive statistics showed that people with physical disability scored higher on quality expediency (M=5.60, SD=1.12). In addition, descriptive statistics established that volitional qualities operate in a different way in a big proportion of the demographic characteristics (see Table 2).
More specifically, descriptive statistics as presented in Table 2 have shown that men exhibited higher levels of persistence and expediency (M=4.97, SD=1.29 and M=5.62, SD=1.06, respectively) than the women that exhibited higher levels of purposefulness (M=5.59, SD=1.36). Regarding the age groups, people are perceived of exhibiting higher levels of persistence in ages 23-34 years (M=4.99, SD=1.28), purposefulness in 14-22 and 45-67 years (M=5.75, SD=1.02 and M=5.75, SD=1.13, respectively), and expediency in 14-22 years (M=5.70, SD=0.88). Moreover, it turned out that the tendency of the scores in all three volitional qualities, does not have any specific trend.
Regarding the family status, descriptive statistics showed an excellence in the scores of unmarried on all the qualities persistence (M=4.95, SD=1.32), purposefulness (M=5.65, SD=1.23), and expediency (M=5.66, SD=1.03). In education descriptive statistics also revealed that the quality persistence and purposefulness (M=5.21, SD=1.72, and M=5.97, SD=1.21, respectively) scored the highest in the junior high school level in relation to any other education level. While, the quality expediency (M=5.83, SD=1.61) presented higher scores at the primary school level in relation to any other education levels. Also, descriptive statistics did not show a clear tends for the volitional qualities scores.
For occupational status descriptive statistics indicated an excellence in the scores of rentiers on all the persistence (M=5.50, SD=1.59), purposefulness (M=6.50, SD=0.52), and expediency (M=6. 14  Finally, descriptive statistics also revealed that the quality persistence and expediency (M=5.44, SD=0.89, and M=6.19, SD=0.67, respectively) scored the highest in European in relation to any other level of competition. While, the purposefulness quality (M=6.04, SD=0.90) presented higher scores on the Paraolympic in relation to any other level of competition.

Differences between Personal and Disability-related Characteristics
Separate analyses of variances (MANOVA) were conducted to compare the mean values on volition qualities across to gender, age, family status, education, occupational status, disability, type of disability, type of exercise, type of sport, athletic experience, and level of competition.
Initially, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance was performed with the use of three volitional qualities (persistence, purposefulness, and expediency) as dependent variables and the Gender as independent variable. The multivariate tests did not reveal a significant main effect of gender (  In additional one-way MANOVA was conducted with the same dependent variables and the Type of Sport (team versus individual) as independent variable. The multivariate test revealed a significant main effect of type of exercise (Wilks' lambda=0.883, F(3,106)=4.97, p<0.01, n 2 =0.117). The finding η 2 =0.117, indicates that 11.7% of the total variance in variables of volition is accounted for by type of sport (team, individual) differences and as such it can be classified as a moderate effect. The univariate results showed significantly different effect only for the competency purposefulness (F(1,109) = 7.10, p < 0.01, n 2 = 0.044), while the others two competencies persistence (F(1,109)=0.01, p>0.05), and expediency (F(1,109)=0.74, p>0.05) did not revealed significant effects.
Finally, one more one-way MANOVA was conducted with the same dependent variables and the Athletic Experience as independent variable. The multivariate test revealed a significant main effect of athletic experience (Wilks' lambda=0.733, F(3,105)=3.86, p<0.01, n 2 =0.098). The finding η 2 =0.098, indicates that 9.8% of the total variance in variables of volition accounted for athletic experiences differences and as such it can be classified as a moderate effect. The univariate results showed significantly different effects and the three competencies, persistence (F(1,110)

DISCUSSION
Volition is an important psychological factor that help in understanding the human behavior better. This study analyzes personal characteristics that determine the behavior of people with physical disabilities by analyzing three volitional qualities: persistence, purposefulness, and expediency.
The findings of the present study have shown that people with physical disability revealed a high level of volitional manifestations. Specifically, the findings indicated an excellence of volitional quality expediency. This finding shows that the behavior of the people in the present study, possibly, is distinguished to a large extent of expediency. Snyder [26] argues that people with physical disabilities may do more than they seem to be capable of based on their situation, with an improved result of the expediency for pursuing personal goals. Components of expediency are "decision making" and "persistence on effort", which characterized one independent function given to people in the present study, the majority that participated in physical activities (competitive or recreational) where involved in decision making, an event contributing to the improvement of their cognitive level, it is possible for the behavior function to have an autonomy character. According to Self-Determination Theory [27], autonomy is defined as volitional.
The autonomy function due to the rationality strengthening of the decision information in order to generate and evaluate alternate pathways to a goal. Furthermore, it is also due to the belief that participation in decision-making contributes to the individuals' personal growth by enhancing their feelings of self-worth and self-confidence and by facilitating the development of their problemsolving skills [28].
The existence of the autonomy implies acknowledgement of the other's perceptions, acceptance of the other's feelings, and facilitation of self-initiated expression and action [29]. Moreover, the independence is considered as basic part of the participation in rehabilitation, which is the ultimate aim [30].
The findings, also, revealed that people with physical activities in this study perceive that in the context of volitional manifestations, the volition quality of purposefulness is at a high level in the application physical activities. Given that purposefulness contains psychological concepts like intention and goal-setting, we can consider that the people of the present study, possibly, manifest behaviors of intention to perform an action, making obvious individual's behavioral performance through his/her effort to put a physical activity under volitional control [31], but also the commitment of the individual to a goal [32]. The goals as a cognitive condition have the power of a motive because they affect not only the direction of behavior but also the intensity of effort made. Goal setting has been advocated as "a highly consistent and a robust performance enhancement strategy" [33]. Gould Physical Activity Review vol. 6,2018 www.physactiv.eu _______________________________________________________________________________________ 158 [34] has suggested that goal setting is particularly effective in enhancing performance and positively affecting behavior when focusing on a combination of outcome, performance, and process goals. Except for the revealing a perception of intense manifestation volitional qualities as expediency and purposefulness, the findings of this study showed a relatively high-level manifestation of volitional quality persistence. This finding reveals that people with physical disability of the present study, possibly show behaviors of relentless effort to overcome difficulties or obstacles. According to Bandura [35] persistence is endurance, or the refusal to give up, especially when faced with opposition. Bandura and colleagues maintained that persistence is a skill affected by expectations of self-efficacy [36]. When an individual possesses strong self-efficacy beliefs he/she is expected to exhibit the element of persistence in demanding activities [37]. Self-efficacy refers to the belief that an individual can behave in the manner required in order to achieve specific goals [36].
In the present study it was hypothesized that the perception people with physical disabilities for their volitional manifestations is potentially affected by several moderators. The results of this study confirmed, in part, the above assumption. Specifically, the findings revealed a moderate level of effects of variables form of exercise, type of sport (team, individual), and form of games on the volitional qualities persistence, purposefulness and expediency, except the type sport on the quality expediency. Regarding the other demographic characteristics and disabilities-related characteristics, individual differences were not found in volitional qualities. Here it must be noted that the interest of researchers is limited to the theoretical perspectives in examining demographic characteristics and disabilities-related characteristics [38]. Demographic characteristics are used, mainly, for descriptive purposes in clinical studies. This has as a result the inability of comparison of the findings of this study with the findings of other studies.
Given that volition constitutes a personality characteristic, we will try to discuss the findings of this study with the findings of other studies for the existence of changes in personality traits development using typical population. The finding for the absence of the individual differences on volitional qualities is strengthened partly by the claim that the related-behavior personality traits do not change with age [39], because there are other studies that reported mean-level changes in traits at various ages across the life course [40]. Roberts et al. [39] report that the development of personality across the human life course is a complex and multilayered affair. Regarding the finding related to the gender of this study is not fully supported even though that findings of other study suggest that gender differences in personality traits are small relative to individual variation within genders [41], because gender differences in personality traits have been documented in many empirical studies [42]. Specific life experiences are considered to constitute the cause of the existence of individual differences in personality traits [43]. Part of these experiences can be considered to constitute the experiences which are gained via the involvement in sports. This claim strengthens the finding this study that athletic experiences affect the strength of the manifestation of volitional qualities in people with physical qualities.

Limitations and future implications
This study is not without limitations. First, it should be noted that the assessment of volitional qualities was based on self-reports. Also, the sample of this study cannot be considered as representative so as to allow the generalization of the results. A systematic future research is necessary to explore similar individual differences in volitional qualities using the same number of people in three forms exercise. It should also explore the association between the volitional qualities with other psychological constructs.

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the present study is considered to offer new knowledge on the volitional manifestations of people with physical disabilities. From the findings of present study, it is initially concluded that the people with physical disabilities, mainly involved with physical activities, manifest high level of volitional qualities as persistence, purposefulness, and expediency. Another conclusion based on the findings of the present study, is the effect of personal characteristics as a type of exercise