Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.dv41ns2db

Description of the data and file structure

The Yoga Motivation Scale (YMS) was developed using a three-phase scale development process based on the recommendations of DeVellis (2017) and Boateng et al. (2018).

Phase 1: Item Development. An initial pool of 118 items was generated from previous qualitative research on yoga participation in Türkiye and an extensive review of the literature on yoga motivation. Content validity was evaluated by a panel of nine experts in psychology, sports psychology, and sport sciences using Lawshe's Content Validity Ratio (CVR). After expert review, 51 items were retained.

Phase 2: Scale Development (Exploratory Factor Analysis). Data were collected online from April to July 2021 using Google Forms. After screening for missing, incorrect, and extreme values, responses from 429 adult yoga practitioners were retained for analysis. Items with corrected item-total correlations below .30 were removed prior to exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Principal axis factoring with Oblimin rotation was conducted. Items with low factor loadings, cross-loadings, or poor conceptual fit were sequentially eliminated, resulting in a 25-item, five-factor structure.

Phase 3: Scale Evaluation (Confirmatory Factor Analysis). An independent sample was collected between May and August 2024. After data cleaning, 224 valid responses were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using maximum likelihood estimation in AMOS 21 to verify the five-factor structure. One additional item with an item-total correlation below .30 was removed, yielding the final 24-item Yoga Motivation Scale (YMS). Internal consistency reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients.

Participants were recruited through yoga studios and online distribution (e-mail and WhatsApp). Participation was voluntary, all respondents were aged 18 years or older, and informed consent was obtained electronically

Files and variables

1. Data Dictionary

The primary data file associated with this study is Yoga_Motivation_Scale_DATASET.csv (or YMS_DATASET.csv). It contains survey responses from Turkish yoga consumers, consisting of demographic variables, 51 primary motivation items, their corresponding standardized z-scores, and aggregated sub-dimension and total scores. All variables are thoroughly documented across four main categories in the sections below:

1. Demographic and Descriptive Variables
2. Yoga Motivation Items (M1 - M51)
3. Standardized Variables (Z-Scores)
4. Aggregated, and Sub-dimension Scores

2. Definitions of Demographic and Descriptive Variables and Items_

The primary data file associated with this section is Definitions_of_variables_and_items.csv

The table below describes the background, demographic traits, and behavioral characteristics of the participants included in the study.

3. Yoga Motivation Items (M1 - M51)

These 51 variables represent the individual questionnaire items used in the scale development process. Each item evaluates a specific motivational factor on a standard 5-point Likert scale.

4. Standardized Variables (Z-Scores)

Variables prefixed with a "Z" (from ZM1 to ZM51) represent the standardized z-score transformations of the primary questionnaire items (M1 to M51). These values indicate how many standard deviations a participant's score is from the sample mean.

5. Aggregated, and Sub-dimension Scores

This section details the computed summary fields, standardized overall scores, and sub-dimension totals (factors extracted from scale development).

Code/software

• Statistical Software Environment: IBM SPSS Statistics AMOS (Version 21.0)

Human subjects data

This study was conducted in accordance with established ethical principles and received approval from the relevant Institutional Ethics Committee prior to data collection. All participants voluntarily participated in the study and provided informed consent before enrollment. During the consent process, participants were informed that the collected data would be used exclusively for scientific research purposes and that their privacy and confidentiality would be strictly protected.

Prior to public archiving, all data were carefully de-identified to ensure compliance with ethical, legal, and data protection requirements. All direct personal identifiers and any information that could reasonably enable the identification of individual participants were removed from the dataset. The dataset deposited in the repository contains only anonymized data and does not include any personally identifiable information (PII).

The authors confirm that participant confidentiality has been maintained throughout the research process and that the shared dataset complies with applicable ethical standards governing human-subject research and data sharing.