scholarly journals The Importance of Supporting Student Autonomy in Physical Education Classes to Improve Intention to Be Physically Active

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4251
Author(s):  
Marta Leyton-Román ◽  
Juan L. Núñez ◽  
Ruth Jiménez-Castuera

This study sought to analyze the predictive power of supporting student autonomy in physical education classes on the intention to be physically active based on motivational variables. The Self-Determination Theory was used as a theoretical framework. The study sample comprised 922 students of both sexes, aged between 14 and 18 years old (M = 14.95, SD = 0.98). Several questionnaires were applied to analyze the measured variables. The results of the model of structural equations revealed that students’ perceived autonomy support positively and significantly predicted the satisfaction of the BPN (autonomy, competence and social relations). These, in turn, positively and significantly predicted autonomous motivation; and lastly, the most self-determined type of motivation positively and significantly predicted the intention to be physically active. This finding emphasizes the importance of establishing motivational strategies to support students’ autonomy via the satisfaction of psychological needs, enhancing autonomous motivation and, as a consequence, increasing students’ intention to practice physical activity.

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén Trigueros ◽  
Luis A. Mínguez ◽  
Jerónimo J. González-Bernal ◽  
José M. Aguilar-Parra ◽  
Raúl Soto-Cámara ◽  
...  

Physical activity and a healthy, balanced diet are remaining unresolved issues among young people. According to the World Health Organization, young people do not get enough exercise during the week, and physical education classes are the best way to promote healthy habits. This study aims to analyze how the role of the teacher influences the frustration of psychological needs, coping strategies, motivation, and the adoption of healthy eating habits through the Mediterranean diet and the regular practice of physical activity. The study involved 1031 boys and 910 girls between the ages of 13 and 18. To explain the relationships between the different variables included in this study, a model of structural equations has been developed. The results showed that autonomy support negatively predicted the frustration of four psychological needs. The failure to meet four psychological needs negatively predicted resilience. Likewise, resilience positively predicted autonomous motivation, and this positively predicted the Mediterranean diet and the practice of physical activity. Thus, the results obtained in the present study are in line with those of various studies wherein physical education classes were seen to help consolidate healthy living habits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Istvan Soos ◽  
Ibolya Dizmatsek ◽  
Jonathan Ling ◽  
Adedokun Ojelabi ◽  
Jaromir Simonek ◽  
...  

Physical education focuses on the development of sports skills as well as fitness for health. In Central European countries there has been a shift in these focuses since the fall of Communism to follow internationally-recognised health-related physical activity recommendations, similar to Western European countries. In this study we investigated the extent to which motivation from school physical education transfers to leisure-time physical activity providing autonomy support by three social agents: school (physical education teachers), family and peers. Our study utilised the Aetological Approach (AA), Ecological Model (EM) and the Trans-Contextual Model (TCM) that consists of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to explore how autonomous motivation is transferred between contexts (physical education, leisure-time and current behaviour). Nine-hundred and seventy-four students aged 11–18 (55% girls) participated in our study from four countries: Hungary, United Kingdom, Romania and Slovakia. A prospective research design was employed, and questionnaires were administered at three time points. Using 7-point Likert scales, attitude, usefulness, and affectiveness were measured. Furthermore, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC) were tested within TPB. Autonomous and controlling motivation were measured within SDT by administering the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise questionnaires (BREQ and BREQ-2). Finally, past physical activity, intention and current physical activity behaviours were tested. Results indicated that perceived autonomy support from family and friends predicted autonomous motivation towards leisure-time physical activity in all four countries. However, teachers’ behaviour in some Eastern European countries did not predict this transfer. In general, in line with previous literature, boys reported more physical activity than girls. A strong influencing factor in the path model was that past behaviour predicted current behaviour, and according to that factor, boys reported being more active than girls.Boys also perceived more support from PE teachers than girls which was likely to have influenced their autonomous motivation in PE, which in turn transferred to leisure time. We discuss these results in the context of theories exploring the role of motivation and social environment on children’s choices related to physical activity. In conclusion, we suggest providing more autonomy support, especially by schools, for the enhancement of autonomous motivation of young people to promote their leisure time physical activity.


Author(s):  
Juan Antonio Moreno-Murcia ◽  
Elisa Huéscar Hernández ◽  
Luís Cid ◽  
Diogo Monteiro ◽  
Filipe Rodrigues ◽  
...  

Teacher-endorsed supporting behaviors present themselves as key influencers of student adaptive academic and social functions. The objective of this paper was twofold. First, this study sought to test a model in which student-perceived autonomy support was associated with group cohesion, considering the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. Second, the current study examined the dimensionality of the model across five Western countries, namely Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. A convenience sample of 3033 college students (Mage = 21.51 ± SD = 3.71) were recruited for the analysis. The results revealed that perceived autonomy support was positively associated with needs satisfaction, being consequently associated with intrinsic motivation and, ultimately, with group cohesion. Additionally, a multigroup analysis revealed that the model was invariant across college students from the different countries. The current results are discussed around the promotion of teacher uses of autonomy-supportive behaviors fostering adaptive outcomes in students regarding positive social relations and that the cultures of Ibero-American countries are equivalent in this process.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. e1-e10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kahar Abula ◽  
Jürgen Beckmann ◽  
Zhongkai He ◽  
Chengwa Cheong ◽  
Fuquan Lu ◽  
...  

Summary Based on the trans-contextual model, two studies aimed to test whether autonomy-supportive physical education (PE) promotes autonomous motivation towards leisure-time physical activity among Chinese college students. Study 1 was conducted in September 2015 and used a cross-sectional design. Participants were students who provided data on perceived autonomy support and motivation for physical activity. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Study 2 took place from September to December 2015 and employed an experimental design. Participants were PE teachers and their students. The teachers were randomized to either an intervention or a control group and those in the intervention group received a 3-month long autonomy-supportive intervention program. Their students provided data on motivation. The data were analyzed with repeated measurement analysis of variance. A total of 681 students aged 16–26 years participated in Study 1. Perceived autonomy support predicted autonomous motivation in PE (β = 0.18, P = 0.001), which in turn predicted autonomous motivation towards leisure-time physical activity (β = 0.51, P = 0.001). Ten PE teachers (28–53 years) and 258 students (16–26 years) participated in Study 2. Students who were educated by the intervention teachers had significantly stronger autonomous motivation towards leisure-time physical activity than students educated by the control teachers after the intervention, (F = 12.41, P = 0.001). The results suggest that PE may serve as an effective platform to promote an active lifestyle among Chinese college students when teachers provide students with an experience of autonomy.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén Trigueros ◽  
Luis A. Mínguez ◽  
Jerónimo J. González-Bernal ◽  
Maha Jahouh ◽  
Raul Soto-Camara ◽  
...  

According to various WHO reports in 2018, a large number of adolescents worldwide are either overweight or obese. This situation is the result of not following a healthy and balanced diet, combined with a lack of practice of physical activity. In this sense, Physical Education classes could help to solve the problem. The present study seeks to analyze the relationship between the role of the teacher in relation to the structural dimensions of the PE teaching environment and the basic psychological needs and self-motivation of adolescents as determinants of their behaviors related to eating habits and the practice of physical activity. A total of 1127 secondary school adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 participated in this study. Questionnaires were used: Perceived Autonomy Support Scale, Psychologically Controlling Teaching Scale, Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Education, Frustration of Psychological Needs in PE context, Physical Activity Class Satisfaction Questionnaire, Perceived Locus of Causality Revised, and WHO’s Global school-based student health survey. A structural equations model was elaborated to explain the causal relationships between the variables. The results showed that autonomy support positively predicted the three structural dimensions of PE classes, while, in contrast, they were negatively predicted by psychological control. The three structural dimensions positively predicted the satisfaction of psychological needs and negatively predicted the thwarting of psychological needs. Self-determined motivation was positively predicted by the satisfaction of psychological needs and negatively predicted by the thwarting of psychological needs. Finally, self-determined motivation positively predicted healthy eating habits and the practice of physical activity and negatively predicted unhealthy eating habits. Certainly, the results obtained in this study support the postulates of the self-determination theory, demonstrating the predictability of PE class context towards the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits, such as a proper diet and the regular practice of physical activity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Antonio Moreno-Murcia ◽  
Elisa Huescar Hernandez ◽  
Noelia Belando Pedreno ◽  
Mari Carmen Neipp Lopez

To analyze the relationship between perception of support for student autonomy and the interaction of different motivational contexts of the intention to do physical exercise from the framework of the trans-contextual model of motivation (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2016) was the aim of this study. The sample consisted of 441 adolescents in physical education classes aged between 12 and 16 (Mage = 14.74, SD = .80), who responded to various questionnaires on perceived autonomy support, motivation in the education and leisure contexts, and intention to do exercise. The model was tested using a structural equation model. The results of structural equation modeling [χ2 (48, N = 441) = 489,69, p = .001, χ2/d.f = 3.98, CFI = .94, IFI = .94, TLI = .93, RMSEA = .08] marked that perceived autonomy support from the teacher was positively relacionated with intrinsic motivation in physical education classes, which in turn was positively associated with intrinsic motivation in leisure time. Perceived autonomy support from family and peers was positively associated with motivation in leisure time, which in turn positively associated with the attitude and control standards. While the intention to practice physical activity was positively associated with the main concepts of the theory of planned behavior. Results are discussed in view of the importance of considering the importance of social models in the stage of adolescence, highlighting the role of promoting autonomy and their influence on inter-contextual motivation in physical exercise.


Author(s):  
Rubén Trigueros ◽  
José M. Aguilar-Parra ◽  
Adolfo J. Cangas ◽  
Remedios López-Liria ◽  
Joaquín F. Álvarez

According to a WHO report (2018), more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough physical activity. Physical Education (PE) classes should be aimed at solving this problem. The present study aims to analyze the influence teachers have on motivation, embarrassment and intention to be physically active among their students. A total of 604 secondary school students participated in the study. Various statistical analyses were carried out to explain the causal relationships between the variables. The results revealed a positive relation between the autonomy support and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (BPN), and a negative relation with the frustration of BPN. In contrast, perceived control revealed a positive relation with frustration of BPN, and a negative relation with the satisfaction of BPN. Satisfaction of BPN was negatively related to embarrassment and positively related to self-determined motivation. On the other hand, frustration of BPN was positively related to embarrassment and negatively with self-determined motivation. Embarrassment was negatively related to self-determined motivation, and the latter was positively related to intention to be physically active. Indeed, the study demonstrates the influence and the importance of PE teachers and of the motivational and emotional processes of adolescents during PE classes and the role they play in acquiring the habits of an active lifestyle.


Author(s):  
Javier Coterón ◽  
Evelia Franco ◽  
Carmen Ocete ◽  
Javier Pérez-Tejero

Students’ engagement in Physical Education has been linked to several adaptive consequences. Even though the existing literature suggests that perceived autonomy support can predict engagement, research is scarce on how teachers’ antecedents might influence this behavioural outcome. This study sought to compare the influence of teachers’ basic psychological needs’ satisfaction and basic psychological needs’ thwarting on students’ behavioural engagement and on the relationship between perceived autonomy-support and the students’ behavioural engagement. The sample included 29 Physical Education teachers and 644 students who were taught by the participants teachers. Data were collected using both paper and online surveys and they were analysed using multilevel modelling techniques. The results revealed that, while teachers’ autonomy satisfaction might be significant in the explanation of students’ engagement (β = 0.33, p < 0.01), it seems that needs thwarting could be a better predictor of this outcome (β autonomy thwarting = −0.17, p < 0.01; β competence thwarting = −0.06, p < 0.05). These findings suggest the impact of certain external pressures on teachers’ practices which, in turn, might affect students’ behavioural outcomes.


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