The Relation between Physical Education Teachers' (De-)Motivating Style, Students' Motivation, and Students' Physical Activity: A Multilevel Approach.

Nele Van Doren,Ruben Vanderlinde,Leen Haerens,Katrien De Cocker,Tom De Clerck,Arwen Vangilbergen

doi:10.3390/ijerph18147457

Nele Van Doren, Ruben Vanderlinde + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147457

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Abstract

Research suggests that physical education (PE) teachers can play a crucial role in the promotion of students’ physical activity. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this study investigated how students’ perceptions of PE teachers (de-)motivating style relate to students’ device-based physical activity levels during PE. Moreover, it was examined whether students’ motivation plays an intervening role in this relation and whether students’ physical activity differs according to their gender and lesson topic. A sample of 302 secondary school students aged between 11 and 16 years (M = 13.05, SD = 1.04) completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions of teachers’ (de-)motivating style and their personal motivation toward PE. Students also wore ActiGraph GT3X accelerometers during the PE lesson. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that the teachers’ motivating style had a significant positive relation with students’ autonomous motivation, both at the student level and the class level, and teachers’ controlling style had a significant positive relation with students’ controlled motivation and amotivation at both levels. However, in terms of students’ physical activity levels, students’ gender, the lesson topic, and teachers’ controlling style seemed to be more decisive than students’ motivation and teachers’ motivating style.

Highlights

The benefits of an active lifestyle during adolescence have been widely demonstrated [1]
The present study aims to build on this work by investigating how secondary school students’ objectively measured physical activity levels differ according to the lesson topic and students’ gender, while examining relations with students’ motivation [20] and teachers’motivating style [25,26]
A controlling style was negatively associated with autonomous motivation, and it was positively correlated with controlled motivation and amotivation

Summary

Introduction

The benefits of an active lifestyle during adolescence have been widely demonstrated [1]. As active adolescents are more likely to remain physically active in adulthood [6,7,8], they are expected to gain physical and psychological health benefits in later life. These benefits include reduced risks of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, overweight and obesity, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes type 2, and depression [1,9]. World Health Organization [10] recommends adolescents to participate in at least 60 min of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) every day.

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