Motivation and performance in physical education: an experimental test

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Sport Psychology

Background:

• Motivation and performance are critical in physical education.
• Understanding the impact of ability beliefs on student engagement is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally analyze the relationship between motivation and performance in a physical education lateral movement test.
• To investigate the effects of incremental versus entity ability beliefs on student motivation and performance.

Main Methods:

• 363 students (12-16 years) were randomly assigned to incremental belief, entity belief, or control groups.
• Measurements included situational intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and performance on a lateral movement test.
• Performance was assessed across two test attempts.

Main Results:

• The incremental ability belief group reported significantly higher situational intrinsic motivation.
• The entity belief group initially performed better on the first test attempt.
• Performance differences between groups diminished by the second test attempt.

Conclusions:

• Inducing an incremental ability belief enhances situational intrinsic motivation in physical education.
• Students' belief in their ability to improve can lead to sustained or improved performance over time.
• Teacher communication of incremental ability beliefs may foster greater student motivation and performance.