Autonomy support, basic needs satisfaction, and involvement in physical education among Norwegian secondary school
Amund Langøy1,2, Åge Diseth3, Bente Wold2
1Department of Teacher Education, NLA University College, Bergen, Norway.
Frontiers in Psychology
|December 25, 2024
Summary
Teacher autonomy support enhances students' psychological needs, boosting physical education (PE) involvement. Boys reported higher satisfaction and activity than girls, validating the BPN-PE scale.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Sports Science
- Adolescent Health
Background:
- Student engagement in physical education (PE) is crucial for lifelong physical activity.
- Understanding factors influencing student involvement, such as teacher support and psychological needs, is essential.
- Autonomy support from teachers is hypothesized to foster intrinsic motivation and well-being in students.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between teacher autonomy support, students' basic psychological needs satisfaction (competence, autonomy, relatedness), and involvement in PE.
- To conduct gender-specific analyses to explore potential differences in these relationships.
- To examine the validity and reliability of the Norwegian version of the Basic Psychological Needs in PE (BPN-PE) scale.
Main Methods:
- Utilized survey data from the Norwegian 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study.
- Employed structural equation modeling to analyze the proposed relationships.
- Assessed the psychometric properties of the BPN-PE scale.
Main Results:
- Perceived teacher autonomy support positively predicted students' satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
- Satisfaction of competence was linked to increased weekly PE participation and physical activity during PE, particularly among boys.
- Boys reported significantly higher levels than girls across all measured variables, and the BPN-PE scale demonstrated good validity and reliability for both genders.
Conclusions:
- Teacher autonomy support is a significant factor in fostering students' basic psychological needs satisfaction within the PE context.
- Addressing gender differences is important for optimizing PE experiences and promoting physical activity.
- The validated BPN-PE scale provides a reliable tool for future research on psychological needs in PE.
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