Students' Perceptions of the Motivational Climate, Achievement Beliefs, and Satisfaction in Physical Education

The present study examined the relationship between students' perceptions of the motivational climate and beliefs about the causes of success, preference for challenging tasks, and satisfaction in physical education. Responses of 50 female and 46 male students (M age = 12.08 years; SD = .72) showed that perceptions of a mastery-oriented motivational climate were related to the belief that motivation or effort caused success and satisfaction. In contrast, perceptions of a performance climate were related to the belief that deception caused success and related negatively to the students' preference for challenging tasks. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that perceptions of the motivational climate explained a significant amount of unique variance in the students' responses after controlling for dispositional goal orientations. The results suggest that the teacher can influence the salience of a mastery-oriented climate and, in so doing, optimize a child's motivation in physical education.