Physical Education for Sustainable Development: Intensity of Physical Engagement Fosters Pupils’ Values Alignment With Norms Made Salient

Purpose : Developing values that support sustainable development is essential for educational systems. Although the capacity of physical education (PE) to foster such values is promoted, empirical evidence and understanding of underlying mechanisms are limited. We hypothesize that salient ingroup norms in PE influence pupils’ personal values and subsequent behaviors and that the intensity of physical engagement in sporting challenges amplifies these effects. Method : Two field experiments ( N Total = 327) used a 2 (salient ingroup norm: control irrelevant vs. relevant) × 2 (physical engagement intensity: low vs. high) design, with different norms associated with sustainability (proenvironment and healthy eating) and types of physical engagement (climbing and gymnastics). Results : Students’ personal values evolutions, behavioral intentions (Study 1), and postexperiment behaviors (Study 2) confirmed our hypotheses. Discussion : This original mechanism outlines the specificity of PE in building values and provides guidelines for how PE teachers can contribute to developing a more sustainable society.