Linking students’ perceptions of physical education teachers’ (de)motivating styles to students’ leisure time physical activity: the role of motivational processes

Abstract Background Integrating the circumplex model into physical education (PE) teaching provides a coherent framework for understanding how distinct instructional styles shape students’ motivational processes and, in turn, relate to adolescents’ physical activity behaviours. By mapping eight teaching approaches onto the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness—and the spectrum of autonomous to controlled motivation described in Self-Determination Theory—this approach provides a deeper understanding of how PE practices can either satisfy or frustrate these needs. Thus, the aim was to examine relations between students’ perceptions of PE teachers’ teaching approaches (i.e., participative, attuning, guiding, clarifying, demanding, domineering, abandoning and awaiting) from the circumplex model and students’ leisure time physical activity, mediated by psychological need satisfaction and frustration in PE, and autonomous and controlled motivation both in physical activity and leisure time contexts. Methods: A sample of 239 adolescents (91 boys, 144 girls and 4 of gender unidentified) completed web-based questionnaires of study variables. Participants aged from 11 to 14 years old ( M age = 12.43, SD = 0.57). The data were analyzed via path analysis. Results: The model demonstrated good model fit with the data. Two specific significant pathways were identified: perceived attuning (β = .11) and perceived awaiting style (β = .06) positively predicted leisure time physical activity, mediated by autonomous motivation in PE and leisure time. Conclusions: PE teachers employing an attuning style (e.g., providing choices, allowing students to work at their own pace) and awaiting teaching style (e.g., students take the initiative, while the teacher adapts as the lesson unfolds), are likely to satisfy students' basic psychological needs and increase autonomous motivation in PE and leisure time, which, in turn, might enhance adolescents’ physical activity behaviour during leisure time.