Predicting Bullying through Motivation and Teaching Styles in Physical Education

From the theoretical framework offered by the self-determination theory, the objective of the study was to test a predictor model of bullying behaviors based on the physical education teacher’s supportive style, the students’ satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and self-determined motivation. A total of 608 students of both sexes, between 11 and 15 years of age, from primary and secondary schools in the province of Alicante (Spain) voluntarily completed questionnaires to measure each of the variables under study. The design of the study was cross-sectional. The results showed that the autonomy supportive style positively predicted the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, which, in turn, positively predicted self-determined motivation towards physical education. The latter negatively predicted bullying perpetration and bullying victimization. The controlling style presented inverse relationships to those of the autonomy supportive style. These results are in line with the positions of the self-determination theory and underline the potential responsibility of physical education teachers in the struggle against bullying, and how, by supporting autonomy and avoiding a controlling style, they can help reduce bullying perpetration and victimization.