Motivational climate, need satisfaction, self-determined motivation, and physical activity of students in secondary school physical education in China

BACKGROUND: On the basis of the integration constructs from self-determination theory (SDT) and achievement goal theory (AGT), this study aims to investigate the relationship among classroom motivational climate from four perspectives (i.e. autonomy support, relatedness support, task-involving climate and ego-involving climate), three psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence and relatedness), self-determined motivation and physical activity (PA) in secondary physical education (PE). METHODS: Participants consisted of 1186 Chinese students aged 11 to 16 years from three secondary schools in Shanghai. Accelerometers were utilized to measure moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Questionnaires were used to measure SDT variables (i.e. classroom motivational climate, perceived competence, autonomy, relatedness and self-determined motivation). Structural equation modelling (SEM) was adopted to analyse the hypothesised relationship. RESULTS: SEM analysis revealed that task-involving climate and autonomy support were positively associated with autonomy, relatedness and competence. Relatedness support was positively related with autonomy and relatedness, whereas ego-involving climate was only associated with competence. The three psychological needs positively affected self-determined motivation, and self-determined motivation positively affected the MVPA time of secondary school students in PE lessons. CONCLUSION: These findings support a model of motivation that integrates SDT and AGT, provides new insight into understanding MVPA in Chinese PE, and establishes a solid basis for intervention research.