The Effect of Teacher Autonomy Support on Leisure-Time Physical Activity via Cognitive Appraisals and Achievement Emotions: A Mediation Analysis Based on the Control-Value Theory

Analyzing students’ emotional experience in physical education (PE) is of crucial importance as it may fill an important gap in research examining the role of PE for students’ leisure-time physical activity (PA). Based on the control-value theory of achievement emotions, the purpose of this study was to test the assumption that multi-dimensional autonomy support of the PE teacher may affect students’ leisure-time PA via their appraisals of control and value and achievement emotions experienced in PE. Variance-based structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed model in a sample of 1030 students aged between 11 and 18 years (M = 13.4, SD = 1.48) stemming from schools with the lowest educational level among secondary schools in Germany. The results indicated that in particular cognitive autonomy support positively predicted students’ self-efficacy and intrinsic value. Whereas appraisals of self-efficacy were negatively related to the experience of anxiety, intrinsic value was a major positive predictor of enjoyment. Enjoyment, in turn, was of substantial relevance for leisure-time PA. The findings offer a meaningful contribution in understanding students’ emotional experiences and remind PE teachers of their opportunity to adopt an autonomy-supportive teaching style to positively influence the emotions of their students.