Background/Purpose
A key goal of PE is to promote lifetime participation in healthful physical activity. Because physical activity is usually volitional for adults, developing autonomous motivation, and positive physical self-perceptions in HS PE should logically enhance post-HS participation. Thus, this study investigated the relationships between HS students' physical self-perceptions, relative autonomy (autonomous versus controlled motivation), engagement in physical activity in a PE class, and health-related fitness test scores.
Method
Over 300 HS students completed Fitnessgram tests, and took part in a special lesson designed to teach correct aerobic exercise intensity. They also completed questionnaires measuring physical self-perceptions (CY-PSPP), and exercise motivation (BREQ-2). The BREQ-2 subscale scores were used to calculate a relative autonomy index (RAI) that indicated the degree to which an individual's exercise motivation is autonomous versus externally controlled.
Analysis/Results
Fitness competence feedback (Fitnessgram scores) significantly, but weakly (R2adj = 4-11%) predicted autonomous exercise-related motivation, and significantly, and more substantively (R2adj = 6-28%) predicted congruent CY-PSPP scores. Also, the CY-PSPP scales were significantly moderately correlated (r = .30-.57) with RAI. However, the students' time in the healthy heart rate zone in the special PE lesson was not associated with RAI.
Conclusions
Since these results showed support for the conceptual links between competence feedback (fitness test scores), subsequent competence perceptions (CY-PSPP scores) and more autonomous exercise motivation (RAI scores), to some extent, they indicate support for the PE program's curricular approach and long term aims. Future research should try to evaluate how such approaches affect motivation over the students' subsequent adult lives.
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