Broadening the trans-contextual model of motivation: A study with Spanish adolescents

Abstract

The original trans-contextual model of motivation proposed that autonomy support from teachers develops students' autonomous motivation in physical education (PE), and that autonomous motivation is transferred from PE contexts to physical activity leisure-time contexts, and predicts attitudes, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms, and forming intentions to participate in future physical activity behavior. The purpose of this study was to test an extended trans-contextual model of motivation including autonomy support from peers and parents and basic psychological needs in a Spanish sample. School students (n = 400) aged between 12 and 18 years completed measures of perceived autonomy support from three sources, autonomous motivation and constructs from the theory of planned behavior at three different points in time and in two contexts, PE and leisure-time. A path analysis controlling for past physical activity behavior supported the main postulates of the model. Autonomous motivation in a PE context predicted autonomous motivation in a leisure-time physical activity context, perceived autonomy support from teachers predicted satisfaction of basic psychological needs in PE, and perceived autonomy support from peers and parents predicted need satisfaction in leisure-time. This study provides a cross-cultural replication of the trans-contextual model of motivation and broadens it to encompass basic psychological needs.

Keywords: physical activity; physical education; self-determination theory; theory of planned behavior.