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. 2020 Jun 4;17(11):3981.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17113981.

Assessing the Relationship between Autonomy Support and Student Group Cohesion across Ibero-American Countries

Juan Antonio Moreno-Murcia  1 , Elisa Huéscar Hernández  1 , Luís Cid  2   3 , Diogo Monteiro  2   3 , Filipe Rodrigues  2   3   4 , Diogo Teixeira  5 , Jeanette M López-Walle  6 , Argenis Vergara-Torres  6 , José Tristan  6 , Gabriel Gastélum-Cuadras  7 , Julio Cesar Guedea Delgado  7 , Juan Luis Soto Peña  8 , Iván Rentería  9 , Rodrigo Vargas Vitoria  10 , Aquiles Alejandro Almonacid Fierro  10 , Alfonso Valero-Valenzuela  11 , Jorge Flandez  12 , Rudy José Nodari Júnior  13 , Gracielle Fin  13 , Mauricio Rocha Calomeni  14 , Divaldo Martins de Souza  15 , César Augusto de Souza Santos  15
Affiliations

Assessing the Relationship between Autonomy Support and Student Group Cohesion across Ibero-American Countries

Juan Antonio Moreno-Murcia et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Teacher-endorsed supporting behaviors present themselves as key influencers of student adaptive academic and social functions. The objective of this paper was twofold. First, this study sought to test a model in which student-perceived autonomy support was associated with group cohesion, considering the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. Second, the current study examined the dimensionality of the model across five Western countries, namely Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. A convenience sample of 3033 college students (Mage = 21.51 ± SD = 3.71) were recruited for the analysis. The results revealed that perceived autonomy support was positively associated with needs satisfaction, being consequently associated with intrinsic motivation and, ultimately, with group cohesion. Additionally, a multigroup analysis revealed that the model was invariant across college students from the different countries. The current results are discussed around the promotion of teacher uses of autonomy-supportive behaviors fostering adaptive outcomes in students regarding positive social relations and that the cultures of Ibero-American countries are equivalent in this process.

Keywords: cross-cultural; motivational styles; self-determination theory; social cohesion; students.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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