Relationships between perceived teachers' controlling behaviour, psychological need thwarting, anger and bullying behaviour in high-school students

© 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. We tested a model of the associations between students' perceptions of their physical education teacher's controlling behaviour, perceptions of basic psychological need thwarting, anger and bullying behaviour. School students (N=602; M age=12.88, SD=1.37) from 10 schools completed measures of perceived teachers' controlling behaviour and perceived thwarting of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in physical education context and self-reported bullying and anger. A well-fitting structural equation model demonstrated that students' perceptions of the negative conditional regard and intimidation exhibited by the teacher had significant indirect effect on students' feelings of anger and bullying behaviour through the perceived psychological need thwarting in physical education. Findings suggest that physical education teachers who avoid the use of negative conditional regard and intimidation in their classes have students who perceive less need thwarting and report less bullying behaviour

Transferring motivation from educational to extramural contexts: A review of the trans-contextual model

A key question for educators is whether teaching styles, methods, and practices not only foster motivation toward, and persistence with, learning activities in the classroom but also in contexts outside of school (Ciani et al. 2010). There is a wealth of evidence in the social psychological literature applied to educational contexts that has indicated that teaching styles and other motivational strategies adopted by social agents like teachers and educators lead to adaptive outcomes within the school context. For example, adopting democratic teaching styles (Tomasetto 2004), fostering mastery oriented motivational climates (Barkoukis et al. 2008), and providing autonomy support (Reeve 2002) are strategies that have been utilised by social agents in educational contexts to promote increased motivation among pupils and students. Overall, the support offered by teachers in the classroom has been shown to have direct effects on pupils’ emotional and motivational responses (e.g. Covington and Dray 2002). Furthermore, the adoption of autonomy-supportive strategies has been associated with numerous adaptive outcomes such as academic achievement (Deci et al. 1991), perceived competence (Harter 1985), deep learning of concepts (Lau et al.2008), and selection of tasks of optimal challenge (Murphy and Thomas 2008). There is also some evidence that such strategies also foster desirable outcomes beyond the classroom, such as engagement in extra-curricular activities (Tomasetto 2004) and studying behaviour (Kolic-Vehovec et al. 2008). This indicates that social agents’ behaviours in educational settings may motivate students to engage in behaviours and activities outside of school that are adaptive in terms of learning and skill development. Such influences likely fulfil a key goal of education to influence educational activities beyond the classroom.In addition, motivating students outside of the classroom will meet educational aims to promote increased transformative experiences (Pugh et al. 2010) and inquisitive behaviours (Yoon 2009) among pupils that assist in the development of flexible, critical, and analytic thinking skills that are generalizable and transferable. It must, however, be stressed that little is known of the processes by which teacher behaviours in educational contexts impact on students motivation and behaviour within the school and, most importantly, outside school. The aim of the present review is to provide an overview of a recently developed motivational model that outlines the processes by which perceptions of social agents’ behaviours that support motivation and learning affect motivation to engage in educational activities in both the classroom and extramural contexts. The model is based on the integration of leading social psychological and motivational theories and not only identifies the important factors and processes involved in trans-contextual motivation, but also provides an impetus for the development of interventions to promote motivation for learning activities in both educational and extramural contexts. After outlining the conceptual and theoretical bases of the model, we review a series of prospective and intervention studies from our laboratory that provides evidence to support its core trans-contextual premises. We also outline how the model serves as a novel basis for educational interventions to enhance motivation among pupils in educational and extramural contexts and the potential of the model to be applied to interventions in diverse educational contexts to promote general educational aims of fostering adaptive outcomes in students outside the classroom

The trans-contextual model: Perceived learning and performance motivational climates as analogues of perceived autonomy support

The trans-contextual model of motivation (TCM) proposes that perceived autonomy support in physical education (PE) predicts autonomous motivation within this context, which, in turn, is related to autonomous motivation and physical activity in leisure-time. According to achievement goal theory perceptions of learning and performance, motivational climate in PE can also affect autonomous motivation in PE. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of an integrated approach of perceptions of motivational climate in PE by incorporating aspects of perceptions of motivational climate from achievement goal frameworks on autonomous motivation in PE within the TCM. High school students (N = 274) completed self-report measures of perceived autonomy support, perceived learning, and performance motivational climate and autonomous motivation in PE. Follow-up measures of autonomous motivation in a leisure-time context were taken along with measures of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions from the theory of planned behaviour 1 week later. Self-reported physical activity behaviour was measured 5 weeks later. The results of the path analyses indicated that perceived learning climate was the strongest predictor of autonomous motivation in PE and leisure-time contexts and mediated the effect of perceived autonomy support on autonomous motivation in PE. Perceived performance climate showed no significant effect on autonomous motivation in PE and leisure-time. Results also confirmed the premises of TCM regarding the effect of autonomous motivation in leisure-time on leisure-time physical activity and the mediating role of the planned behaviour theory variables

Athletes’ Beliefs About and Attitudes Towards Taking Banned Performance-Enhancing Substances: A Qualitative Study

Elite athletes’ beliefs about, and attitudes toward, taking banned performance enhancing substances were explored in 8 focus-group discussions with 57 athletes from 7 different sports. Discussion was initiated by 3 broad open-ended questions pertaining to 3 important themes likely to affect beliefs and attitudes toward banned performance enhancing substances. Thematic content analysis of interview transcripts revealed 9 lower-order themes emerging under the 3 global themes: personal attitudes (reputation and getting caught, health effects, and financial incentives and rewards), social influences (coaches, parents, and medical staff and sport scientists), and control beliefs (i.e., insufficiency of doping testing, resource availability, and sport level and type). Findings provide insight into the beliefs and attitudes that likely underpin motives and intentions to take banned performance-enhancing substances. Results are generally consistent with, and complement, research adopting quantitative approaches based on social– cognitive models examining the beliefs and attitudes linked to taking banned performance-enhancing substances

Psychometric properties of the Stress Control Mindset Measure in University students from Australia and the UK.

Introduction: Beliefs about the consequences of stress, stress mindsets, are associated with health and performance outcomes under stress. This article reports the development and examination of the psychometric properties of a measure of stress mindset: The Stress Control Mindset Measure (SCMM). The measure is consistent with theory on mindsets about self-attributes and conceptualizes stress mindset as the extent to which individuals endorse beliefs that stress can be enhancing. Methods: The study adopted a correlational cross-sectional survey design in two student samples. Undergraduate students from an Australian university (Sample 1, N=218) and a UK university (Sample 2, N=214) completed the SCMM and measures of health and well being outcomes. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure and strict measurement invariance across samples(ΔCFI <.01). Reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and concurrent validity of the overall SCMM was supported in both samples. Incremental validity was supported for most outcomes, accounting for significantly more variance (between 2.2% and 5.9%) in health and wellbeing outcomes than an existing measure. Conclusions: Current data provide preliminary support for the SCMM as a reliable and valid measure with good psychometric properties and theoretically consistent relations with health outcomes under stress. Findings provide initial evidence supporting the potential utility of the SCMM in future research examining relations between stress mindsets and health and performance outcomes

Self-determined motivation in sport predicts anti-doping motivation and intention: A perspective from the trans-contextual model

Objectives: Motivation in sport has been frequently identified as a key factor of young athletes’ intention of doping in sport, but there has not been any attempt in scrutinizing the motivational mechanism involved. The present study applied the trans-contextual model of motivation to explain the relationship between motivation in a sport context and motivation and the social-cognitive factors (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention) from the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in an anti-doping context. Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Methods: Questionnaire data was collected from 410 elite and sub-elite young athletes in Australia (Mean age [17.7 ± 3.9 yr], 55.4% male, Years in sport [9.1 ± 3.2]). We measured the key model variables of study in relation to sport motivation (Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire), and the motivation (adapted version of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire) and social cognitive patterns (the theory of planned behavior questionnaire) of doping avoidance. The data was analyzed by variance-based structural equation modeling with bootstrapping of 999 replications. Results: The goodness-of-fit of the hypothesized model was acceptable. The bootstrapped parameter estimates revealed that autonomous motivation and amotivation in sport were positively associated with the corresponding types of motivation for the avoidance of doping. Autonomous motivation, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control in doping avoidance fully mediated the relationship between autonomous motivation in sport and intention for doping avoidance. Conclusions: The findings support the tenets of the trans-contextual model, and explain how motivation in sport is related to athletes’ motivation and intention with respect to anti-doping behaviors

Self-Control, Self-Regulation, and Doping in Sport: A Test of the Strength-Energy Model

We applied the strength-energy model of self-control to understand the relationship between self-control and young athletes’ behavioral responses to taking illegal performance-enhancing substances, or “doping.” Measures of trait self-control, attitude and intention toward doping, intention toward, and adherence to, doping-avoidant behaviors, and the prevention of unintended doping behaviors were administered to 410 young Australian athletes. Participants also completed a “lollipop” decision-making protocol that simulated avoidance of unintended doping. Hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses revealed that self-control was negatively associated with doping attitude and intention, and positively associated with the intention and adherence to doping-avoidant behaviors, and refusal to take or eat the unfamiliar candy offered in the “lollipop” protocol. Consistent with the strength-energy model, athletes with low self-control were more likely to have heightened attitude and intention toward doping, and reduced intention, behavioral adherence, and awareness of doping avoidance

Equal Prioritisation Does Not Yield Lower Levels of Participation in Physical Activities than Higher Prioritisation

Objectives: This study examined whether individuals who assigned equal priority to physical activity and an alternative activity exhibited lower levels of participation in physical activities than individuals who assigned higher priority to physical activity than an alternative activity. In addition, we examined whether a measure of prioritisation derived from an algebraic difference index provided a rigorous test of prioritisation effects. Design: We employed a two-wave prospective design that aimed to predict physical activity participation. Method: Prioritisation, intentions and perceptions of control were measured at the first wave of data collection. After five weeks, we administered follow-up measures of behavioural conflict and physical activity participation. Results: A hierarchical regression analysis showed that although the algebraic difference index was positively associated with measures of physical activity participation, equal prioritisation did not yield lower levels of physical activity participation than high prioritisation. Conclusions: Findings suggest that equal prioritisation is not a less optimal self-regulatory strategy than high prioritisation in the domain of physical activity. Regression coefficients associated with algebraic difference indexes should be interpreted with caution and consider analyses that examine effects of component measures of prioritisation on physical activity participation

Fredholmness of Toeplitz operators on the Fock space

The Fredholm property of Toeplitz operators on the $p$-Fock spaces $F_\alpha^p$ on $\mathbb{C}^n$ is studied. A general Fredholm criterion for arbitrary operators from the Toeplitz algebra $\mathcal{T}_{p,\alpha}$ on $F_\alpha^p$ in terms of the invertibility of limit operators is derived. This paper is based on previous work, which establishes corresponding results on the unit balls $\mathbb{B}^n$

Development and exploratory cluster-randomised opportunistic trial of a theory-based intervention to enhance physical activity among adolescents

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