Does the Level of Motivation of Physical Education Teachers Matter in Terms of Job Satisfaction and Emotional Exhaustion? A Person-Centered Examination Based on Self-Determination Theory

Ángel Abós, Leen Haerens, Javier Sevil-Serrano, Sofie Morbée, José Antonio Julián and Luis García-González
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Ángel Abós: Department of Didactics of the Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain
Leen Haerens: Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Javier Sevil-Serrano: Department of Didactics of the Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain
Sofie Morbée: Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
José Antonio Julián: Department of Didactics of the Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Zaragoza, 22003 Huesca, Spain
Luis García-González: Department of Didactics of the Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, 22001 Huesca, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), prior research has demonstrated that physical education (PE) teachers may have different reasons to engage in teaching. Although some person-centered studies have identified varied motivational profiles in PE teachers, none of these studies have included the three forms of motivation (i.e., autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation). This study aims to identify teachers’ motivational profiles, using the three forms of motivation. Moreover, differences between the obtained profiles in terms of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion were examined. A sample of 107 primary school PE teachers participated. Four distinct motivational profiles were identified: “relatively amotivated”, “somewhat motivated”, “autonomous-controlled motivated”, and “relatively autonomously motivated”. Results showed that the predominantly autonomously motivated PE teachers reported the most adaptive pattern of outcomes. Although PE teachers from the “relatively autonomously motivated” group did not differ in terms of job satisfaction when compared to those in the “autonomous-controlled motivated” group, the former displayed lower values of emotional exhaustion. These findings support SDT in that more motivation is not necessarily better if this additional motivation comes from controlled reasons. These results could raise awareness among school stakeholders about the importance of increasing PE teachers’ autonomous motivation.

Keywords: physical education; teachers’ motivation; person-centered approach; job satisfaction; emotional exhaustion; self-determination theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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