Impact of the Attitudinal Style on High School Students' Motivation in Physical Education

• Published in: Apunts. educació física i esports no. 160; pp. 10 - 17
• Main Authors: Álvarez-Sánchez, José Luis, Tapia-Serrano, Miguel Ángel, Hernández-Elizondo, Jessenia, Hortigüela-Alcalá, David, Pérez-Pueyo, Ángel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Barcelona Institut d'Educació Física de Catalunya 01.04.2025
• Edition: Catalan ed.
• Subjects: Classrooms; Design of experiments; Educational objectives; Learning; Motivation; Pedagogy; Physical education; Quasi-experimental methods; Secondary education; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; Teachers; Teaching methods
• ISSN: 0214-8757
• DOI: 10.5672/apunts.2014-0983.es.(2025/2).160.02

The main aim of the study was to deepen examination of the emerging Attitudinal Style (AS) pedagogical model and assess its impact on the motivation of high school students. The sample consisted of 80 high school students, 47.5% female and 52.5% male, aged between 14 and 16 years {M = 14.97; SD = 0.43), from two different schools. Two teachers participated, one at the intervention school (n = 42) and one at the control school (n = 40). The methodology was a quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest evaluation. Over the course of four consecutive learning units (24 sessions, 3 months), the teacher at the intervention school implemented an AS program, whereas the teacher at the control school employed a mixed method. The Perceived Locus of Causality Scale in Physical Education-2 was used to assess students' motivation levels. The results showed that the intervention school exhibited significantly higher levels of intrinsic motivation regulation (pre: 2.47 ± 0.18, post: 3.85 ± 0.18, p < .001), integrated regulation (pre: 2.26 ± 0.21, post: 3.36 ± 0.20, p < .001), and identified regulation (pre: 2.47 ± 0.20, post: 4.00 ± 0.20, p < .001). Likewise, levels of amotivation were significantly lower in the intervention school (pre: 1.67 ± 0.17, post: 0.59 ± 0.16, p < .001) compared to the control school. The students therefore experienced significantly higher motivation in physical education classes following the implementation of the AS.