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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
Journal Contribution - Journal Article
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.
Journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
ISSN: 1660-4601
Issue: 16
Volume: 16
Publication year:2019
BOF-keylabel:yes
IOF-keylabel:yes
BOF-publication weight:0.1
Authors:International
Authors from:Higher Education
Accessibility:Open