Motivational climate, basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, and engagement in Chinese students during physical education classes

Abstract

Introduction Although policy initiatives emphasize improving students’ physical health, physical education (PE) classes continue to rely predominantly on traditional teacher-centered approaches, often resulting in insufficient class engagement. Existing research has examined motivational climates, basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, and class engagement, yet most studies adopt a single theoretical perspective, offer limited exploration of mediating mechanisms, and provide scarce empirical evidence within the Chinese educational context. Methods Data were collected from 1,146 middle school students across five schools in Shandong and Jiangsu provinces using adapted Chinese versions of scales measuring motivational climate, basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, and class engagement. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap methods were employed to test the hypotheses. Results A mastery climate positively predicted students’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. A performance climate also positively predicted all three basic psychological needs. Autonomy and competence needs positively predicted intrinsic motivation, whereas relatedness need showed no significant predictive effect. Intrinsic motivation positively predicted student engagement. Mediation analyses revealed that basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation did not form a significant sequential mediating pathway between mastery climate and class engagement. In contrast, a performance climate exerted a positive sequential mediating effect on class engagement through basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation mediated the relationships of autonomy and competence needs with class engagement, but did not mediate the link between relatedness need and engagement. Discussion To enhance class engagement in PE, it is recommended to optimize the class motivational climates and to deliberately support students’ autonomy and competence needs.