Exploring the Relationships of Autonomy- supportive Climate, Psychological Need Satisfaction and Thwarting with Students’ Self-talk in Physical Education

Aims: Based on the framework of the Self-determination Theory and focusing on the theory of Basic Psychological Needs, we explored the relationships between Physical Education (PE) teachers’ autonomy-supportive behaviors and students’ need satisfaction, need thwarting, and self-talk during the PE lesson.

Methodology: Participants were 544 primary and secondary education Greek students (aged from 12 to 15 years), from nine elementary schools (n = 259) and eight secondary schools (n = 285) in central Greece, who completed a multi-section questionnaire.

Results: Results revealed that PE teachers’ autonomy-supportive climate and need satisfaction was positively associated with positive self-talk and negatively associated with negative self-talk, whereas need thwarting was positively related to negative self-talk and negatively related to positive self-talk. Regression analyses revealed that autonomy-supportive climate and competence need thwarting were significant predictors (positive and negative, respectively) of students’ positive self-talk. Furthermore, autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction were negative predictors, whereas competence and relatedness need thwarting were positive predictors of students’ negative self-talk.

Conclusion: Overall, the findings suggest that when PE teachers create a class environment that supports students’ autonomy and the satisfaction of their BPN, while at the same prevents need thwarting, they can positively influence students’ self-talk.