Background: Individuals who possess passion and perseverance to extensively work and study through challenges and adversity to achieve a set of goals are likely to reach higher achievement compared to others who lack similar facets. However, an under-researched question lingers over the effect of teacher-induced behaviors on academic outcomes such as grades and performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teacher-induced autonomy support and student academic performance considering the mediating effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and grit as two-independent factors. Methods: A convenience sample of 474 Sports Science students (M_age = 21.83 years; SD = 3.91) participated in the study. All participants completed a multi-section survey assessing the variables under analysis. Results: The measurement and structural model displayed acceptable fit, hence direct and indirect effects were examined among the variables of interest. Basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation seem to display a mediating role between perceived autonomy support and academic performance, through perseverance. Contrarily, grit-passion did not exhibit a significant indirect effect. Conclusions: Current results shed new insights on how perseverance can shape student motivation and school success considering the autonomy support induced by teachers.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between coaches’ interpersonal style and fear of failure in athletes. Methods: A sample of 340 athletes at the Federation Level with a mean age of 18.96 years (SD = 5.69 years.) comprised the sample. Athletes completed questionnaires related to fear of failure in sports as well as their perceptions of the extent to which their coaches provided support for athlete autonomy and control. Results: The results revealed a significant and positive relationship between coaches’ controlling style and athletes’ fear of failure whereas coach autonomy support was associated with reduced fear of failure. Through the use of cluster analysis, two athlete profiles emerged. One profile indicated moderate levels of fear of failure among those athletes who perceived a controlling coaching style. The second profile revealed a cluster of athletes with low levels of fear of failure and favorable perceptions of coach support for athlete autonomy. Conclusions: These findings provide further evidence for the role of coaches as social influences capable of contributing to both adaptive and maladaptive psychological outcomes for athletes in sports.

Using the Self-Determination Theory as a framework, this study tests the predictive capacity of the teacher’s interpersonal style of autonomy support at a higher education institution, and the grit on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, group cohesion, and life satisfaction in university students. A sample composed of 489 Colombian university students (381 women and 108 men), aged between 18 and 41 years (M = 21.93; DT = 3.58), was used; they filled in the questionnaires that measured the variables of interest. After the analysis of structural equations, the results showed that the perception of teaching style of autonomy support and the grit positively predicted the basic psychological needs and these predicted the intrinsic motivation, which in turn predicted group cohesion and satisfaction with life. The model describes the possible importance of promoting the teacher’s interpersonal style of autonomy support within the university setting in the search for satisfaction with life along with the active role of the student through the mediation of the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, increased quality motivation, and high group cohesion.

This study examined the predictive relationship between perceived autonomy support from the family and fitness instructors, psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, health goal, regular physical activity and life satisfaction in a group of women. 355 physically active women aged 18–82 (M = 35.30, SD = 12.20) participated in the study. The results of the structural equation model showed that the results of the analysis of the structural equations model established a positive relation between perceived autonomy support and psychological needs, which related positively to intrinsic motivation. Likewise, intrinsic motivation related positively to health goal, which in turn related positively to regular physical activity, and finally, physical education showed a positive relation with life satisfaction. The results of this study show the need for social-cognitive physical interventions in order to maximize the benefits of physical exercise among women

Framed within the theoretical support of the Self-determination Theory (SDT) this study aimed to analyze the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, the self-determined motivation towards physical education, and the physical self-concept of Spanish teenagers. For this, 618 students, aged from 10 to 14 years-old (M = 11.62, SD = 0.94), participated in physical education classes. The Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale (PNSE), the dimensions of intrinsic motivation and identified motivation of the Perceived Locus of Causality Scale in physical education classes (PLOC), and the Physical Self-Concept Questionnaire (PSPP) were administered. A structural equation model and test confirmatory factor analysis were used. The results indicate a positive relationship between the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs of the students and the self-determined motivation towards physical education, with this being positively associated with the physical self-concept of the students. In addition, a prediction model (χ² = 763.23; p < 0.001; χ²/d.f. = 3.00; IFI = 0.91; CFI = 0.91; TLI = 0.90; RMSEA = 0.05) showed the satisfaction of basic psychological needs positively predicted their self-determined motivation towards physical education, and this, in turn, a greater physical self-concept of the students. The results are discussed centered on the importance of the physical education teacher contemplating experiences that work on the promotion of personal identity and student self-esteem through the improvement of quality motivation. Consequently, the greater importance of the physical self-concept of the students was explained thanks to more autonomous (intrinsic and identified regulation) motivation and higher levels of basic psychological needs (especially autonomy and competence).

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of controlling teacher behavior on high school physical education students’ global intrinsic motivation, perceptions of the importance of the subject matter, intentions to be physically active, level of physical activity, and life satisfaction. The sample in this study was comprised of 416 Spanish high school students. Support for the study’s expectations was provided through structural regression analysis. The analysis revealed that a controlling teaching style was negatively associated with the global intrinsic motivation of the students. In turn, global intrinsic motivation predicted the perceived importance of the subject matter, which explained physical activity intentions. Physical activity intentions were positively associated with level of physical activity, which, in turn, explained life satisfaction. The knowledge obtained in this study can be of benefit to teachers and can be beneficial to the design of more adaptive learning environments for students.