Economic status as a predictor of motivational and affective experiences in physical education and physical activity intentions: a cross-sectional study in six European countries

Abstract

Lower economic status (ES) is associated with a less adaptive experience of school and physical activity. However, empirical evidence supporting the detrimental association of lower ES on the affective and motivational experience in Physical Education (PE) remains scarce. Using a large sample (N = 10,392) of adolescents from six countries (i.e., Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, England, Turkey), this cross-sectional study tested whether students’ family ES was associated with the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs in PE, and in turn with motivational and affective outcomes in PE and their out-of-school physical activity intention. Our secondary objective was to test whether these potential associations differed between countries. We further explored whether gender moderated the abovementioned relationship. Multigroup structural equation modelling showed that, in five of six countries (i.e., Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, England), a lower ES was associated with lower basic needs satisfaction with a small effect size (β =.10, p