Is resilience learned through the frustration of the BPN? An empirical study about its role in the acquisition of positive lifestyles and academic outcomes framed in SDT

Abstract

Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this research shows once again the importance of the teaching role in fostering adaptive behaviors in students. As mediators of the model are the Basic Psychological Needs (BPN) and resilience. To date, although the inclusion of a fourth BPN, called novelty, had been proposed, it had not previously been used as part of the BPN measure of satisfaction or frustration. For its part, resilience had proven its relationship in isolation with the different constructs studied here, but had never been part of an explanatory model. The main objective of this study was to perform a structural equation model based on SDT to analyze the predictive capacity of the autonomy-supportive teaching style as a trigger of BPN frustration (including novelty), its relationship with resilience, and, finally, its relationship with adaptive outcomes such as intention to be physically active, maintain a healthy diet, and academic performance. A total of 2856 subjects participated (1514 boys and 1342 girls), with a mean age of 14.31 (SD = 1.91). Different SEM were tested, with the one that included novelty as the fourth BPN and resilience as a coadjutant construct of the explanatory model based on SDT offering better adjustment indexes. Fostering a climate supportive of autonomy will favor the satisfaction of the BPNs and therefore resilient behaviors in students, which are related to positive consequences such as those studied in this research.