Preliminary validation of a questionnaire to measure basic psychological needs in Physical Education

Abstract

The self-determination theory is a psychological approach to motivation that focuses on causes and consequences of human behavior regulation. According several authors, this theoretical framework could provide important information about the student’s motivational process to physical education class, however, in Portugal does not exists any instrument to measure the basic psychological needs in this domain. So, the main propose of this study is the preliminary adaptation to physical education contexts of Basic Psychological Needs Exercise Scale (Portuguese version: BPNESp), and determine their initial psychometrics properties through an exploratory factor analysis. This propose was accomplished with a sample of 150 students (n=150) from de 2nd and 3rd CEB, aged from 11 to 16 years (M = 13.39, SD = 1.44) with different levels of sports practice. Results revealed a factorial structure just like the original model (12 items grouped in 3 factors, with 4 items hitch factor) and presents acceptable values of validity and reliability. Those findings allow us to conclude, that questionnaire can be used in future investigations to measure the basic psychological needs in physical education.