Differentiated Motivation According to Gender and Environment in Physical Education

Abstract

The present study aims to identify the reasons for students' participation in physical education classes, whether these are personal or influenced by external factors. Additionally, the study sought to identify the barriers that hinder students from participating in physical education classes. The study involved developing, distributing, collecting, and interpreting the results of a questionnaire completed by 442 middle school students. The questionnaire was structured in a simple format with 12 statements divided into three sections (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation), each section containing four statements in which students expressed their level of agreement using a three-point scale. The interpretations were made based on the students' gender and the environment they come from. The findings show that intrinsic motivation had the highest score, girls were more extrinsically motivated than boys, and the main barrier to engaging in motor activities was inadequate equipment, particularly in rural areas, but not exclusively.