Perceptions of teachers’ positive feedback and perceived threat to sense of self in physical education: a longitudinal study

Abstract

This study examined the direction of causal flow between perceived positive general teacher feedback and perceived threat to sense of self in physical education (PE). The stability effect and stationarity of the relationship between these variables over the two-year period was tested. Students (N = 302) were administered questionnaire during class time in Grades 6 and 8 and two years later in Grades 8 and 10. The perceived threat to sense of self subscale from the Physical Education Learning Environment Scale (PELES), and perceived positive general feedback subscale from the Perceived Teacher’s Feedback (PTF) questionnaire were used. Results using structural equation modelling showed the high stability of perceived threat and low stability of perceived teacher feedback in PE over the two-year period, and suggest that low level of perceived threat is a significant determinant of high level of perceived positive teacher feedback. In addition, the model showed that relationship between perceived threat and perceived positive feedback within time points differed significantly over time.