High-School Students’ Continuous Engagement in Taekwondo Activity

Abstract

Background: Previous research has not investigated why and how adolescents decide to continuously engage in Taekwondo activity, which, based on self-determination theory, has positive effects on diverse (physical, psychological, social) aspects. This study examines the structural relationship between three psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), intrinsic motivation, and intentions for Taekwondo activity continuity among high-school students participating in Taekwondo training programs. Methods: High-school students (130 males, 110 females) representing multiple nationalities participated in Taekwondo lessons for one session. During the last session class, they completed three questionnaires, and the collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: The results revealed that the satisfaction of three psychological needs was positively and directly associated with intrinsic motivation at a statistically significant level. Additionally, intrinsic motivation directly and positively contributed to intentions for Taekwondo activity continuity and mediated the relationship between the satisfaction of psychological needs and intentions to continue Taekwondo at levels of statistical significance. Discussion: The findings indicate that, if high-school students meet three psychological needs during Taekwondo classes, they are likely to internalize positive feelings such as interest, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Further, intrinsically motivated students would be highly willing to continually engage in Taekwondo activity.

Academic Engagement: A Bibliometric Analysis in Scientific Production

“…These three basic psychological needs are essential for fostering intrinsic motivation, wich arises from genuine interest and internal satisfaction, which arises from a genuine interest and internal satisfaction in task completion. When these needs are fulfilled, individuals are more likely to involve on their activities in an active and committed way, including the learning process within the academic environment (Son & Yang, 2022a).…”

“…Educators can promote autonomy by providing choices and opportunites to make decisions, that helps students feel more empowered in their learning ( Son & Yang, 2022b).…”

Examine the Effects of a Reproduction and Production Teaching Styles Interventions in Primary Schoolchildren. What implications for Physical Education Teachers?

“…Findings revealed that basic psychological needs' satisfaction plays a key role in predicting adherence to physical activity and maintain higher motivation to be physically active [41]. This is true in different contexts and applications of physical activity, involving school physical education, leisure time (i.e., running, walking, fitness activity, sport (i.e., basketball, volleyball, soccer, martial arts, and adapted physical activity [42][43][44][45][46]. The study of Sum et al (2022) has demonstrated that PE teachers' behavior and different teacher-student(s) communication can positive influence students perceived physical literacy, motivation and enjoyment when practicing physical activity [47].…”

“…The physical self-perception comes from the individual's experience with the environment and the way such experiences are lived: positive motor experiences in which children successfully experience a wide repertoire of activities and executive variants of motor tasks, enrich the individual body experience, that is, the experiences concretely carried out through the body and movement [10,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. An essential condition for the educational process is the proposal of activities through teaching styles of production in which each student can independently experience different ways of performing a motor task and find the better solution to teacher's questions [7].…”

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Taekwondo on Physical Self-Concept

“…Taekwondo has been practiced by tens of millions of people from 206 countries/regions since its inclusion as an official Olympic sport in 2000 (Kim et al, 2021). Taekwondo is a combat sport with fighting properties, and it has always been considered to be a comprehensive sport that includes various physical activities and skills (Son & Yang, 2022). Furthermore, taekwondo has been found to yield various positive effects on physical, psychological and social functioning, including physical health (Nam & Lim, 2019), personality development (Jeon et al, 2021), psychosocial functioning (Kim et al, 2021), and school life adaptability (Cho et al, 2018).…”