The Influence of Integrating Moral Disengagement Minimization Strategies into Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility on Student Positive and Misbehaviors in Physical Education

Abstract

To make teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) more effective, this study aimed to determine whether integrating moral disengagement (MD) minimization strategies into TPSR can enhance students’ positive behaviors and reduce their misbehaviors in PE. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was conducted with an experimental group and two control groups. One hundred forty-five students from nine classes in three middle schools were assigned to experimental group (TPSR + MD minimization strategies; N = 50), control group A (TPSR; N = 46), and control group B (general PE instruction; N = 49) respectively. A pretest was performed in the first week, and a posttest was performed in the 18th week. The results showed that integrating MD minimization strategies into TPSR could significantly reduce students’ misbehaviors in PE classes. However, the effects of the strategy on students’ positive behaviors (e.g., following rules, helping others, and cooperation) showed no improvement. This study made a breakthrough by finding that integrating MD minimization strategies could make TPSR more effective at reducing students’ misbehaviors. By understanding the psychosocial mechanisms behind student behavior in PE, we suggest that MD minimization strategies could be applied in the TPSR model.

Personal and Social Responsibility Model: Differences According to Educational Stage in Motivation, Basic Psychological Needs, Satisfaction, and Responsibility

“…Studies prior to 2019 applied TPSR in different contexts, but it has never been applied in the educational context outside of Physical Education (PE) or extracurricular activities, a suggestion that Llopis-Goig made in his study in 2011 [42]. However, the results obtained by research in the general educational context together with PE [43][44][45][46][47] are able to be extended into other studies such as the current one. In turn, although there are many studies on the TPSR a dating back to the 80s, there are few investigations that have been carried out considering the SDT or, above all, differentiating according to educational stages.…”