Towards a refined insight into physical education teachers’ autonomy-supportive, structuring, and controlling style to the importance of student motivation: a person-centered approach

Background: Physical education (PE) teachers face the challenge of managing their classroom and directing students' learning in a way that engages students in a motivating manner. For this reason, numerous studies have examined the impact of PE teachers' autonomy-supportive, structuring, and controlling style. Most research relied on a variable-centered approach, but a person-centered approach is warranted as in reality these styles co-occur. Prior person-centered research examined the combinations of autonomy support and structure, autonomy support and control, and structure and control. In the current study we take the next step by examining combinations of the three most prevalent styles in PE teachers. This investigation is particularly relevant as many PE teachers believe that being perceived as controlling might not be detrimental if they are also seen as autonomy-supportive and/or structuring.