Secondary School Physical Education Teacher Motivation: An Application of Personal Investment Theory
in Journal of Teaching in Physical EducationClick name to view affiliation
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The purpose of this study was to examine physical educator work motivation using personal investment theory as a theoretical framework. Public secondary school teachers (n = 73) voluntarily completed SPECTRUM, a 200-item Likert scale inventory that measures 20 self and work perception categories. One-way ANOVA results revealed few within-group perception differences based on gender, age, years of teaching experience, or job capacity. Then z tests were used to determine perception differences between physical educators and a preexisting normative sample. Comparison between groups revealed that the physical educators reported significantly lower (p < .05) incentives for accomplishment and recognition, and significantly higher (p < .05) affiliation incentives. Physical educators also reported significantly fewer (p < .05) perceived opportunities for recognition and power and significantly lower (p < .05) levels of organizational commitment. These findings provided preliminary insight into how teachers’ perceptions of themselves, their jobs, and their work environments may operate together to result in common behavioral patterns.
Jennifer A. Lindholm is with the Division of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at California Sate University, Fullerton, P.O. Box 34080, Fullerton, CA 92634-9480.
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