ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN AFFECT, BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AND MOTIVATION IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CONTEXTS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

Diogo Santos Teixeira, Marta Marques e António Labisa Palmeira

Our study analyzed the published literature on the associations between affect, exercise motivation and basic psychological needs in physical activity/exercise settings. A comprehensive search of studies published in peer-review articles (1990-2015) was conducted on electronic databases (e.g., PubMed). Ten studies analyzing the relation between affect, motivational regulations and/or basic psychological needs were included. Studies were rated for methodological quality. Data were synthesized using narrative and meta-analytic approaches. The studies showed that all basic psychological needs were positively associated with positive affects (all p’s < .05). For negative affects, a negative association appear with competence (p = .04) and a positive association with relatedness (p < .001). For autonomy no significant association was found. More autonomous forms of motivation seem to contribute to a better affective response, partially explained by the influence of intrinsic motivation. Satisfaction of basic psychological needs is associated with higher scores of positive affects.