The impact of teachers’ autonomy support on students’ academic performance from the perspective of hyperscanning: the mediating role of autonomy need satisfaction

Previous research on self-determination theory has primarily focused on analyzing experiences and behaviors, without fully elucidating the neural basis of how teacher autonomy support influences students' academic performance. In this study, four individuals were selected to act as teachers, while 42 individuals were assigned as students. The study manipulated teacher autonomy support and control styles. By simulating the real teaching process, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technology was used to examine how teachers' autonomy support style affected students' autonomous motivation, academic emotions, and test scores. The behavioral findings indicated that, in comparison to the teachers' control style, students exposed to the teacher autonomy support style demonstrated heightened autonomous motivation and more positive academic emotions. Furthermore, these positive effects were mediated by students' autonomy need satisfaction. The fNIRS results revealed that, compared to the teachers' control style, the students and teachers in the teachers' autonomy support style exhibited enhanced interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the left prefrontal cortex (lPFC). This INS was positively associated with autonomy need satisfaction and positive emotions, with consistent findings observed in dynamic teacher-student INS. These findings provide a basis for further exploration into the neural mechanism underlying autonomy need satisfaction.