Task receptivity in school strength training: A function of individual interest profiles?

Positive experiences in physical education (PE) constitute a critical determinant of students’ engagement and learning. The aims of this study were to: (a) examine potential differences in situational interest (SI) across three strength-training tasks as a function of students’ individual interest (II) profiles, and (b) examine whether and how SI scores differed across II profiles theoretically aligned with the four-phase model of interest development. Students ( N = 319; M age = 16.0, SD = 1.7; 53.3% boys) completed three strength-training tasks within the same PE unit. The tasks differed only in guidance for load self-regulation. The first task promoted an autonomous learning environment supported by internal guidance. The second created a structured environment characterized by external guidance. The third represented an intermediate condition, combining structure with decision-making autonomy through mixed guidance. Cluster analyses based on the three factors of II identified four profiles showing progressively increasing levels of II, supported by Bayesian Information Criterion and log-likelihood criteria, consistent with the theoretical structure of the four-phase model. The findings suggest that instructional designs relying primarily on external guidance were associated with higher SI scores among lower II profiles, consistent with the lower-interest profiles described in the model. No significant task-by-profile interaction was observed for higher II profiles. Non-linear patterns across II profiles were observed for all tasks except the mixed-guidance task. The results underscore the importance of designing PE tasks that align with different II profiles within the interest development framework.