Professional choice motivation and flow experience in specialized skill courses: a three-way interaction analysis among undergraduate physical education majors

Specialized skill courses are a crucial component of talent cultivation in physical education programs. However, their long duration and high intensity often lead to declines in student engagement, thereby affecting skill acquisition. Flow experience, as a key psychological indicator of learning states, can effectively reflect students’ actual level of involvement. Focusing on professional choice motivation, this study examined its relationship with flow experience in specialized skill courses among undergraduate physical education majors and further tested the three-way interaction among professional choice motivation, physical self-efficacy, and physical activity volume. Using the Professional Choice Motivation Scale, Physical Self-Efficacy Scale, Physical Activity Rating Scale, and the absorption subscale of the Flow Short Scale, data were collected on two survey occasions 3 months apart. A total of 398 valid responses were obtained at T1, and 203 valid responses were obtained when the T1 participants were surveyed again at T2. Because individual responses could not be matched across the two occasions, the two datasets were analyzed separately. Pearson correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, three-way interaction analysis, and conditional effect tests were performed using R. The results showed that both intrinsic motivation ( β T1 = 0.72, β T2 = 0.64, p T1T2 < 0.001) and extrinsic motivation ( β T1 = 0.61, β T2 = 0.53, p T1T2 < 0.001) were significantly and positively associated with flow experience at both survey occasions. Furthermore, the three-way interaction among professional choice motivation, physical self-efficacy, and physical activity volume was significant at both T1 and T2 and showed the same negative direction ( p T1T2 < 0.05). Conditional effect tests showed that, except for the high physical activity volume/high physical self-efficacy condition at T2, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation were significantly and positively associated with flow experience under all other conditions. These findings contribute to a more contextualized understanding of the relationship between professional choice motivation and flow experience and offer important theoretical implications for instructional practice in specialized skill courses.