Physical education motivational climate and body self-concept among Chinese primary and secondary students: the serial mediating effects of basic psychological needs satisfaction and exercise motivation

Introduction Physical education (PE) is the one setting in which nearly every school-age child meets structured physical activity, yet little is known about how the motivational atmosphere of PE classes relates to how students see their own bodies. This study examined whether the perceived mastery motivational climate in PE is associated with body self-concept among Chinese primary and secondary students, and whether basic psychological needs satisfaction and autonomous exercise motivation account for this association in sequence. Methods A total of 712 students (48.9% girls, mean age 12.0 years, SD = 1.8; 366 primary and 346 secondary) from eight schools in Wuhan completed measures of perceived mastery climate, need satisfaction in PE, autonomous exercise motivation, and body self-concept. Results A structural equation model with 5,000 bootstrap resamples showed that a stronger mastery climate was associated with higher need satisfaction ( β = 0.42, p < 0.001), which predicted more autonomous exercise motivation ( β = 0.45, p < 0.001), which in turn predicted a more positive body self-concept ( β = 0.30, p < 0.001). The serial indirect effect from climate through needs and motivation to body self-concept was b = 0.069, 95% CI [0.049, 0.093], about a quarter (23%) of the total association of b = 0.296, 95% CI [0.211, 0.382]; the direct path remained significant ( β = 0.12, p = 0.002). The measurement model was metric invariant across school levels, the three core paths did not differ detectably between primary and secondary students, and girls reported slightly lower body self-concept after adjustment ( β = −0.07, p = 0.035). Discussion These findings connect achievement goal and self-determination perspectives: PE lessons built around self-referenced progress, cooperative learning, and skill mastery may support students’ body self-concept partly through their basic psychological needs and their autonomous reasons for moving. Because the data are cross-sectional, the estimated sequence is associational rather than causal, and it identifies motivational climate as a candidate target for interventions aimed at a psychological outcome that is central to adolescent mental health.