A longitudinal investigation of the reciprocal associations between motivational climate and need satisfaction in Finnish high school students

Background and purpose: Although existing evidence is predominantly based on cross-sectional data, there are limited longitudinal studies exploring how different dimensions of motivational climate influence basic psychological needs over time. Grounded in self-determination and achievement goal theories, this study investigates the longitudinal relationship between motivational climate and basic need satisfaction in Finnish students, emphasizing their reciprocal associations. Methods: A total of 1063 Finnish Grade 5 students (mean age = 11.26 years, SD =.31) participated in the study. The Motivational Climate in Physical Education Scale and the Psychological Needs in Physical Education Scale were completed annually for five consecutive years. Results: The Random Intercept Cross Lagged Panel Model analyses revealed that the levels of the task-, autonomous-, and relatedness-involving climate were positively linked to autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction. On the other hand, the ego-involving climate was associated with competence and relatedness needs. With respect to the long-term reciprocal associations among the variables, there were consistent associations between autonomy-involving climate at one time point and relatedness and autonomy need satisfaction a year later. Similarly, relatedness-involving climate was linked to relatedness need satisfaction. In addition, autonomy need satisfaction was positively related with both task- and ego-involving climates, and relatedness need satisfaction with relatedness-involving climate. Furthermore, girls reported higher perceptions of task-involving climate compared to boys, while boys exhibited higher levels of ego-, autonomy-, and relatedness-involving climate, as well as need satisfaction, compared to girls. Conclusion: This study offers longitudinal evidence on the interaction between motivational climate and need satisfaction, providing preliminary evidence for the potential of reciprocal associations.