The aim of this study was to examine how students’ perceptions of the
class climate influence their basic psychological needs, motivational
regulations, social goals and outcomes such as boredom, enjoyment, effort, and
pressure/tension. 507 (267 males, 240 females) secondary education students
agreed to participate. They completed a questionnaire that included the Spanish
validated versions of Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire
(PMCSQ-2), Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise (BPNES), Perceived Locus of
Causality (PLOC), Social Goal Scale-Physical Education (SGS-PE), and several
subscales of the IMI. A hierarchical cluster analysis uncovered four independent
class climate profiles that were confirmed by a K-Means cluster analysis:
“high ego”, “low ego-task”,
“high ego-medium task”, and “high
task”. Several MANOVAs were performed using these clusters as
independent variables and the different outcomes as dependent variables
(p < .01). Results linked high mastery class
climates to positive consequences such as higher students’ autonomy,
competence, relatedness, intrinsic motivation, effort, enjoyment, responsibility
and relationship, as well as low levels of amotivation, boredom and
pressure/tension. Students’ perceptions of a performance class
climate made the positive scores decrease significantly. Cluster 3 revealed that
a mastery oriented class structure undermines the negative behavioral and
psychological effects of a performance class climate. This finding supports the
buffering hypothesis of the achievement goal theory.