Initial validation of the teacher-created Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire in PE (EDMCQ-PE)

Purpose: Guided by Duda’s (2013) hierarchical conceptualization of the motivational climate that draws from self-determination and achievement goal theories, this study provides initial evidence of the psychometric properties of the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire-PE (EDMCQ-PE).
Method: Questionnaire-based with two samples of Welsh secondary school pupils.
Results: Exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) provided a better fit of the data to the hypothesised model than confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, a two factor composite (i.e., empowering and disempowering) lower-order model provided an acceptable fit and clear parameter estimates. This two factor model also demonstrated scalar gender measurement invariance.
Discussion: The evidence from this study suggests the EDMCQ-PE is a promising scale for the assessment of secondary school pupils’ perceptions of the empowering and disempowering features of the motivational climate created by their physical education (PE) teachers. Moving forward, the statistical approach employed in this paper can inform future studies that develop questionnaire methodology in physical education (PE) and from an applied perspective, the EDMCQ-PE can be used by researchers and teachers to assess the motivational climate in PE and help inform the pedagogy underpinning teachers’ classes.