Comparative Effects of Teacher and Peer Verbal Encouragement on Psychological Responses During Physical Education Activities: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study

Abstract

Aim: Psychosocial support in Physical Education (PE), such as verbal encouragement, plays a vital role in elucidating the mechanisms through which such support influences adolescents' motivation, psychophysiological responses, and sustained engagement in physical activity. This study investigated the differential effects of teacher and peer verbal encouragement versus no encouragement on students’ mood states, physical activity enjoyment, and perceived exertion during physical education activities. Twenty-four male adolescent students (age: 15.3±0.7 years; height: 171.2±5.8 cm; body mass: 62.4±4.6 kg) participated in a randomized, counterbalanced, crossover design study. Participants completed four sessions of small-sided games under three conditions: teacher verbal encouragement (VE-Teacher), peer verbal encouragement (VE-Peer), and no verbal encouragement control (NVE). Mood state (POMS), physical-activity-enjoyment (PACES), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were assessed across sessions. Mood, activity enjoyment, and perceived effort improved significantly in both verbal encouragement conditions compared to the control condition. Teacher and peer verbal encouragement led to significantly greater improvements across all outcomes compared to the control condition, with medium and large effect sizes observed. No significant interaction effects were detected between teacher and peer encouragement for any outcome measures. Both teacher and peer verbal encouragement enhanced students' mood states, physical activity enjoyment, and perceived exertion compared to no encouragement. The comparable effects between VE conditions suggest that peer encouragement may be as effective as teacher encouragement in improving psychological and affective responses during physical education activities.