Nikos Ntoumanis

University of Southern Denmark | SDU · Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics

Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000, Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour. New York: Plenum Publishing) highlights the impact autonomy supportive environments can have on exercise motivation and positive health outcomes. Yet little is known about whether differential effects occur as a function of which significan...

Background: Using the self-determination theory (SDT) framework, we examined how significant others might support or thwart psychological needs of people with weight management goals, and in turn might affect their psychological well-being and weight control behaviors. Design: Longitudinal design with three sets of questionnaires administered ov...

OBJECTIVE: No prior research has examined how motivation for goal striving influences persistence in the face of increasing goal difficulty. This research examined the role of self-reported (Study 1) and primed (Study 2) autonomous and controlled motives in predicting objectively-assessed persistence during the pursuit of an increasingly difficult...

This cluster-randomized controlled trial investigated the efficacy of a teacher professional development (TPD) program, grounded on self-determination theory, to increase elementary school teachers’ need-supportive motivating style and consequently their students’ physical activity (PA) during PE lessons. Participants were 15 elementary school teac...

Some coaches are convinced that controlling practices will not harm their athletes if they simultaneously are warm and caring. This study, grounded in Self-Determination Theory and Skinner's coping framework, explored these convictions among 179 volleyball players (67.6% female; age = 21.12 ± 4.66 years). Participants assessed perceived controlling...

Few educational programs to nurture coach need-supportive behaviors have been delivered by sport governing bodies (Evans et al., 2015). Consequently, the potential for such programs to meaningfully change coaches’ interpersonal behaviors requires further investigation (Cushion et al., 2010). Grounded in self-determination theory, we hypothesized th...

The self-concordance model (SCM) examines the entire sequence from goal inception to attainment and presents a framework for how outcomes vary based on the quality of motivation for goal striving. The first aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to synthesize a rich literature on the topic spanning over 25 years and present a cohesive...

Adopting a recent tripartite operationalization of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors, anchored in self‐determination theory (SDT), this person‐centered study considers the co‐existence of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' need‐supportive, need‐thwarting, and need‐indifferent behaviors. Moreover, we also conside...

Few educational programs to nurture coach need-supportive behaviors have been delivered by sport governing bodies (Evans et al., 2015). Consequently, the potential for such programs to meaningfully change coaches' interpersonal behaviors requires further investigation (Cushion et al., 2010). Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), we hypothesi...

Objective To conduct a meta-analytic review of psychosocial predictors of doping intention, doping use and inadvertent doping in sport and exercise settings. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Scopus, Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL Plus, ProQuest Dissertations/Theses and Open Grey. Eligibility criteria Studies (of any d...

Background Research on psychological need restoration after incidences of need frustration holds promise for deepening our understanding of the dynamic nature of psychological needs proposed by self-determination theory. We aimed to extend this work by exploring differences in the process of restoring psychological needs after indences of frustrati...

High performance sport consists of stressor events which can cause disruption to an athletes’ functioning and negatively influence performance. The way in which one reflects upon stressor events and develops insights regarding how they coped is essential to overcoming similar experiences in the future. We conducted a pilot randomised controlled tri...

Autistic youth participate in less mainstream physical activity than their neurotypical peers. A scoping review was conducted to explore motivational factors influencing participation in structured physical activity for autistic youth. Relevant databases were searched using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses with...

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the football‐based health education program “11 for Health” on health knowledge and well‐being in the setting of a 10‐week residential stay in a Danish charity home for socially vulnerable children. Six hundred and fourteen children participated in the study, of which 305 took part in...

(If you want the published pdf, please email me at nntoumanis@health.sdu.dk) On completion of this chapter, the reader should have the following: • Understanding of the historical developments in the conceptualization of coach interpersonal styles, based on self-determination theory • Knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of coach interpers...

Prior research has shown that students face various stressors which can affect their psychological health. The present study examines the role of students' psychological need states in explaining their burnout and dropout intentions. More precisely, relying on recent findings from Self-Determination Theory research, we examined whether students' ps...

Background Relational decision-making and problem-solving are powerful activities occurring daily across all healthcare contexts. Their empowering potential can be difficult to judge and is seldom fully exploited, and they can even be perceived as disempowering. This calls for assessment of the extent to which healthcare users perceive their intera...

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a significant concern for public health. Preliminary research suggests that physical activity (PA) may offer health benefits for individuals in SUD treatment. However, conclusive evidence is still lacking. High relapse rates, the presence of considerable comorbidity, and issues with motivation among people with SU...

We investigated how autonomous and controlled motives for saving money contribute longitudinally to self-regulatory coping, goal progress, and psychological need satisfaction/frustration. We also investigated whether mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) facilitates saving through interactions with controlled goal motives. We ran...

Interpersonal coach-and parent development programmes (CDP and PDP, respectively), have the goal to foster positive youth sport experiences through high-quality relations between coaches, parents, and youth athletes. In this paper we systematically review the extant literature and estimate the overall magnitude of such programmes and how they can i...

Purposes of my talk at the SDT Conference (2023) Present a systematic review and a classification of antecedents of interpersonal styles across different life domains Present a meta-analysis of effect sizes and related statistics on how these antecedents relate to need supportive and need thwarting behaviors Critically evaluate the evidence and...

Background Men residing in rural areas are less likely to participate in weight management interventions than women, and few men-specific programs target rural areas. Aussie-Fans in Training (Aussie-FIT) is an evidence-based weight management intervention that uses professional Australian Football club affiliations and settings as a ‘hook’ to engag...

Educational psychology usually focuses on explaining phenomena. As a result, researchers seldom explore how well their models predict the outcomes they care about using best-practice approaches to predictive statistics. In this paper, we focus less on explanation and more on prediction, showing how both are important for advancing the field. We app...

Teachers’ behavior is a key factor that influences students’ motivation. Many theoretical models have tried to explain this influence, with one of the most thoroughly researched being self-determination theory (SDT). We used a Delphi method to create a classification of teacher behaviors consistent with SDT. This is useful because SDT-based interve...

There is a growing need to identify acceptable and feasible opportunities to engage adults over 35 years in physical activity. Walking sports may be a potential means to engage adults in sport; however, there is limited evidence regarding appeal and feasibility to support its implementation and delivery. Using a two‐step mixed‐methods approach, we...

In spite of the large-scale growth of walking sport (WS) programmes globally, limited research has explored the experiences of the key stakeholders involved in such programmes (i.e. decision-makers, facilitators, and players). We aimed to explore stakeholder experiences of community-based WS programmes to better understand the appeal of such sport...

Parents must rapidly adapt goals from various aspects of their lives to accommodate the demands of the early stages of parenthood. According to the Self-Concordance Model, having autonomous goal motives (based on enjoyment or personal goal value) should foster effective self-regulation (e.g., coping strategies), better goal management, and increase...

Motivation science has advanced tremendously in the past decade. However, it is now clear that future progress is going to be stalled by the extent of disagreement among motivation scientists to some basic, yet controversial, questions. To help move motivation science toward greater coherence, the editors recruited prominent scholars to debate thei...

People with autonomous motives (e.g., personal importance) may use automated strategies to effortlessly sustain goal-directed behavior and overcome obstacles. We investigated whether conscious effort, ease of goal striving, physiological effort, and the number of obstacles encountered mediate relations between motives and goal attainment for a comp...

People with autonomous motives (e.g., personal importance) may use automated strategies to effortlessly sustain goal-directed behavior and overcome obstacles. We investigated whether conscious effort, ease of goal striving, physiological effort, and the number of obstacles encountered mediate relations between motives and goal attainment for a comp...

In recent years an increased drop-out rate in adolescents’ soccer participation has been observed. Given the potentially adverse consequences of drop-out from soccer, more information about risk factors for drop-out is warranted. In the current study, Classification and Regression Tree (CRT) analysis was used to investigate demographic and motivati...

Early intervention within First Episode Psychosis (FEP) recovery efforts support functional recovery in several ways, including increasing levels of (1) physical activity (2) life skills, and (3) social connectivity. Sport has been proposed as an ideal platform to target these three goals simultaneously. The primary aims were to assess the feasibil...

In this commentary, I provide some reflections on the target article’s discussion of the role of affect for physical activity promotion. I also offer further thoughts and suggestions on how to promote sustainable behavior change, addressing both conceptual and methodological issues.

Parents must rapidly adapt goals from various aspects of their lives to accommodate the demands of the early stages of parenthood. The management and attainment of goals is more likely, if individuals hold autonomous motives (goals align with internally held self-concepts) than controlled motives (goals driven by demands/pressures). Metacognitive s...

Educational psychology usually focuses on explaining phenomena. As a result, researchers seldom explore how well their models predict the outcomes they care about using best-practice approaches to predictive statistics. In this paper, we focus less on explanation and more on prediction, showing how both are important for advancing the field. We app...

There is a growing need to understand the association and interaction of psychological factors with an athlete’s competitive standard and mental well-being. John Henryism is defined as a coping mechanism that involves the expenditure of extreme efforts in response to prolonged exposure to psychosocial and environmental stressors. The aim of this st...

This study addressed the lack, in the work context, of a comprehensive time-lagged examination of the core constructs (interpersonal behaviors, psychological need states, and motivation) underlying Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Specifically, this research relied on person-centered analyses to gain a better understanding of how the distinct compo...

Question 3: Is there such a thing as "good" motivation and "bad" motivation? The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Motivation Nikos Ntoumanis We are constantly bombarded by books, blogs, videos, and other self-help resources produced by "motivational gurus", which promise to teach us how to increase our motivation to achieve our daily and long-term go...

The “11 for Health in Denmark” in‐school educational football program has shown to have numerous positive physiological and psychological effects in 10–12‐year‐old schoolchildren. A key part of the successful application of the program, however, has not yet been examined, namely the motivational processes underlying participation and behavioral cha...

Objectives The aim of this scoping review was to review existing self-reported instruments measuring different elements of domains of PL.Method We reviewed Education Research Complete, Cochrane, Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus and SPORTDiscus. The reporting followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for...

Background Physical activity (PA) is an important factor contributing to general health. PA declines rapidly during tween years (9-12 years) when children's social world changes. During tween years, children's self-consciousness develops and their focus on social status, friendships, and appearance increase. It is therefore important to consider ho...

In three experiments, we examine the role of motives underlying goal pursuit and the metacognitive strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) to predict the strategic use of self‐regulation responses (persistence, disengagement, and reengagement) when faced with attainable, unattainable, or multiple goals. We trained half...

This research addresses recent calls for an alternative integrative framework to apprehend leaders’ behaviors and examines the validity of questionnaire anchored in this theoretical approach. Building upon Self-Determination Theory, we examined a tripartite approach of supervisors’ behaviors (supportive, thwarting, and indifferent toward subordinat...

Purpose Physical activity (PA) is an important factor contributing to general health. PA declines rapidly during tween years (9–12 years) when children’s social world changes. School playgrounds can contribute substantially to children’s PA, but little is known about how to motivate tweens to use school playgrounds. Using the three basic psychologi...

Objective: Increasing regular physical activity (PA) behaviour may be an effective adjunct intervention for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. This systematic review aims to identify promising behaviour change techniques (BCTs), namely, BCTs present in the design of interventions evidencing significant short-term and/or long-term (d ≥ 0.15 for...

Significance Communicating in ways that motivate engagement in social distancing remains a critical global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study tested motivational qualities of messages about social distancing (those that promoted choice and agency vs. those that were forceful and shaming) in 25,718 people in 89 countries...

A considerable amount of human behavior occurs within the context of sports. In recent years there have been notable advances in psychological science research applied to understanding athletic endeavor. This work has utilized a number of novel theoretical, methodological, and data analytic approaches. We review the current evidence related to deve...

Teachers’ behaviour is a key factor that influences students’ motivation. Many theoretical models have tried to explain this influence, with one of the most thoroughly researched being self-determination theory (SDT). We used a Delphi method to create a classification of teacher behaviours consistent with SDT. This is useful because SDT-based inter...

Weight management interventions designed specifically for men have become more common, but the extent to which socioeconomic factors are considered in trials of these interventions is unclear. We synthesized study characteristics, methods, and reporting of interventions with a behavioral component for men that report weight as an outcome, to establ...

Motivational theories have explored both the bright and dark sides of personal and contextual factors that support or undermine, respectively, human functioning and potential. Here, I review research that has used self-determination theory as a guiding conceptual framework to study the bright and dark “colors” of motivation. I primarily focus on in...

Over the last decade, research applying SDT in the health domain has been prolific, arguably more so than in any other applied domain. We review the evidence, both empirical and meta-analytic, on the application of SDT to promote health outcomes and behaviors. These behaviors range from simple and infrequent ones (e.g., receiving vaccinations) to c...

Doping is considered a major threat of modern sport. Since the establishment of the anti-doping system emphasis was placed on the detection and punishment approach in the fight against doping. Recently a shift to education as a preventive tool against doping has been made. In this effort several anti-doping educational interventions have been devel...

This qualitative research explored older adults’ perceptions of participating in group-based walking programs set in independent-living retirement village contexts. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a subset of participants from the Residents in Action Trial. Data were analyzed through a combination of deductive and inductive thematic a...

Recent narrative reviews indicate several psychological and social benefits of sport participation for the ageing population. However, no quantitative synthesis of quantitative studies on this topic has been conducted to date. We aimed to evaluate the magnitude and heterogeneity of the effects of sport participation on psychosocial outcomes for mid...

Objective We aimed to determine what older adults perceive to be need-supportive behaviours of peer walk leaders, drawing primarily from Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Design Experienced peer leaders (n = 13; Mage = 73.23, SD = 6.55) and walkers (n = 17; Mage = 72.88, SD = 5.79) were recruited from existing walking groups. Individuals who express...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine what older adults perceive to be need-supportive behaviors of peer walk leaders, drawing primarily from Self-Determination Theory (SDT). DESIGN: Experienced peer leaders (n = 13; Mage = 73.23, SD = 6.55) and walkers (n = 17; Mage = 72.88, SD = 5.79) were recruited from existing walking groups. Individuals who expres...

We conducted a pre-registered systematic review of seven databases and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials with athletes to examine the effectiveness of stress regulation interventions on performance outcomes, and the conditions under which their effects are strongest. We found a positive and significant moderate overall effect of stress...

Many psychological treatments have been shown to be cost-effective and efficacious, as long as they are implemented faithfully. Assessing fidelity and providing feedback is expensive and time-consuming. Machine learning has been used to assess treatment fidelity, but the reliability and generalisability is unclear. We collated and critiqued all imp...

The statistical synthesis of quantitative effects within primary studies via meta-analysis is an important analytical technique in the scientific toolkit of modern researchers. As with any scientific method or technique, knowledge of the weaknesses that might render findings limited or potentially erroneous as well as strategies by which to mitigat...

Many psychological treatments have been shown to be cost-effective and efficacious, as long as they are implemented faithfully. Assessing fidelity and providing feedback is expensive and time-consuming. Machine learning has been used to assess treatment fidelity, but the reliability and generalisability is unclear. We collated and critiqued all imp...

We conducted a longitudinal (3-month) qualitative study to examine elite military personnel's (N = 32) experiences and perspectives of team resilience emergence following two team-oriented training courses within an 18-month high-stakes training program where personnel are required to operate in newly formed tactical teams for extended periods. Our...

Stress is an important consideration for understanding why individuals take part in limited or no physical activity. The negative effects of stress on physical activity do not hold for everyone, so examinations of possible resilience resources that might protect individuals from the harmful effects of stress are required. Accordingly, we conducted...

There is intuitive and practical appeal to the idea of emergent resilience, that is, sustaining healthy levels of functioning or recovering quickly after some degree of deterioration following exposure to heightened risk or vulnerability. Scholars typically utilize mean levels of functioning indices to identify qualitatively distinct latent subgrou...

Athletes require knowledge of self-regulatory processes and skills to enact them successfully if they are to mitigate the potentially maladaptive effects of stress on functioning (e.g., psychological health, performance). Existing stress regulation interventions typically adopt a “one size fits all” approach in which individuals are taught specific...

Aim Mixed methods were used to evaluate a group self-management education intervention to address type 1 diabetes (T1D)-specific barriers to physical activity (PA). We evaluated the acceptability of study resources and procedures. Methods Consented participants from a quantitative evaluation (n=70) were invited to participate in one of five focus...

Objective. Habits, defined as well-learned associations between cues and behaviours, are essential for health-related behaviours, including physical activity (PA). Despite the sensitivity of habits to context changes, little remains known about the influence of a context change on the interplay between PA habits and behaviours. We investigated the...

Objective: This process evaluation aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of Aussie-FIT, a group-based weight loss intervention for men with overweight and obesity in Australia. Design: Process data and data collected from: (1) six-participant focus groups (n= 24), (2) coach interviews (n = 4), (3) audio recordings of Aussie-FIT ses...

Cumulating evidence from 24 independent randomized controlled trials or experiments (N = 4,339), we meta-analytically examined questions regarding the effectiveness of team reflexivity on collective performance outcomes and behaviors, and the conditions under which such effects are strongest. We addressed these questions by testing the overall effe...