The Influence of Integrating Moral Disengagement Minimization Strategies into Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility on Student Positive and Misbehaviors in Physical Education

Abstract

To make teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) more effective, this study aimed to determine whether integrating moral disengagement (MD) minimization strategies into TPSR can enhance students’ positive behaviors and reduce their misbehaviors in PE. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was conducted with an experimental group and two control groups. One hundred forty-five students from nine classes in three middle schools were assigned to experimental group (TPSR + MD minimization strategies; N = 50), control group A (TPSR; N = 46), and control group B (general PE instruction; N = 49) respectively. A pretest was performed in the first week, and a posttest was performed in the 18th week. The results showed that integrating MD minimization strategies into TPSR could significantly reduce students’ misbehaviors in PE classes. However, the effects of the strategy on students’ positive behaviors (e.g., following rules, helping others, and cooperation) showed no improvement. This study made a breakthrough by finding that integrating MD minimization strategies could make TPSR more effective at reducing students’ misbehaviors. By understanding the psychosocial mechanisms behind student behavior in PE, we suggest that MD minimization strategies could be applied in the TPSR model.