Psychological pathways associated with gamified physical education and perceived learning in adolescents and young adults

Gamified technology is increasingly used in physical education (PE), but evidence remains fragmented across motivation, engagement, and learning-related outcomes. This study proposed and empirically tested an integrated model linking students’ perceptions of gamified PE with psychological need satisfaction, motivation, multidimensional engagement, and perceived learning outcomes. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 500 secondary and tertiary students (mean age = 18.90 years, SD = 3.77; 51.4% female) from five institutions across three countries.

Participants had experienced institution-approved gamified PE platforms sharing points, badges, feedback, challenges, progress indicators, meaningful choice, and cooperative activities, with limited teacher-level variation. A 43-item questionnaire measured 11 reflective constructs; 42 indicators were retained. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM with 5,000 bootstrap resamples.

Gamified Technology Use and Perceived Enjoyment were positively associated with autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction. Need satisfaction was positively associated with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; motivation was positively associated with behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement; and all engagement dimensions were positively associated with perceived learning outcomes. The model explained 58.9% of PLO variance.

Direct GTU–PLO and PE–PLO associations were nonsignificant, whereas the specified sequential indirect associations were significant. The findings support a cross-sectional pattern consistent with the proposed framework but do not establish causal or temporal mediation. Mastery-oriented feedback, meaningful task choice, progress tracking, and cooperative missions warrant further experimental evaluation, while public ranking should be used cautiously.

These authors contributed equally to this work: Duan Wang and Shunyang Duanmu. Student Affairs Department, Hainan Lausanne Tourism University, Sanya City, 572000, Hainan, China School of Strength Training and Conditioning, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, 100084, China School of General Education, Hainan Technology and Business College, 570203, Haikou, China School of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China The authors declare no competing interests. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Zhengzhou University (Approval No: 2024-KPE-ZU-021) and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Electronic informed consent was obtained from all participants; parental consent was secured for participants under 18 years of age. Participation was voluntary, and respondents could withdraw at any time. The survey was anonymous, no personally identifiable information or IP addresses were collected, and all data were de-identified and securely stored.