Motivational Contagion in School 1 Running head: MOTIVATIONAL CONTAGION IN SCHOOL Social Contagion of Motivation Between Teacher and Student: Analyzing Underlying Processes

We examined (a) whether motivational orientation can spread from teachers to students during two consecutive teaching-learning sessions and (b) mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in a special physical education session delivered to high school students. Participants who were taught a sport activity by an allegedly paid instructor reported lower interest in learning and exhibited less persistence in a free choice period than students taught by a supposedly volunteer instructor, despite receiving the same standardized lesson across experimental conditions. When participants taught the activity to their peers in a subsequent unconstrained learning session, lower levels of interest and behavioral persistence were also exhibited by learners who received the second lesson. A structural equation model confirmed that learners at the end of this educational chain made inferences about how intrinsically motivated their peer tutor was based on their teaching style (i.e., autonomy-supportive behaviors) and the positive affects they displayed. These inferences, in turn, affected their own intrinsic motivation for the activity. Results are interpreted in relation to self-determination theory, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.