Autonomy support, expectancy beliefs and autonomous motivation among private music school students: the mediating role of basic psychological needs

The unequal distribution of educational resources has rendered private instrument music learning a favored option among parents. Against the backdrop of China's implementation of the Double Reduction Policy, the domestic music education market has experienced rapid growth. Factors such as students' autonomy in private instrument music courses, parental support, and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs play a role in shaping the sustainable development of China's music education market.This study aims to explore the role of perceived autonomy support from parents and teachers, the impact of expectancy beliefs on autonomous motivation, and the mediating role of basic psychological needs in the process among primary school students in Nanchang, China, in private music courses. Despite the growing number of Chinese students participating in private music education, the underlying motivations and psychological mechanisms driving their engagement, particularly about autonomy support, expectancy beliefs, and autonomous motivation, remain insufficiently explored.This study adopting a quantitative research approach, developed a research model grounded in self-determination and expectancy-value theories, proposed 13 hypotheses.Data were collected from 305 valid responses out of 420 distributed questionnaires among students aged 7–12 with at least six months of instrument learning experience in 10 private music schools in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the relationships among the key variables in the study.The results showed that both autonomy support and expectancy beliefs significantly enhanced autonomous motivation, with basic psychological needs partially mediating these effects.Its findings not only deepen the understanding of the formation mechanism of individual motivation in the field of private music education, reveal the key paths to enhance students' learning motivation and sustained engagement, but also provide a new perspective for expanding the application of this theoretical framework in the field of private music education, and inject practical ideas into the sustainable development of the music education industry.Autonomy Support, Expectancy Beliefs, Autonomous Motivation, Basic Psychological Needs, Private Music Schools