Abstract

In order to encourage proper emotional education in the area of physical education, it is necessary to teach students how to know, control and understand their emotions in different motor situations. The aim of this study was to analyze the experience of positive emotions in cooperation-opposition games. The participants (N = 213) were students between the ages of 10 and 12 at a primary school in the Region of Murcia. The qualitative data were collected through the technique of critical incidents, namely the causes of the experience of positive emotions. In the comments, mainly the boys alluded to winning the game to justify their emotional experience, while the girls also simultaneously relied on contextual factors such as having fun or laughing during the motor practice. Girls highlighted the motor relationship between players and the need to cooperate in a group and not feel rejected, primarily by the males. These results point to arguments and practical recommendations for promoting emotional physical education oriented at subjective wellbeing and the acquisition of healthy lifestyles in primary school children.