Motivation in Sport: An Achievement Goal Perspective in Young Spanish Recreational Athletes

Motivation among Teenage Football Players: A Longitudinal Investigation throughout a Competitive Season

The present study aimed to investigate the dynamic changes in behavioral regulations among teenage football players throughout a competitive season, with three measurement points (T1, T2, and T3). The total sample size for the study comprised 108 participants (78 male; 30 female). The participants' mean age was 14.31 (SD = 1.48). A MANOVA repeated measures analysis was performed within the group for all six behavioral regulations based on self-determination theory. The results of the study revealed noteworthy patterns in the behavioral regulations and intrinsic motivation scores over the competitive season. Identified regulation demonstrated a significant increase from T1 to T3 (p < 0.01, η2p = 0.13). Intrinsic motivation displayed a significant decrease over the same period from T1 to T3 (p < 0.01, η2p = 0.12). On the other hand, amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, and integrated regulation did not show significant changes between the three time points. The findings have practical implications for coaches and sports practitioners, as they highlight the need to create a supportive and autonomy-promoting environment to sustain athletes' intrinsic motivation throughout a competitive season. Also, recognizing the increase in identified regulation can inform strategies that align team goals and training sessions with players' individual values, thereby enhancing their commitment and dedication to the team's success.

Motivational Climate Measures in Sport: A Systematic Review

Motivational climate can be defined as the environmental status of sport that influences motivation levels. The present study aimed to systematically identify the most widely used measures examining motivational climate. The databases for searching were PsycNET, PubMed and ScienceDirect. The search returned a total of 378 studies of which 8 met the inclusion criteria for analysis. The results show that the most used instruments for evaluation of motivational climate have good psychometric characteristics of reliability, validity and factorial structure. On the other hand, there was a lack of studies that analyzed invariance of measures, which may be a critical consideration. Finally, the review points out the need for development of new theoretical perspectives, potential new instruments that extend beyond the socio-cognitive approach and instruments that allow the measurement of other environmental, personal and structural variables other than parents, coaches and athletes.

Competition-Based Success Factors During the Talent Pathway of Elite Male Swimmers

Marginal differences in race results between top swimmers have evoked the interest in competition-based success factors of long-term athlete development. To identify novel factors for the multi-dimensional model of talent development, the aim of the study was to investigate annual variation in competition performance (ACV), number of races per year, and age. Therefore, 45,398 race results of all male participants (n = 353) competing in individual events, i.e., butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley, at the 2018 European Long-Course Swimming Championships (2018EC) were analyzed retrospectively for all 10 years prior to the championships with Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis. Higher ranked swimmers at the 2018EC showed significant medium correlations with a greater number of races per year and small but significant correlations with higher ACV in 10 and nine consecutive years, respectively, prior to the championships. Additionally, better swimmers were older than their lower ranked peers (r = −0.21, p < 0.001). Regression model explained a significant proportion of 2018EC ranking for 50 m (47%), 100 m (45%), 200 m (31%), and 400 m races (29%) but not for 800 and 1,500 m races with number of races having the largest effect followed by age and ACV. In conclusion, higher performance variation with results off the personal best in some races did not impair success at the season's main event and young competitors at international championships may benefit from success chances that increase with age. The higher number of races swum per year throughout the career of higher ranked swimmers may have provided learning opportunities and specific adaptations. Future studies should quantify these success factors in a multi-dimensional talent development model.

Portrait of Boredom Among Athletes and Its Implications in Sports Management: A Multi-Method Approach

There is a common misconception that elite athletes enjoy their sports activities so much that they cannot feel bored. However, this research reveals that boredom is a prevalent emotion among professional, amateur, and college athletes that impacts their performance, brand preferences, and overconsumption behaviors. This investigation relies on a multi-method approach. Qualitative data were collected through interviewing athletes (n = 123), and the critical incident technique was used to record factual boredom incidents. Quantitative data were collected through a survey and analyzed using hierarchical regression models. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate athletes’ proneness to boredom and then present a typical sports consumption scenario in which athletes’ brand preferences and overconsumption behaviors were captured. Overall findings from this research indicate that episodes of boredom are common among athletes when they engage in repetitive tasks (34.8%); negative mood is anticipated (16.9%); teammates show a lack of interest and seriousness (15.7%); they must endure periods of waiting (13.5%); there is a lack of competitiveness and goal-setting (10.1%); there is a lack of participation in activities (4.5%); there is a lack of empathy with teammates and coaches (3.3%); and there are infrastructure issues (1.1%). Furthermore, this study presents evidence that boredom negatively impacts athletes’ performance (β = −0.41). Then, in a specific sports consumption scenario that uses sports drinks, this study finds that a more boredom-prone athlete has a higher chance of purchasing different brands of the same product (β = 0.37) and engaging in overconsumption behaviors (β = 0.44). The relationships among boredom, performance, variety seeking, and impulse buying are congruent with previous research on boredom. This research discusses several sports management implications and presents recommendations from coaches on how to cope with athletes’ boredom.

Importance of the Motivational Climate in Goal, Enjoyment, and the Causes of Success in Handball Players

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of the motivational climate created by the coach and perceived by a group of young handball players on their goal orientations, their beliefs regarding reasons for success and their self-satisfaction. The study participants were 159 young handball players. Players were administered a battery composed of tests to measure the above-mentioned motivational constructs. Results showed that a perceived mastery-oriented motivational climate was positively related to a task-centered goal orientation, enjoyment, and a belief that success may be achieved through effort. In contrast, a perceived performance-orientated training climate was linked to an ego-centered goal orientation, boredom, or lack of enthusiasm, and a belief that the routes of success in this sport are the abilities and the use of deception techniques. On the whole, this study underlines the educational role of the coach in young handball players. Specifically, the coach's socializing role influences both handball player's commitment and positive motivational profile as well as sport performance.

Goal Orientations, Motivational Climate, Equality, and Discipline of Spanish Physical Education Students

This study analyzes how dispositional goal orientations and perception of different motivational climates are related to the students' perception of sex-related egalitarian treatment and the appearance of disciplined or undisciplined behaviors in physical education classes. Analyses showed that ego orientation is a predictor of undisciplined behavior. Task orientation was positively associated to discipline. The perception of task-involving motivational climate is related to the students' perception of equal treatment. On the contrary, the perception of ego-involving climate has been linked positively to the prediction of the perception of sex discrimination in physical education classes and negatively to the perception of equality and the appearance of disciplined behavior. This study discusses the implications of these results related to teaching instructional actions in physical education classes.

Predictive power of task orientation, general self-efficacy and self-determined motivation on fun and boredom

Abstract The aim of this study was to test the predictive power of dispositional orientations, general self-efficacy and self-determined motivation on fun and boredom in physical education classes, with a sample of 459 adolescents between 13 and 18 with a mean age of 15 years (SD = 0.88). The adolescents responded to four Likert scales: Perceptions of Success Questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Sport Motivation Scale and Intrinsic Satisfaction Questionnaire in Sport. The results showed the structural regression model showed that task orientation and general self-efficacy positively predicted self-determined motivation and this in turn positively predicted more fun and less boredom in physical education classes. Consequently, the promotion of an educational task-oriented environment where learners perceive their progress and make them feel more competent, will allow them to overcome the intrinsically motivated tasks, and therefore they will have more fun. Pedagogical implications for less boredom and more fun in physical education classes are discussed.

Relationships between cooperation and goal orientation among male professional and semi-professional team athletes

In team sports, athletes' goals may focus on the task (enhancing performance, developing better skills, etc.) or on ego (being better than the others, achieving superiority, etc.). This study investigated the relationships between athletes' goal orientation and their tendency to cooperate with teammates and coaches. 158 professional men (M age = 24.1 yr., SD = 4.6) who played on various sport teams participated in this study. Goal orientation was measured with the Portuguese version of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, and cooperation was measured with the Questionário de Cooperação Desportiva. Cooperation was positively correlated with task orientation, and negatively correlated with ego orientation. Overall, the findings support that in sports, directing the players' focus on task may promote prosocial behavior.

A structural model of goal orientation in sports: personal and contextual variables

The following paper first introduces, and then goes on to test a structural model for goal orientation in sports that involves both personal and contextual variables. 511 subjects participated in this study, male and female athletes who play a variety of sports (352 men and 159 women). They ranged in age from 16 to 45-years old and completed the TEOSQ (Balaguer, Tomás & Castillo's version, 1995), the POSQ (Treasure & Roberts, 1994), the PMCSQ-II (Newton & Duda, 1993), the Beliefs about the Causes of Success in Sports Questionnaire, and the Participation Motivation Inventory (Gill, Goss & Huddleston, 1983). The results of this sample show that success attribution and motivational climate are involved in determining goal orientation in sports. However, the model does present certain differences according to the type of sport practiced (individual versus team sport).

Relationships among goal orientations, motivational climate and flow in adolescent athletes: differences by gender

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships among perceived motivational climate, individuals' goal orientations, and dispositional flow, with attention to possible gender differences. A sample of 413 young athletes, ages 12 to 16 years, completed the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2) and Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), as well as the Dispositional Flow Scale. Task orientation was positively and significantly related to a perceived task-involving motivational climate and to the disposition to experience flow in the sport. Ego orientation was positively and significantly associated with a perceived ego-involving motivational climate and with dispositional flow. The perceptions of task-involving and ego-involving motivational climates were positively and significantly linked to general dispositional flow. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both task and ego goal orientations and perceived task- and ego-oriented climates predicted dispositional flow. Males displayed a stronger ego orientation, and were more likely to report that they participated in an ego-oriented climate, than did females. To the contrary, the females were more likely to perceive a task-oriented climate than did the males. No meaningful differences were found between males and females in general dispositional flow.

Motivational profiles and flow in physical education lessons

The purpose of this study was to use cluster analysis to identify differences in goal orientation and motivational climate profiles among students in physical education classes as well as differences among the observed clusters on perceived flow experiences. 983 students of 14- to 15-yr.-olds (M = 14.8 yr., SD = 0.91) from a large Spanish metropolitan school district were participants and completed questionnaires assessing goal orientations, motivational climates, and perceived flow. Analysis showed three distinct clusters with 40.3% of the sample with a High Motivation cluster, 27.6% in a Low Motivation cluster, and 32.2% in a Mastery Motivation cluster. These three clusters differed significantly in ratings of perceived flow. Clusters also showed different composition by sex. Implications of these results with regard to instruction in physical education classes are discussed.

Physical activity, psychosocial health and life goals among youth

The main goal of the present study is to investigate the relationship between youth's physical activity, their psychosocial health and well-being, and their life goals. Data were collected among students (n = 1109, age range between 14 and 21 years of age, mean: 16.5 years, SD = 1.3 years) enrolled in the secondary schools of the Southern Plain Region (three counties), Hungary. Our findings support previous results that more active students have a better self-perceived health and fitness, lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of life satisfaction. In addition, students who are regularly active prefer less extrinsic values as life goals for their future. However, there are no significant differences by physical activity status in terms of intrinsic values (except for physical health). These findings suggest that physical activity is not per se a beneficial health behavior only through its functions. In community health programs, a health-related physical education approach should be addressed to improve the psychosocial benefits of physical activity.