Motivational Dynamics of Sport and Exercise Flashcards
What is Motivation?
- ‘The direction & intensity of one’s effort’ (Sage, 1977, cited in Kingston et al., 2006)
Fails to acknowledge:
- Dynamic and complex process
- Multidimensional nature
- Social cognitive process
- “Personality factors, social variables and/or cognitions that come into play when a person undertakes a task at which he/she is evaluated, enters into competition with others, or attempts to attain some standard of excellence”
- ‘The process that influences the initiation,
direction, magnitude, perseverance, continuation, and quality of goal-directed behaviour’ - To understand motivation we must attempt to understand the process and the constructs that drive it
Motivation in Sport and Exercise
- Motivation is one of the most researched
areas in sport and exercise
psychology… - …because it is the foundation of sport
performance and achievement!
Deci and Ryan (1985):
Motivation concerns the ‘why’ question in human behaviour
Approaches to Motivation
Trait-centered view:
Motivated behaviour is primarily a function of individual characteristics
Situation-centered view:
Motivation level is determined primarily by situation
Interactional view:
Considers both the person and the
situation and how the two interact
Approaches to Motivation: Interactional View
- Personal factors: personality, needs, goals
- Situational factors: coach style, team climate, task difficulty
- No single factor predicts motivation—it’s the combination that matters
- Widely used in sport and exercise psychology
Theories of Motivation
- Roberts (2001): Approx’ 32 theories from educational psych
Foundational theories in sport psychology:
- Need Achievement theory (McClelland 1961; Atkinson 1974)
- Attribution theory (Weiner, 1973; 1986)
Contemporary theories in sport psychology:
- Self-determination Theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan 1985)
- Achievement Goal Theory (AGT, Nicholls, 1979)
Need Achievement Theory (Atkinson 1974)
- Motivation = interaction of personality traits and situational factors
Two key traits:
1) Need to Achieve (Nach)
2) Need to Avoid Failure (Naf)
- High Nach: likes challenges, motivated by success
- High Naf: avoids risk, motivated by fear of failure
- Predicts behavior based on task difficulty and success probability
Attribution Theory (Weiner 1972, 1985, 1986)
- Attributions: perceived cause of events
- Attributions influence expectations
and emotional reactions which in turn influence future achievement motivation - Important peers can influence attributions via feedback/forward
Attribution Theory (2x2) (Weiner 1972)
Locus of Causality:
1) Internal (e.g., ability, effort)
2) External (e.g., luck, task difficulty)
Stability:
1) Stable (e.g., ability, task difficulty)
2) Unstable (e.g., effort, luck)
Attribution Theory (2x2x2) (Weiner 1985, 1986)
Locus of Causality:
- Internal or external
Stability:
- Stable or Unstable
Controllability:
- Controllable or Uncontrollable
Example:
Effort → Internal, Unstable, Controllable
Ability → Internal, Stable, Uncontrollable
Luck → External, Unstable, Uncontrollable
Self-Serving Bias
Human beings typically…
- Attribute positive outcomes to internal factors
- Attribute negative outcomes to external factors
Research on Attributions
Antecedents:
- Individuals high in self-esteem or self-efficacy attribute success to internal, stable and controllable factors (i.e., effort)
- Individuals low in self-esteem or self-efficacy attribute failure to more internal and stable causes (i.e., lack of ability)
Attribution Consequences
- Stability + Expectations
Athletes show greater confidence/expectations for the future when they attribute:
- Success to stable factors (e.g., ability)
- Failure to unstable factors (e.g., poor support)
- Causality + Emotions
People experience…
- Greater pride and self-esteem when they attribute success to internal factors (e.g., effort)
- Greater anger and frustration when they attribute their failures to external factors (e.g., organisational constraints)
Self-Determination Theory (Deci, 1975; Deci & Ryan, 1985)
- SDT is a ‘meta theory’ of motivation and is
mainly concerned with individuals motives
for involvement and why people
participate in sport or exercise - SDT proposed that people are
inherently motivated to satisfy 3 innate
needs – the need to feel autonomy,
competence and relatedness
Achievement Goal Theories
- Since the mid-1990’s researchers have produced a cluster of achievement goal theories (i.e., Dweck, Nicholls).
- AGT is based on the idea that in order to
understand someone’s motivation, we must
understand what success and failure means to
them - AGT suggests that the best way to achieve this is to examine a persons achievement goals and how they interact with that individuals perceptions of competence/ability
Research: Achievement Goal Theory
High Task-Orientation:
- Greater enjoyment & intrinsic interest in sport (Schneider et al., 2017)
- Greater use of problem-solving coping (Ntoumanis et al., 1999)
- Increased confidence (Hall & Kerr, 1997)
High Ego-Orientation:
- Linked to cheating intentions and behaviours (Ring & Kavussanu, 2018)
- Predictor of pre-competitive anxiety (Hall & Kerr 1997),
- Related to concentration disruption (White & Zellner, 1996)
- High in both, or high in task and low in ego, have the most adaptive motivational profiles
Goal Orientation Profiling
- Goal orientation = Dispositional tendency (proneness to be task or ego involved in achievement settings)
- Complete the Task & Ego Goal Orientation in Sport Questionnaire TEOSQ (Duda & Nicholls, 1992)
- 13 Items
Individual Differences in Achievement Goals
Achievement goals within specific situations
(i.e., goal involvement) are determined by a
complex interaction between:
1. Dispositional goal orientations (intrapersonal level)
2. The wider motivational climate (situational level) created by key social agents (e.g., coaches, parents, peers)
- The adoption of task and ego goals for a specific activity involve both an individual dispositional goal orientations and situational cues
Motivational Climates
- “Motivational climate refers to the structures and criteria used by significant others to promote and evaluate achievement and competence….”.
- “…Motivational climates are established by a pattern of normative influences, evaluative standards, rewards and sanctions, interpersonal interactions, and values communicated by social agents within achievement contexts (Smith et al., 2008).
Motivational Climates: Task vs Ego
- According to Ames (1992), motivational climates include mastery (or task-involving) climates and performance (or ego-involving) climates
- A mastery/task-involving climate is created when key social agents (i.e., coaches, parents, peers) are perceived to place emphasis on self-referenced improvement, effort, and cooperative learning
- Performance/ego-involving climate is created when there is a perceived focus on outcomes (i.e., winning), emphasis on outperforming others (i.e., social comparison), preferential treatment is seen to be given to other performers, and mistakes are punished
Motivational Climates: Key Social Agents
- Most current research focuses on
perceptions of the climate exclusively ‘created by’ the coach or teacher (Harwood et al. 2015) - From a developmental perspective,
during adolescence (12+ years), coaches become an increasingly influential source of competency-related information (Kipp, 2018)
Coach-Initiated Motivational Climates:
Individual-Level Outcomes
Coach-initiated mastery climates have
been positively associated with:
- Task-oriented goals
- Pro-social behaviour
- Confidence
- Self-esteem
- Competence
- Intrinsic motivation
- Positive affect
- Engagement
- Objective performance
Coach-Initiated Motivational Climates:
Group-Level Outcomes
Coach-Initiated Mastery (Task) Climates have
been positively associated with:
- Peer relationships
- Task and social cohesion
- Collective efficacy
- Reduced social loafing
Coach-Initiated Performance (Ego) Climates
have been
- Negatively associated with peer relationships
- Positively associated with pro-aggressive behaviour
- Negatively related to task and social cohesion
- Positively associated with social loafing
Motivational Climates: TARGET
Ames (1992) suggests there are six achievement structures that help teachers/coaches organize classroom/session dynamics to promote either a performance or mastery oriented motivational climate:
- Task (design of tasks)
- Authority (location of decision-making)
- Recognition (distribution of rewards)
- Grouping (manner and frequency of grouping)
- Evaluation (standards for performance)
- Time (pace of learning)
