Week 3 - Motivation in Sport

Question 0

What powers motivation?

Answer 0

Biological needs - the desire for food warmth comfort and reproduction
Social needs - the need to feel competent, worthy and in control of your world
Cognitions - beliefs about the nature of the world and the causes of behaviour and outcomes

Question 1

Define motivation…

Answer 1

The direction and intensity of ones efforts

Question 2

What are the 3 perspectives of motivation?

Answer 2

Traits - stable attributes that determine motivations = the unmotivated stay unmotivated
Situations - our motives are determined by circumstances = we can always contrive of a situation that motivates people
Interactional - the interaction of traits and situations = consideration and theory that deals with both

Question 3

What is the interactional model of motivation?

Answer 3

Motivation results solely from

1) participant factors - personality, needs, interests, and goals
2) situational factors - coach’s/teacher’s style or the win/loss record of a team

Question 4

Cognitive evaluation theory

Answer 4

Individuals have an innate need to feel personally competent and self deterministic.
Focus is on factors that facilitate or undermine the development of intrinsic motivation

Question 5

What is intrinsic motivation?

Answer 5

The capacity to initiate and pursue behaviour that enhances feeling of competence and self determination.

Question 6

What increases intrinsic motivation?

Answer 6

Events that increase BOTH feelings of competence and self determination.

Question 7

What decreases intrinsic motivation?

Answer 7

Events that EITHER decrease perceptions of competence or decrease feelings of self determination

Question 8

What is the Locus of causality? And what are the two aspects of it?

Answer 8

What causes a persons behaviour

Internal and external

Question 9

What does someone with an internal locus of causality think?

Answer 9

I initiated the activity

They do things because they want to

Question 10

What does someone with an external locus of causality think?

Answer 10

Someone else initiated the activity
E.g. If a reward is seen as controlling ones behaviour, then people believe the cause of their behaviour resides outside themselves.

Question 11

As per the cognitive evaluation theory, what are the two types of rewards?

Answer 11

Controlling - rewards that are seen to control
(Decrease intrinsic motivation)
Informational - positive feedback
(Increases intrinsic motivation)

Question 12

What is the achievement goal theory?

Answer 12

Depends on motivational levels in terms of different types of goals set.
Three factors interact to determine a persons motivation: achievement goals, perceived ability and achievement behaviour.

Question 13

What are the two types of achievement goals outlined in the achievement goal theory?

Answer 13

Outcome (ego) orientated goals

Task orientated goal

Question 14

What is task goal orientation outlined in the achievement goal theory?

Answer 14

Focuses on comparing performance with personal standards and personal improvement. Best orientation to adopt!

Question 15

What is outcome (ego) goal orientation outlined in the achievement goal theory?

Answer 15

Focuses on comparing performance with and defeating others.

Question 16

What is the disadvantage of having an outcome (ego) goal orientation?

Answer 16

Difficulty maintaining high perceived competence
Judge success by how they compare with others - cannot necessarily control how others perform.
Likely to reduced efforts, cease trying or are excuses.
Likely to select tasks that are guaranteed success

Question 17

What is the attribution theory?

Answer 17

Focuses on how people explain their successes and failures.

Question 18

What are the three main attributes outlined in the attribution theory?

Answer 18

Stability
Locus of causality
Locus of control

Question 19

What is the attribute of stability outlined in the attribution theory? Give an example

Answer 19

A factor to which one attributed success or failure is either fairly permanent or unstable
Stable factor - talent or good ability
Unstable factor - good luck

Question 20

What is the attribute of locus of causality outlined in the attribution theory? Give an example

Answer 20

A factor that is either external or internal to the individual
External - easy competitors
Internal - tremendous effort in the last 50m

Question 21

What is the attribute of locus of control outlined in the attribution theory? Give an example

Answer 21

Factor is or is not under our control
Factor you can control - race plan
Factor you can’t control - opponent lack of physical conditioning.

Question 22

According to Weiners model if someone attributed their success to stability, their response would be….

Answer 22

Increased expectation of success

Question 23

According to Weiners model if someone attributed their success to instability, their response would be….

Answer 23

Decreased expectation of success

Question 24

According to Weiners model if someone attributed their success to internal cause, their response would be….

Answer 24

Increased pride or shame

Question 25

According to Weiners model if someone attributed their success to external cause, their response would be….

Answer 25

Decreased pride or shame

Question 26

According to Weiners model if someone attributed their success to within control, their response would be….

Answer 26

Increased motivation

Question 27

According to Weiners model if someone attributed their success to outside control, their response would be….

Answer 27

Decreased motivation

Question 28

According to Weiners model, self serving bias can occur when…

Answer 28

Perceived competence is high (expectation to win) performers to not attribute loss to stable causes eg. ability.