Perceived Coach-Created Motivational Climates as Predictors of Athletes’ Goal Reengagement: The Mediational Role of Goal Motives

Athletes have to face several challenges during the sport season, and one of them could involve dealing with unattainable goals. In these situations, being able to reengage in other goals as a form of goal adjustment and in response to contextual demands is adaptive. According to previous literature, some aspects of the athletes’ social context, such as coach-created motivational climates, could encourage more adaptive responses in athletes, and so it is possible that these climates would also promote athletes’ goal regulation and goal reengagement. The purpose of this study was twofold: to analyze whether athletes’ perception of empowering and disempowering climates were related to their goal reengagement through the mediation of goal motives; and to examine the interaction between the two climates when they predict reengagement through athletes’ goal motives. Participants were 414 Spanish university athletes (49.5% male, 50.5% female) who belonged to different university teams, with ages ranging from 17 to 33 years old (M = 20.61, SD = 2.58). In the sport facilities, all of them completed questionnaires that evaluated their perception of empowering and disempowering climates, their goal motives, and their goal reengagement. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results showed that perceived empowering climate positively predicted autonomous goal motives, which in turn had a positive relationship with goal reengagement. Conversely, perceived disempowering climate positively predicted controlled goal motives, which were not related to goal reengagement. Thus, we only found support for the indirect relationship between perceived empowering climate and goal reengagement through autonomous goal motives. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that interaction effects between perceived empowering and disempowering climates were not significant in the prediction of goal reengagement through goal motives. Findings revealed that the perception of empowering climates promotes athletes’ goal reengagement when goals become unattainable via the increase in their autonomous goal motives. Conversely, when athletes perceive disempowering climates, they have more controlled goal motives, which are not related to goal reengagement. In addition, the study supports the need to educate coaches to create more empowering and less disempowering climates.

The relationships among motivational climate, perceived competence, physical performance, and affects during physical education fitness testing lessons

Despite the prominence of fitness testing in school physical education (PE), there is a sparsity of research examining the antecedents of students’ affective experiences during fitness testing lessons. This study aimed to investigate the associations among task- and ego-involving motivational climates, perceived physical competence, physical performance, enjoyment, and anxiety during two different types of PE fitness testing lessons. Altogether, 645 Finnish students from Grade 5 (50% boys, Mage = 11.2, SD = 0.36) and Grade 8 (47% boys, Mage = 14.2, SD = 0.35) participated in two fitness testing lessons with different content (lesson 1: 20-meter shuttle run test and a test of flexibility; lesson 2: curl-ups, push-ups, 5-leaps, and a catching-throwing combination test). Students’ experiences were collected using short questionnaires immediately after the lessons. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the direct and indirect associations among study variables. Results indicated that task-involving climate and perceived competence increased students’ enjoyment and decreased their anxiety levels whereas ego-involving climate had no effect on students’ enjoyment but increased their anxiety levels. In addition, students’ actual physical performance as a mediator between motivational climate and affects, or as a direct predictor of affects, was limited. Strategies advancing task-involving motivational climate and students’ perception of competence should be employed to increase enjoyment and decrease anxiety during PE fitness testing lessons.

Mental Toughness and Motivational Climate of Basketball Players According to Gender and Age Groups

Background: It has been a matter of curiosity by athletes, coaches, sports commentators, and sports psychologists why certain athletes are the world's best in their field. Aim: In our study, the mental toughness and motivational climates of licensed basketball players were examined according to age and gender variables. Methods: In this study, the relational screening model was used to determine the relationship between mental toughness and motivational climate in licensed basketball players studying in physical education and sports teaching departments. Results: As a result of this study, where mental toughness and motivational climate, which are known to be necessary to maintain the ideal performance level during competition, are evaluated according to age and gender variables, it is seen that the motivational climate and mental toughness scores do not differ according to the gender of the athletes. Conclusion: As a result of this study, where mental toughness and motivational climate, which are known to be necessary to maintain the ideal performance level during competition, are evaluated according to age and gender variables, it is seen that the motivational climate and mental toughness scores do not differ according to the gender of the athletes. Keywords: Mastery Climate, Performance Climate, Mental Toughness, Age, Gender

Diferencias demográficas de climas motivacionales, necesidades psicológicas básicas y cohesión en jóvenes (Demographic differences in motivational climates, basic psychological needs and cohesion in young people)

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el comportamiento de las variables de clima motivacional (empowering y disempowering), necesidades psicológicas (satisfacción y frustración) y cohesión (tarea y social) en función del sexo (hombres y mujeres), naturaleza de la actividad física (deporte conjunto-individual y educación física) y años de experiencia deportiva (4 años o menos, 5 años o más); además, analizar la interrelación entre las variables psicológicas. Participaron 237 jóvenes deportistas mexicanos (Medad = 12.22, DT = 1.27) de nivel básico. Con respecto a las diferencias en función del género, no hubo diferencias significativas; en cuanto a la naturaleza de la actividad, se presentaron diferencias entre todas las variables psicológicas; por último, en función de los años de experiencia, únicamente el clima empowering mostró diferencia significativa, siendo mayor en los deportistas con menos años de experiencia. Para poder ser concluyentes en estos resultados es necesario realizar una mayor investigacion. Respecto a la interacción entre variables, se evidencia la relación positiva entre el clima empowering, la satisfacción de las NPB y ambas cohesiones; así como, el clima disempowering y la frustración de las NPB. Abtract: The objective of this work is to analyze the behavior of the variables of motivational climate (empowering and disempowering), psychological needs (satisfaction and frustration) and cohesion (task and social) as a function of sex (men and women), nature of physical activity (group-individual sport and physical education) and years of sport experience (4 years or less, 5 years or more); in addition, to analyze the interrelation between the psychological variables. A total of 237 young Mexican athletes (Mage = 12.22, SD = 1.27) of elementary level participated. With respect to the differences according to gender, there were no significant differences; with respect to the nature of the activity, there were differences between all the psychological variables; finally, according to the years of experience, only the empowering climate showed a significant difference, being greater in the athletes with fewer years of experience. In order to be conclusive about these results, further research is needed. Regarding the interaction between variables, there was evidence of a positive relationship between the empowering climate, NPB satisfaction and both cohesions, as well as the disempowering climate and NPB frustration.

A united front: Coach and teammate motivational climate and team cohesion among female adolescent athletes

Based on theory and research on athlete motivation and sport cohesion, this study examined the concurrent association of perceived coach and peer motivational climates with team cohesion among female adolescent athletes. Participants ( N = 235) included 14- to 18-year-old competitive volleyball players who completed self-report measures of motivational climates and team cohesion in the latter part of the season. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that all coach and peer task-involving dimensions were positively related, and peer intra-team conflict (ego-involving dimension) was negatively related, to team cohesion. Task-involving dimensions of coach cooperative learning and peer effort and relatedness support contributed most strongly to the relationship as did task cohesion. Multiple regression analyses showed that elements of both coach and peer climates were related to task and social cohesion. Findings extend past research by simultaneously examining coaches and peers as social sources of team cohesion among female adolescent athletes. Specific strategies are offered for how coaches can enhance team cohesiveness by directly shaping a task-involving climate, minimizing an ego-involving climate, and fostering a teammate task-involving climate that promotes positive peer interactions and relationships.

Perceived Motivational Climates and Doping Intention in Adolescent Athletes: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and Sportspersonship

Doping is an important issue in competitive sports and poses potentially irreversible consequences to athletes. Understanding the psychological process underlying antecedents and doping intention will inform policy and prevention. This study aimed to test the psychosocial mechanisms of doping in adolescent athletes using an integrated model. In this model, we examined the associations of perceived motivational climate (i.e., task-involving and ego-involving), moral variables (i.e., moral disengagement and sportspersonship), and attitudinal variables (i.e., perceived pros/cons of doping and perceived cons of not doping) with doping intention. We further investigated whether the moral variables mediated the relationship between perceived motivational climate and doping intention. A cross-sectional survey was employed in the present study. Six hundred and fifteen Chinese adolescent athletes (mean age = 15.68 ± 1.67 years) completed questionnaires measuring demographic information and the variables mentioned previously. Structural equation modeling showed that the hypothesized model had a good fit and explained 64.1% of the variance in doping intention. Task-involving motivational climate indicated both directly and indirectly negative associations with doping intention via sportspersonship. The ego-involving motivational climate was positively associated with doping intention via moral disengagement. Among perceived pros/cons of doping and perceived cons of not doping, both perceived cons of doping and cons of not doping were positively associated with doping intention with a small effect size. This study confirmed the roles of tasking- and ego-involving motivational climates, moral variables, and attitudinal variables on doping intention. These research findings may provide new insights for the future of intention-based doping prevention programmes.

Helping behavior and employee creativity: The combined roles of mastery and performance motivation climates

Researchers have argued that giving help is negatively related to creativity, because helping costs time and resources. However, this argument overlooks the fact that interaction of the help giver with the help receiver may also be regarded as a learning process, which, in turn, promotes creativity. Drawing on achievement goal theory, we proposed that the interplay of the motivational climates of mastery and performance in an organization would moderate the curvilinear relationship between helping behavior and individual creativity. On the basis of survey data obtained from 239 employees and their supervisors nested within 49 teams, hierarchical linear modeling results show that when the mastery climate is dominant the relationship between help giving and employee creativity becomes positive and more linear, whereas when the performance climate is dominant the relationship becomes negative and more linear. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Psychosocial Climates Differentially Predict 12- to 14-Year-Old Competitive Soccer Players’ Goal Orientations

Youth’s likelihood of participating in sport increases when they maintain a focus on enjoyment, learning, and effort (i.e., task goal orientation) rather than how they compare to others and norms (i.e., ego goal orientation). Achievement goal theory research consistently illustrates the significant influence of leader-created motivational climates on their participants’ goal orientation adoption. However, the influence of caring climate perceptions by highly competitive adolescent athletes on their goal orientation adoption has yet to be examined. Thus, this study assessed how competitive, adolescent soccer players’ perceptions of the climate as caring, task-, and ego-involving predicted their adoption of task and ego goal orientations. Players (N = 152, 62% female, 12–14 years of age) in the Olympic Development Program completed a survey that included measures of the caring climate, task-involving and ego-involving motivational climates, and task and ego goal orientations in soccer. Path analyses revealed males’ task goal orientation was significantly predicted by caring and task-involving climate perceptions. Females’ task goal orientation was significantly predicted by their task-involving climate perceptions. Ego goal orientation was significantly predicted by all athletes’ ego-involving climate perceptions. This is the first study to support the importance of fostering a high caring, as well as high task-involving, and low ego-involving climate when working with highly competitive adolescent athletes to keep their task goal orientation high. Research replicating this study is warranted to provide further support for these relationships longitudinally and across ages and sexes.