Motivation and Perceived Motivational Climate by Adolescents in Face-to-Face Physical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted adolescents’ lives, leading to unprecedented changes in their routines, especially in education. Face-to-face physical education (PE) classes during COVID-19 were affected in organization, possibly conditioning students’ participation, motivation and learning. Based on the achievement goal and self-determination theories, the aim of this study was to analyze and compare the motivational indicators of adolescents in face-to-face PE classes during COVID-19, according to gender, educational level and physical activity (PA). A total of 1369 students participated in the study (621 boys and 748 girls; mean age: 14.4 years; SD: 1.74). Data were collected via an online questionnaire and analyzed using MANCOVAs adjusted for age, pre- and post-COVID-19 PA, socioeconomic status and BMI (Z-score). Differences in achievement goals, motivational climate and motivational regulation levels were found in different groups by gender, PA and educational level, favoring older and more active participants. A more positive motivational profile was found for girls in general and, specifically, for active boys, regarding more self-determined motivations and mastery goal orientations. Overall, this study’s findings suggest that the restrictions related to face-to-face PE classes during the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on students’ motivation.

The Mediator Role of Sport Competence and Physical Condition in the Motivational Climate and Personal-Social Responsibility in Physical Education

This study aimed to separately examine the mediator role of two different variables in the relationship between perceived motivational climate and personal-social responsibility in physical education lessons. A total of 406 students ( Mage = 12.91, SD = 1.01), 217 girls ( Mage = 12.88, SD = 1.03) and 189 boys ( Mage = 12.93, SD = 0.99), from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades attended the study. In the research, the Learning and Performance Orientations in Physical Education Classes Questionnaire, the Personal-Social Responsibility Questionnaire, and Physical Self-Perception Inventory for Children (physical condition and sport competence) were used. To realize the purpose of the research, the measurement models were first tested using the structural equation model; next, multiple regression analysis applications were made. Mediation analysis was carried out separately for the “learning and performance climate dimensions” for the perceived motivational climate questionnaire. For this purpose, the mediating effect of physical condition and sport competence in the relationship between each perceived motivational climate dimension and personal-social responsibility, was examined. In the analyzes, it was found that neither learning nor performance dimensions of perceived motivational climate had any mediating effect on the relationship between personal-social responsibility. However, the perceived learning climate could moderately predict personal-social responsibility whereas the perceived performance climate could not. As a result, it can be said that the most important effect on personal- social responsibility in physical education lessons belongs to “the student learning orientation” factor which belongs only to the perceived learning climate. Since the student’s sport competence or physical condition is not effective in influencing personal-social responsibility, it has become necessary for physical education teachers to make efforts to create a learning-oriented climate that is associated with positive outcomes.

Predictive Strength of Contextual and Personal Variables in Soccer Players’ Goal Orientations

Psychological variables, such as perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality, have an influence on sports success performance. This study aimed to examine the relationships among a set of psychological variables (perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality) in male and female footballers. Participants were 167 footballers (106 male, 61 female), aged 12 to 26, competing with clubs in the Spanish Football League. They all took four questionnaires aimed at evaluating motivational climate, goal orientations, self-determined motivation, and personality. The analyses of correlation and regression showed statistically significant relations among the variables. Neuroticism and psychoticism negatively relate to mastery motivational climate, the best predictor of self-determined motivation. It was concluded that contextual variables carry more weight in predicting goal orientations and self-determined motivation among participant footballers.

The relationship between motivation, perceived Motivational Climate, Task and Ego Orientation, and Perceived Coach Autonomy in young ice hockey players

Background: This study is grounded in the theory of self-determination, the achievement goal theory, and the theory of perceived motivational climate. The goal of the study was to examine the relationships among perceived coach autonomy, motivation, task and ego orientation, and the perceived motivational climate in young ice hockey players. Material and methods: The participants included 401 ice hockey players aged 14–18 years old. To calculate the power of prediction between the independent variable “perceived autonomy from the coach”, all 6 factors of motivation in the self-determination theory (SDT) and the goal orientation we conducted two path diagrams: one where task environment was the dependent variable and one with ego environment as the dependent variable. Between these factors and goal orientation among the players and the dependent variables, a hierarchical regression analysis was employed. Results: We found that high perceived autonomy support from the coach positively influences motivation in junior hockey players. Players who perceive autonomy support from their coach have a higher chance of scoring highly for autonomic regulation, according to self-determination theory. Conclusions: This probably leads to more task-oriented players who create a more task-oriented environment, hopefully resulting in fewer players dropping out of the sport.

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.

Motivational aspects in junior competitive swimmers as a function of relative age

It is widely known that motivation plays a critical role in getting athletes to achieve their full potential. However, little is known with regards to motivation as a function of relative age in junior competitive swimmers. The aim of the present research was to investigate associations between motivation, perceived motivational climate, and relative age among junior competitive swimmers (N = 235; 117 females; Mean age = 11.44, SD = 0.57 years). Although we expected relatively younger athletes to present lower motivation than their older peers, findings showed that swimmers in our study had similar motivation orientation, irrespective of their birth period (i.e., first, second, third, fourth quarter). Findings suggest professionals should aim to build intrinsic motivation regardless of birth period, as the shaping of a stabilized intrinsic motivation at junior age can increase the chances of success for the most talented swimmers.

Psychological Profile and Competitive Performance in Group Aesthetic Gymnastics

The objective of the research was to evaluate the perceptions about the psychological variables of cohesion and motivational climate that AGG gymnasts have about the context created by the coaches in their teams and to analyze in the different categories the optimism and competitive anxiety they face in competitive situations. In an attempt to clarify the psychosocial training patterns in this sport and the influence they have on the well-being of its practitioners, competitive anxiety, motivational climate, team cohesion and level of optimism were taken as dependent variables. The sample was made up of 98 national and international junior and senior athletes in the aesthetic gymnastics group aged 13 to 27 (M = 17.1; SD = 2.8). The Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire for motivational climate, the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 for competitive anxiety, the Group Environment Questionnaire for cohesion and the Revised Life Orientation Test for optimism were used in the evaluation. The results obtained show a positive and statistically significant correlation between anxiety and ego involvement, while, for task involvement, high levels of cohesion are associated with high levels of optimism (p = 0.005). In conclusion, the data confirm that high levels of cohesion are associated with high levels of optimism, in addition high scores on task involvement show high scores on cohesion and optimism, however high scores on ego involvement are associated with low scores on cohesion and optimism.