Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if motivational profiles of individual collegiate team sport athletes differ across ability levels (High, Middle, and Low) and settings (Team Practice, Competition, and Personal Practice). The athletes task and ego disposition, autonomy, and contextual motivation, were assessed using the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), Sport Climate Questionnaire (SCQ), and Sport Motivational Scale (SMS), pre and postseason. Their anxiety levels and situational motivation were measured using the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Situational Motivational Scale (SIMS) during the season. The General Causality Orientations Scale (GCOS) was used pre and postseason to assess the strength of different motivational orientations in the coaches and the strength of association to the athletes' various motivational, anxiety and dispositional profiles. Results revealed that the athletes are functioning with high task and ego orientations almost equally across settings. They were also relatively high overall in perceived autonomy support. Anxiety and worry existed in all three settings, but in only low to moderate amounts. In addition, athletes reported higher levels of concentration disruption in competition settings over team or personal practice. Finally, individual athletes experienced significantly higher levels of self-determination behavior in both the competition and personal practice settings over team practice. No significant differences were found between the pre and postseason surveys for either the athletes or the coaches, or in the ability levels (H, M, and L) of the athletes.

Degree

College and Department

Life Sciences; Exercise Sciences

Rights

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