Self-Determination Theory Within the Context of Sport, Essay Example

Innate in all humans is curiosity and an interest in seeking out challenges, discovering novelty, enjoying the learning process, and internalizing new cultural values and practices from externalities. Such evolved tendencies to assimilate and to be curious have emerged as the primary resources in the promotion of development and learning within the social realm (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009). However, within contemporary contexts, it has become more frequent for parents and pedagogues alike to not depend on intrinsic human propensities but rather to make sure children learn from external controls and incentives, which often interfere innate epistemic processes. Motivators that are externally controlled have also been extended to pedagogues, which manifests in the preoccupation with test scores. Indeed, in many developed countries such as the United States, official policies grant sanctions and rewards continent on elevating certain standardized test scores (Ryan et al., 1983). Under such conditions, predictable developments and transformations in pedagogical practices take place that seek to supplant active learning processes vis-à-vis assimilation with learning by goals and directives that are externally controlled. Within the context of sport, various social factors contribute to an athlete’s motivation. At the fore of such constructs is an athlete’s perception of how social agents such as parents or coaches influence their motivation. While parents and coaches as social agents impacting athlete motivation has been widely studied, there is a dearth of studies regarding how the peers of athletes play a role in shaping one’s motivation.

Objective: This study is grounded in the self-determination theory and examines both reciprocal relationships and neural stability amongst three primary facets of motivation: the intrinsic motivation of athletes; an athlete’s perceived autonomy from his or her coach; and peer-motivated, task-involving atmospheres and climates. The goal is to ascertain whether intrinsic motivation is a major factor in a person’s development or if external influences and stimuli play a more formative role.

Hypothesis: Young who believe they have a sense of autonomy from their coach will be more motivated to work hard and contribute to their team’s success, among other tasks that require athlete motivation. Within such an environment, the athletes would thrive and develop over the course of an entire training season.  Perceived autonomy from the coach will aid peer-motivational climates that involve certain tasks much later in a young athlete’s development both within the context of sport and in real-world settings.

Design: This experiment will take place over the course of an entire school year on two occasions as a prospective longitudinal design in which data would be collected during athletes’ training season.

Participants: Young athletes between the ages of 12 and 17 will comprise the sample space regardless of race or ethnicity.

Method: They will be asked to complete the Peer Motivational Climate In Athletics Questionnaire in addition to the Athletics Climate Questionnaire. The same athletes will be asked to fill out these same questionnaires the next year in addition to the Sport Motivation Scale.  Results will be compared by the authors in order to glean information and draw conclusions based on the self-determination theory.

Works Cited

Niemiec, C. P. , Ryan, R. M. , and Deci, E. L. “The Path Taken: Consequences of Attaining Intrinsic and Extrinsic Aspirations in Post-College Life.” Journal of Research in            Personality 43(2009): 291–306. Print.

Ryan, R. M. , Mims, V. , and R. Koestner. “Relation of Reward Contingency and Interpersonal   Context to Intrinsic Motivation: A Review and Test Using Cognitive Evaluation Theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(1983): 736–750. Print.

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