University of Birmingham
The Coach-Created Motivational Climate, Young
Athletes' Well-Being, and Intentions to Continue
Participation
Alvarez, María Sol; Balaguer, Isabel; Castillo, Isabel; Duda, Joan
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Alvarez, MS, Balaguer, I, Castillo, I & Duda, J 2012, 'The Coach-Created Motivational Climate, Young Athletes'
Well-Being, and Intentions to Continue Participation' Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, vol 6, no. 2, pp. 166179.
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Download date: 15. Jun. 2017
Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 2012, 6, 166-179
© 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc.
The Coach-Created Motivational Climate,
Young Athletes’ Well-Being, and Intentions
to Continue Participation
María Sol Alvarez, Isabel Balaguer, and Isabel Castillo
Universitat de València, Spain
Joan L. Duda
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Drawing from the theories of self-determination (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000)
achievement goals (AGT; Nicholls, 1989), and, in particular, Vallerand’s four-stage
casual sequence embedded in his hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation (HMIEM; Vallerand, 1997, 2001), this study tested a motivational
model in the sport context via structural equation modeling (SEM). Based on the
responses of 370 young male soccer players (M age = 14.77), the path analysis
results offered overall support for the proposed model. A perceived task-involving
climate emerged as a positive predictor of the satisfaction of the three psychological
needs, while a perceived ego-involving climate was a negative predictor of relatedness satisfaction. The results also support positive paths between satisfaction of
the three psychological needs and intrinsic motivation, while intrinsic motivation
was positively linked to subjective vitality and future intention to participate. The
implications of the coach-created motivational climate are discussed in the light
of its implications for the quality and potential maintenance of sport involvement
among young athletes.
Keywords: motivational climate, psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, wellbeing, future intention to participate
Understanding and promoting sport engagement in young people has attracted
a great deal of research attention in recent years. One central issue has been the
investigation of the processes that determine children’s and teenagers’ intentions to
participate in sport (e.g., Biddle, Soos, & Chatzisarantis, 1999; Hagger, Chatzisarantis, Culverhouse, & Biddle, 2003; Sarrazin, Vallerand, Guillet, Pelletier, &
Cury, 2002). Another concern for researchers is how to optimize the psychological
well-being of young people in sport settings (e.g., Adie, Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2008;
María Sol Alvarez, Isabel Balaguer, and Isabel Castillo are in the Department of Social Psychology at
the University of Valencia, Spain. Joan L. Duda is a Professor of Sports Psychology in the School of
Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK.
166
Climate, Sport Practice Intention, and Vitality
167
Balaguer, Castillo, & Duda, 2008; Gagné, Ryan, & Bargmann, 2003; Reinboth
& Duda, 2006; Reinboth, Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2004). It has been suggested that
sport engagement must result in a quality experience for the athlete in order for this
participation to positively contribute to his or her welfare (Duda, 2001).
Motivation is an important variable predicting intentions regarding sport
participation (Biddle et al., 1999; Pelletier et al., 1995; Sarrazin et al., 2002) and
psychological well-being (Balaguer et al., 2008; Gagné et al., 2003). Two theoretical approaches that offer insight into the motivation of children and teenagers to
engage in sport are the achievement goal theory (AGT; e.g., Nicholls, 1989) and
the self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2002). Both theories
have their roots in the development of human potential and place emphasis on
the meaning of the activity (Why is the person participating? What does she/he
want to achieve?). Both frameworks also postulate that the influence of the social
context (as created by significant others such as the coach) is relevant to variability
in athletes’ motivation and to the implications of such motivational differences for
the quality of sport engagement and the desire to continue participation (Duda,
2001; Ryan & Deci, 2000).
SDT proposes a continuum of self-determination where intrinsic motivation is
at the highest level of self-determination (Ryan & Connell, 1989). Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for the inherent pleasure and satisfaction of
the activity itself (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and is recognized to be associated with the
most positive experiences and outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
In the sport context, coach behavior is one factor expected to influence the level
and quality of athletes’ motivation (Duda & Balaguer, 2007; Vallerand & Losier,
1999). Coaches design practice sessions and interact with athletes in training and
competition to provide instruction and feedback and to help “motivate” their players.
They create a psychological environment or climate (Ames, 1992) that could have
an important impact on the athletes’ intrinsic interest, enjoyment, and continued
engagement in the sport. AGT proposes two climate dimensions that are assumed
to hold important and differential implications for motivation and achievementrelated cognitions, behaviors, and affective responses in the sport context (Ames,
1992; Nicholls, 1989), namely, the task- and ego-involving features of the environment. When a coach (a) emphasizes effort and athletes’ personal improvement, (b)
helps the players feel that they have an important role in the team, and (c) fosters
cooperation among the team members, he or she is creating a more task-involving
climate. In contrast, when a coach’s attention (a) is differentially allotted on the
basis of the ability level of team members (with the most talented players receiving
most notice), (b) is punitive in response to mistakes, and (c) cultivates rivalry among
the players on the same team, he or she is creating a more ego-involving climate
(Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2000). To date, sport studies conducted on the concomitants of a perceived motivational climate created by the coach have found that a
perceived task-involving climate is positively correlated with intrinsic motivation,
whereas a perceived ego-involving climate either is not correlated or is negatively
correlated with intrinsic motivation (see Duda & Balaguer, 2007; Ntoumanis &
Biddle, 1999, for reviews).
SDT also assumes that the impact of social factors on intrinsic motivation
does not occur automatically. Rather, this theory holds that satisfaction of the
basic psychological needs is pertinent to a participant’s level of self-determination
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Alvarez et al.
(Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2002). According to SDT, individuals are more likely to
be intrinsically motivated when they feel competent, autonomous, and related
to others. Perceived competence refers to feeling that one is efficacious and can
meet the demands marking an achievement domain. Perceived autonomy reflects
having the possibility of choice, the opportunity to voice one’s views, and to act
according to personal volition. Perceived relatedness refers to feeling that one is
securely connected to, cared about, and understood by relevant others in the context
at hand. According to SDT, the satisfaction of these needs mediates the impact of
the social environment on intrinsic motivation (as well as more extrinsic reasons
for sport engagement). That is, the atmosphere created by the coach is expected to
have important effects on athletes’ intrinsic interest in an activity through its influence on satisfaction of athletes’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness
(Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Several studies (see Ryan, 1995; Vallerand, 1997; Vallerand & Rousseau,
2001, for reviews) have shown that intrinsic motivation is positively associated
with favorable consequences in school, work, and leisure contexts (e.g., reports of
greater interest, greater exerted effort). In the sport domain, intrinsic motivation has
been associated with athletes’ intention to practice sport in the future (Pelletier et
al., 1995). SDT also proposes that the psychological well-being of athletes should
be a desirable outcome associated with more intrinsic reasons for participation.
More specifically, it is assumed that intrinsic motivation should be positively correlated with indicators of eudaimonic well-being, which is defined as “the degree
to which a person is fully functioning” (Ryan & Deci, 2001, p. 141). One of the
variables commonly employed to assess feelings of optimal functioning in SDTbased research is subjective vitality. Subjective vitality is conceptualized as one’s
conscious experience of possessing energy and aliveness (Ryan & Frederick, 1997)
and thus allows us to capture a sense of eudaemonic well-being from an integrative
psychological and physical perspective.
Based upon the tenets of SDT (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991), Vallerand (1997,
2001) proposed a hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (HMIEM)
that operates at three levels of generality: global (or personality), contextual (or
life domain), and situational (or state) level. For each level, Vallerand proposed
the following sequence: social factors → need satisfaction (key mediators of subsequent motivation and associated outcomes) → types of motivation regulation
→ consequences. In the current study, we were interested in testing the proposed
motivational sequence at the contextual level, which pertains to the determinants
and consequences of one’s usual motivational orientation within a distinct context,
such as sport.
A few studies to date have examined the relationships between perceptions of
the motivational climate (i.e., the task- and ego-involving features) created by the
coach and the degree of satisfaction of the three psychological needs proposed by
SDT. For example, Reinboth and Duda (2006) found that increases in the satisfaction
of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in university athletes were
all positively predicted by perceptions of the coach’s emphasis on task-involving
climate structures throughout the season. They also found that changes in perceptions of an ego-involving motivational climate emerged as a negative predictor of
changes in satisfaction of the need for relatedness. The expected association between
the three psychological needs and intrinsic motivation has also been supported in
Climate, Sport Practice Intention, and Vitality
169
past sport research. Specifically, in an investigation involving university athletes,
Hollembeak and Amorose (2005) found that satisfaction of the needs for autonomy,
competence, and relatedness were positively related to intrinsic motivation.
Past work in the sport domain has also tested the assumed relationships between
intrinsic motivation and positive cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes in
the case of sport participants. Intrinsic motivation has been associated with athletes’
intentions to practice sport in the future among both university athletes (Pelletier
et al., 1995) and adult recreational sport participants (Tsorbatzoudis, Alexandris,
Zahariadis, & Grouios, 2006). Moreover, with respect to indices of eudaimonic
well-being, there is evidence indicating that intrinsic motivation for training leads
to increased subjective vitality in female gymnasts (Gagné et al., 2003).
Empirical validation for the complete motivational sequence postulated by
Vallerand (1997, 2001) was offered by Sarrazin et al. (2002) in their study of elite
young female handball players. Sarrazin and colleagues tested a model, via structural equation modeling, hypothesizing relationships between the two dimensions
of the motivational climate, the satisfaction of psychological needs (competence,
autonomy, and relatedness), self-determined motivation, and the intention to drop
out of handball. It was found that a task-involving climate was positively correlated
with each of the basic psychological needs, while an ego-involving climate was
negatively correlated with the need for autonomy. In turn, when the athletes felt
more competent, autonomous, and related, they reported more self-determined
motivation. Lower levels of autonomous motivation were associated with greater
intentions to dropout, which in turn, predicted the dropout behavior.
Based upon previous theoretical and empirical findings, we hypothesized that
perceptions of a task-involving climate created by the coach would be predictive of
greater satisfaction of needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In contrast,
we expected perceptions of an ego-involving climate to be negatively related with
satisfaction of the three psychological needs. In turn, perceptions of competence,
autonomy, and relatedness were predicted to be positively associated with intrinsic
motivation toward soccer engagement. Finally, it was hypothesized that intrinsic
motivation would be positively related to future intentions to play soccer and
reported feelings of subjective vitality in a sample of young male soccer players.
Method
Participants and Procedure
A total of 370 male soccer players from 32 soccer schools in the Valencian Community of Spain, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years (M = 14.77; SD = 0.72),
participated in this study.
Soccer club directors and coaches of the teams recruited received a letter
explaining the purpose of the study and agreed to take part in the research. All players received informed consent forms that were signed by their parents/guardians
and indicated their personal consent by agreeing to complete the questionnaire.
Participation in the study was voluntary and players were informed that they could
cease involvement at any time without penalty.
Before one of the training sessions, the players anonymously completed a battery of questionnaires (taking approximately 20 min) at their training schools. At
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Alvarez et al.
all meetings, instructions on how to fill in the questionnaire were provided by the
first author, emphasizing that they do so as honestly as possible, that there were no
right or wrong answers, and that their responses would be kept confidential. Since
the information was collected within the 2 months before the end of the season,
the players had enough time to develop their views regarding the prevailing coachcreated motivational climate manifested on their respective teams.
Measures
Perceived Motivational Climate. To assess the perceived motivational climate
created by the coach, the participants completed the Spanish version (Balaguer,
Mayo, Atienza, & Duda, 1997) of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport
Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2; Newton et al., 2000), which had been adapted to the
sport of soccer (Balaguer, Castillo, & Duda, 2003). The PMCSQ-2 assesses players’ perceptions of the degree to which the motivational climate of their respective teams is characterized in terms of two higher order dimensions (task- and
ego-involving climate). The participants responded to the 29 items that ask them
to rate what the environment is like on their team in general, on a 5-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The stem for each
question was “In my soccer team . . .” . An example of a task-involving dimension item is “The coach encourages players to help each other.” An example of an
item reflecting an ego-involving dimension is “Only the top players ‘get noticed’
by the coach.” Previous studies have confirmed adequate internal reliability and
factorial validity for this scale (e.g., Balaguer et al., 2003; Newton et al., 2000;
Reinboth & Duda, 2006).
Basic Psychological Needs. The satisfaction of the need for competence was
assessed by the Spanish version (Balaguer et al., 2008) of the 5-item Perceived
Competence Subscale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (McAuley, Duncan,
& Tammen, 1989). Responses were indicated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging
from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). An example item is, “I am pretty
skilled at soccer.” Previous studies have provided evidence for the internal reliability of this scale (Balaguer et al., 2008; McAuley et al., 1989). The satisfaction
of the need for autonomy was assessed using the Spanish version (Balaguer et al.,
2008) of the 10 items selected by Reinboth and Duda (2006) to assess the internal
perceived locus of autonomy (e.g., “In soccer, I feel that my choices and actions
are based on my true interests and values”) and the choice/decision-making facets
of perceived autonomy (e.g., “I feel I can give a lot of input to deciding how the
practice/training is being carried out”). Responses were indicated on a 7-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Previous studies have
supported the internal reliability of this scale (Balaguer et al., 2008; Reinboth &
Duda, 2006). The Acceptance Subscale of the Need for Relatedness Scale (Richer
& Vallerand, 1998) adapted to soccer and translated to a Spanish version (Balaguer
et al., 2008) was used to assess players’ perceptions of their sense of experienced
relatedness on the team. The item “When I play soccer I feel . . . ” is followed by
five items such as understood, valued, supported, listened to, and safe, to which the
participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 5 (strongly agree). Previous studies have supported the internal reliability of this
scale (Balaguer et al., 2008; Richer & Vallerand, 1998).
Climate, Sport Practice Intention, and Vitality
171
Intrinsic Motivation. Intrinsic motivation (IM) was assessed by using the corresponding subscales from the Spanish validation (Balaguer, Castillo, & Duda, 2007)
of the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier et al., 1995). Specifically, participants
responded to the items assessing IM to know (4 items), IM to accomplish (4 items),
and IM to experience stimulation (4 items). The three IM subscales of the SMS
ask the athletes to indicate why they are presently practicing their sport (e.g., “For
the excitement I feel when I am really involved in the activity” in the case of IM
to experience stimulation; “For the satisfaction I experience while I am perfecting
my abilities” in the case of IM to accomplish; and “For the pleasure of discovering
new training techniques” in the case of IM to know). The response options range
from 1 (does not correspond at all) to 7 (corresponds exactly). Higher scores
reflect greater IM. The average score of the 12 items was used as the indicator of
the athletes’ overall IM for their sport engagement. The measure has demonstrated
acceptable reliability and factorial validity in previous studies of athletes (Balaguer
et al., 2007; Pelletier et al., 1995; Vallerand & Fortier, 1998). Support for combining
the three forms of IM into a single composite measure has been provided in the
sport psychology literature (e.g., Balaguer et al., 2007; Hollembeak & Amorose,
2005; Li & Harmer, 1996).
Well-Being Outcomes. To measure perceived levels of subjective vitality, a Spanish version (Balaguer, Castillo, García-Merita, & Mars, 2005) of the Subjective
Vitality Scale (SVS; Ryan & Frederick, 1997) was used. The six items from the
scale (e.g., “I feel alive and vital”) assess the athletes’ subjective feelings of vitality on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). Previous
investigations have confirmed adequate internal reliability for this scale (Balaguer
et al., 2005; Ryan & Frederick, 1997).
Future Sport Intentions. Intentions to play soccer during the following season (in
5 months) were assessed with three adapted items from the work of Chatzisarantis,
Biddle, and Meek (1997). Specifically, the participants responded to three items
(“I am determined to play soccer the next season,” “I intend to play soccer the next
season,” and “I plan to play soccer the next season”). Responses were indicated
on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unlikely) to 7 (very likely). Previous
work has suggested acceptable internal reliability of this scale in the case of young
adolescents in the physical education context (Chatzisarantis et al., 1997; Standage,
Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2003).
Results
Descriptive Statistics and Scale Reliabilities
Given that the Spanish version of the future sport intentions scale was specifically
translated and adapted for this study, we tested the factorial validity of the measure
using an exploratory factor analysis. The results revealed initial support for the
unidimensional structure of the scale, with the single factor explaining 81.5% of
the variance. The factor loading for the items ranged from 0.89 to 0.93.
The descriptive statistics and alpha coefficients for all the measures are presented in Table 1. The participants considered their motivational climate to be
moderate in its task-involving features and relatively low in ego-involving features.
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Alvarez et al.
Table 1 Descriptive Statistics and Internal Consistency
for Each Measure
Range
M
SD
α
Task-involving climate
1–5
3.78
0.61
0.82
Ego-involving climate
1–5
2.61
0.73
0.82
Perceived competence
1–7
5.28
1.06
0.74
Perceived autonomy
1–7
4.69
0.97
0.79
Perceived relatedness
1–5
3.82
0.83
0.84
Intrinsic motivation
1–7
5.09
1.05
0.90
Subjective vitality
1–7
5.32
1.16
0.84
Future intention to play soccer
1–7
5.76
1.56
0.88
Variable
On average, the soccer players’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness
were moderately satisfied. On average, soccer players reported moderate levels of
intrinsic motivation and subjective vitality and tended to have positive intentions to
play soccer during the following season. Levels of skewness indicated that the data
were not strictly normal, but did approach normality (range = –1.15 to 0.04). The
measures employed were also marked by acceptable levels of internal reliability,
with alphas ranging from 0.74 to 0.90.
Test of the Four-Stage Causal Sequence
Structural equation modeling (SEM) methods, as implemented via LISREL 8.54
(Jöreskog & Sörbom, 2003), were used to test the hypothesized model (i.e., Vallerand’s four-stage causal sequence), using the robust Maximum Likelihood (ML)
method of estimation (Bentler, 1995) and the Normal Theory χ2 test statistic (the
default in version 8.54 of LISREL). The observed correlation and the asymptotic
covariance matrices were used as the input for the analyses. Multiple fit indices
including the chi-square index (χ2), goodness of fit index (GFI), nonnormed fit index
(NNFI), comparative fit index (CFI), and root mean square error of approximation
(RMSEA) were employed to assess the adequacy of the models. The fit of the model
was acceptable, χ2 (13) = 41.59, p < .01, GFI = 0.96; NNFI = 0.91; CFI = 0.96;
RMSEA = 0.06. However, the path from ego-involving climate to competence and
autonomy need satisfaction was nonsignificant. The model was reestimated after
removing the nonsignificant regression paths and produced a similar and acceptable
fit to the data: χ2 (15) = 39.87, p < .01, GFI = 0.96; NNFI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.06.
Although the overall chi-square fit was significant, the supplemental fit indices
indicated that the model was acceptable.
As illustrated in Figure 1, perceptions of task- and ego-involving climates
were negatively and moderately related, suggesting that the two constructs were
not inversely redundant and therefore reflected two ends of one continuum (Duda,
2001). In line with the proposed model, there were significant and positive paths
between perceptions of task climate and satisfaction of the needs for competence,
autonomy, and relatedness. By contrast, there was a significant and negative path
Climate, Sport Practice Intention, and Vitality
173
Figure 1 — Structural model (climate–needs–motivation–affective and behavioral consequences). Note. All coefficients are standardized and significant (z > 1.96).
between perceptions of an ego-involving climate and the need for relatedness. The
satisfaction of each of the three psychological needs was a significant positive
predictor of intrinsic motivation. Finally, intrinsic motivation was a strong positive predictor of subjective vitality and the future intention to participate in soccer.
The standardized indirect effects indicated that a perceived task-involving
climate was positively linked to intrinsic motivation (β = 20, p < .01) through need
satisfaction. Task climate also positively predicted subjective vitality (β = 12, p <
.01) and future intention to play soccer (β = 10, p < .01) through need satisfaction
and intrinsic motivation. Moreover, competence (β = 13, p < .01), autonomy (β =
19, p < .01), and relatedness (β = 07, p < .05) need satisfaction positively predicted
subjective vitality through intrinsic motivation. Finally, satisfaction of the needs for
competence (β = 11, p < .01), autonomy (β = 16, p < .01), and relatedness (β = 06,
p < .05) positively predicted intention to play soccer through intrinsic motivation.
Discussion
The purpose of this study, which is grounded in the achievement goal (AGT; Nicholls, 1989) and self-determination (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2002) theoretical
frameworks, was to test a motivational model in youth sport. More specifically,
this model considered the four-stage casual sequence proposed by the HMIEM
(Vallerand 1997, 2001) with an eye toward explaining variability in reported
eudaemonic well-being (an indicator of optimal functioning) and intentions to
continue involvement in the case of young adolescent age male soccer players. This
model posited that the motivational climate created by the coach would predict
young soccer players’ satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy, and
relatedness. Specifically, a more task-involving motivational climate offered by
the coach was expected to correspond to greater satisfaction of the players’ needs
for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. By contrast, when the coach-created
climate was deemed to be more ego-involving, lower levels of psychological need
satisfaction were expected. In turn, satisfaction of each of the needs for competence,
relatedness, and autonomy was predicted to be positively associated with intrinsic
motivation toward soccer engagement. Finally, high levels of intrinsic motivation
were hypothesized to positively predict athletes’ feelings of vitality and reported
intentions to participate in soccer the next season.
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Alvarez et al.
The findings of the current study provided overall support for the proposed
model. With respect to the first part of the hypothesized sequence, the result revealed
soccer players’ perceptions of a task-involving climate to be positively related to
their satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These
findings are in line with our hypothesis and with previous research involving
university athletes (Reinboth & Duda, 2006) and young female handball players
(Sarrazin et al., 2002). The observed positive relationship between perceptions of
a task-involving climate and competence is consonant with AGT (Nicholls, 1989).
This theory holds that in the psychological environments in which improvement
and effort are valued, it is more likely that the sources of competence evaluation
are more internal and controllable. As a result, it is more likely for these individuals
to feel good about their level of ability within those achievement contexts (Duda,
2001). The observed significant association between soccer players’ perceptions
of a task-involving climate and their satisfaction of the need for autonomy also
makes sense when one considers that an atmosphere centered on self-referenced
achievement should facilitate athletes’ feelings of personal control. That is, in
such a psychological environment, we would expect athletes to feel more like the
originators of their own behavior. Finally, with respect to explicating the observed
positive relationship between a perceived task involving climate and relatedness
satisfaction, it is important to keep in mind that in such environments, coaches
are deemed to promote cooperative learning. Moreover, the more task-involving
coach tends to facilitate each player feeling like he or she has a role to play on the
team. In such a climate, therefore, it is not surprising that feelings of belonging
will likely be cultivated.
In contrast to the observed positive pattern of relationships between a perceived
task-involving environment and need satisfaction, perceiving the coach to accentuate an ego-involving climate was negatively correlated with satisfaction of the need
for team relatedness. Evidently, when young soccer players view an atmosphere in
which intrateam rivalry, outdoing others, and recognizing only the most talented
players are emphasized, it is more likely that feelings of closeness between and
sense of belongingness among members of the team will be diminished. What is
implied, in light of these findings, is that an ego-involving atmosphere in a team
may not be amenable to young athletes’ feeling especially understood, appreciated,
and accepted by significant others in that sporting environment.
On the other hand, and contrary to our hypotheses grounded in AGT, a perceived
coach-created ego-involving climate was unrelated to satisfaction of the needs for
competence and autonomy. This result, however, is consonant with the findings
reported by Reinboth and Duda (2006) in their study of university athletes. An
explanation for the absence of a significant link between an ego-involving climate
and satisfaction of the need for competence could be the theoretically assumed
moderating role of perceived competence. AGT assumes that levels of perceived
competence serve as a moderator of the interrelationships between an ego goal
emphasis and corresponding achievement-related behavior, cognition, and affect
(Nicholls, 1989). That is, for players who are currently confident in their abilities, participating in a more ego-involving climate would not be expected to have
a negative effect on satisfaction of the need for competence at that point in time.
Likewise, in a strongly ego-involving climate, the more competent players on a
team could enjoy greater autonomy (e.g., freedom to act, assume responsibilities
Climate, Sport Practice Intention, and Vitality
175
in the game) because of the confidence that the coach possibly places in them. It
would be interesting to test the proposed moderating effect of perceived competence
on the relationship between a perceived ego-involving climate and young athletes’
feelings of competence and autonomy in future research.
In the second part of the sequence assumed in Vallerand’s model (1997, 2001),
which focused on the expected interplay between satisfaction of basic psychological needs and more self-determined reasons for engagement, the results indicate
that satisfaction of the three needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) was
significantly and positively related to intrinsic motivation. These results are aligned
with previous research revealing the three needs as significant predictors of intrinsic
motivation specifically or a self-determined motivation index considering athletes’
scores on more autonomous and controlling motivation regulations (e.g., Balaguer
et al., 2008; Hollembeak & Amorose, 2005; Sarrazin et al., 2002).
Thus, based on the present findings, it appears that when young male soccer
players feel confident and more secure in their sport, perceive they have some choice
and input into decisions, and have a sense that they are connected and integrated in
their sport environment, their motivation to play soccer is more intrinsic. In other
words, when satisfaction of the basic psychological needs prevails, the reasons for
participating in youth sport are more likely to be the inherent pleasure and satisfaction that the activity provides. In the current study, the path that held more weight
in the relationship to intrinsic interest was the observed association between the
satisfaction of the need for autonomy and intrinsic motivation. This significant path
was followed by the satisfaction of the need for competence, and finally by the
satisfaction of the need for relatedness, in terms of predicting intrinsic motivation
for participation in youth soccer. This pattern of findings supports the tenets of SDT
(Ryan & Deci, 2000), which emphasizes that the need for autonomy is the most
important of the three needs in the development of more autonomous motivation.
Also in agreement with SDT, and in accordance with our expectations, the
observed indirect effects indicated that a perceived task-involving climate positively predicted intrinsic motivation through satisfaction of the three needs. SDT
assumes that the effect of the environment on behavior regulations is not direct and
occurs as a result of the implications of that environment on psychological needs
satisfaction. An examination of the indirect effects also suggested that perceptions
of a task-involving environment predicted subjective vitality and future intention
to play soccer via need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. Moreover, satisfaction
of the three needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) positively predicted
subjective vitality and intention to play soccer through intrinsic motivation.
Taken in their totality, the observed indirect effects are supportive of the hypothesized motivation sequence (Vallerand, 1997, 2001), which depicts the processes by
which psychological environments can lead to differential consequences. Overall,
our findings are consonant with previous studies conducted in the sport and physical
education domains. This work has revealed that environments perceived as high
in task-involving features are associated with a wide range of positive outcomes,
for example, with more self-determined behavior regulations for engagement (e.g.,
Standage et al., 2003), higher subjective vitality (e.g., Balaguer, Castillo, Duda, &
García-Merita, 2011; Reinboth & Duda, 2006), higher self-esteem (e.g., Balaguer
et al., 2011; López-Valle, Balaguer, Castillo, & Tristán, 2011), and future intentions
to continue being active (e.g., Sarrazin et al., 2002).
176
Alvarez et al.
Finally, with respect to the final sequence embedded in Vallerand’s model (1997,
2001), we found that the higher the intrinsic motivation reported, the greater subjective vitality and intention to continue practicing soccer the next season exhibited by
the targeted sample of young soccer players. With regard to the latter relationship
between intrinsic motivation and intentions to continue playing soccer, the results of
this study of young adolescent boys are aligned with those reported by Tsorbatzoudis
and colleagues (2006) in their study of adult recreational athletes and Pelletier and
colleagues (1995) in their research involving university athletes. It is interesting to
consider the implications that the intention to maintain future participation can have
for the players’ future soccer engagement, since it has been demonstrated that intention
to drop out is a positive predictor of sport dropout (Sarrazin et al., 2002). Moreover,
similar to previous studies that have found positive relationships between intrinsic
motivation and subjective vitality with young female gymnasts (Gagné et al., 2003)
and with young female tennis players (Balaguer et al., 2011), this present research
indicates that intrinsic interest among boys involved in the sport of youth soccer is
also tied to an indicator of positive eudaemonic well-being and optimal functioning.
It should be noted that one of the limitations of this study is that it is crosssectional in design. The present results should be corroborated with samples
similar to ours in longitudinal investigations testing the social environment-need
satisfaction-motivation regulations-consequence sequence in youth sport. Moreover,
this investigation was limited to male soccer players at a regional level of competition. The extent to which these results can be generalized to female soccer players,
to elite athletes, and to other sporting activities should be empirically determined.
Conclusion
The results of the present work highlight the potential role that the coach-created
climate plays in young athletes’ motivation for engaging in their sport. Our findings also indicate that the degree to which the environment manifested on the
team is more task- and/or ego-involving, is relevant to observed variability in
the psychological well-being (subjective vitality) reported by male youth sport
participants as well as for their intention to maintain engagement in the sport in
the future. In other words, the motivational climate prevailing among youth sport
teams appears pertinent to whether sport participation is more health-promoting or
health-compromising in the case of young athletes (Duda, 2001). The results also
suggest that the coach-created motivational climate contributes to the likelihood
of young soccer players continuing with their sport.
Acknowledgment
This work was partially funded by the Secretaria de Estado de Universidades e Investigación.
Programa “Salvador de Madariaga” (PR2006/0365) and by the Ministerio de Educación y
Ciencia (DEP2006-56013).
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