Title: Describe one model of motivation then critically discuss how this model has been used to explain motivation for sport and/or exercise.
Introduction
Motivation in sport can be defined as the direction and intensity of effort to engage in a certain behaviour.
The direction of effort refers to whether an individual is attracted to a situation or whether they avoid the situation. Representing the reasons an individual is playing the sport and what goals they are trying to achieve.
The intensity of effort refers to how much effort an individual puts into a situation, this is seen as the ‘psych yourself up’ aspect of motivation which relates to effort level and intensity. Motivated behaviour is primarily a function of individual characteristics and is primary determined by the situation in sport.
There are many types of motivation, for example an individual’s long term motivation such as commitment to put the time in to practise and train. There is also short term motivation for example motivation for an upcoming event (game/race/show). Intrinsic motivation is another type of motivation, for example playing the sport for fun, enjoyment and improving their skills for their sport. Extrinsic motivation is when an individual is motivated to play the sport because of the rewards they can achieve for example trophies, money and recognition (Hodge, K. 2010).
In the view of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), motivation for sport is a complex phenomenon, with most athletes having multiple motives for engagement. Athletes can be motivated by external factors such as rewards, evaluations, pressure from parents or coaches, or by opinions they believe others may have of them (Ryan & Deci, 2007).
A self-determination theory is a broad theory is based upon the writings of Deci and Ryan in 1985 and explains how an individual’s behaviour is motivated and determined by. Vallerand was an author of the classified model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that includes Deci and Ryan’s theory. Self-Determination theory has a self-determination continuum, it ranges from amotivation, which is when an individual is totally lacking self-determination, to intrinsic motivation which is an individual who is very self-determined. Along the continuum between amotivation and intrinsic motivation are four more types of extrinsic motivation, external being the most controlled and therefore being the least self-determined type of extrinsic motivation and introjected, identified and integrated being progressively more self-determined (Gagne, M and Deci, L, E, 2005).
Self-Determination theory suggests that autonomous and controlled motivates differ, both in their regulatory process and their accompanying experiences. This can then suggest that an individual’s behaviour can be determined whether it is autonomous or controlled. Amotivation involves a lack of intention and motivation, whereas autonomous motivation and controlled motivation are bother intentional (Gagne, M and Deci, L, E, 2005).
The theory explains a broad relationship between an individual’s motivation by both intrinsic and various extrinsic sources. Intrinsic motivation is described as motivation driven from within an individual who doesn’t rely on external factors, intrinsic motivation is when an individual performs an action or behaviour out of the enjoyment for the activity. (Ball W, J. Bice, R, M. Parry T, 2014).
Intrinsic motivation is an example of autonomous motivation as individual are engaging in the activity because they enjoy it and find it interesting, so are doing it wholly volitionally (Gagne, M and Deci, L, E, 2005).
According to a psychologist named Mihalyi Czikszentminhalyi the highest level of intrinsic motivation is flow state. Flow is deemed to be complete immersion in an activity, to the point where nothing else matters. During this flow phase, self-consciousness is lost and athletes become one with the activity. For example a world champion canoeist once described how the paddle feels like an extension of her arms whilst she is in flow.
Extrinsic motivation is the total opposite and describes how external factors influence an individual’s participation in sport, extrinsic motivation is where an individual may be influenced to do an activity because of an external outcome for example a reward. (Ball W, J. Bice, R, M. Parry T, 2014).
Extrinsic motivation is an example of controlled motivation as the individuals may feel they are being controlled and having to engage in sport because they have to and not for their enjoyment or are motivated by extrinsic rewards (Gagne, M and Deci, L, E, 2005).
Discussion
A study carried out to examine the relationship between goal orientation and levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, indicated that athletes with task related or personal mastery goals were more likely to show a higher determination than athletes with ego-orientated or social-type goals. The study provided evidence for the proposition that focusing on personal mastery and self-referenced goals within an athlete promotes intrinsic motivation to a greater degree than focusing on winning and demonstration superiority over others. This suggest that it is important for people who work with children for example teachers to focus on personal mastery and intrinsic motivation to bring out the most positive motivation outcomes (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
During competition intrinsically motivated athletes, developed task-oriented coping strategies a recent study found. On the other hand it found that an extrinsically motivated athletes tended to avoid coping with these strategies and were less likely to be successful in their competition (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
In another study researchers asked athletes a question of ‘why does the fire of elite athletes burn so brightly?’ they were looking to find the differences between high end achievers and not so high achievers in sport. There answers from 10 track athletes found that the athletes based their lives around track and field and everything they did was influenced by their love of the sport, they set personal goals that were based on self-determined and extrinsic motives and they had a high self-based belief in their ability to succeed (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
Motivational techniques based on the self-determination theory have been developed for coaches to use on athletes. These are:
Goal setting
Athletes are encouraged to set a few ambitious long term-goals, these can be achievable for example to reach a number of medals in 3 to 4 years. To help maintain and achieve these goals athletes are then encourage to set medium term goals. The most important goals in terms of keeping the athlete focused, determined and interested are short term goals, these can be used as checkpoints which are important for superior performances. Therefore these short term goals should be predominantly process-orientated (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
These goals are to be checked and monitored on a regular basis, the goal setting process works best when the coaches offer flexibility and the athlete or team take ownership of the goals.
Extrinsic rewards
According to Deci and Ryan, and the self-determination theory one of the most important aspects in using extrinsic rewards effectively is that they reinforce an athlete’s sense of competence and self-worth. Therefore a reward should be come in nature rather than controlling, if the reward was to come in a controlling form it was undermine intrinsic motivation, for a reward to be informational it will come in a form of ‘man of the match’ or ‘player of the day’. The reward should be presented in front of all the other participants with emphasis placed on the prestige, as it will act as a motivational tool, to the others and encourage them to perform better to be able to win the reward for themselves (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
Motivational music
Another proven way to motivate players/athletes before a game/competition is through the form of music they may perceive to be inspirational, whether this is slow or fast tempo music, it’s about finding the one that motives the player/athlete best, no player/athlete will be the same (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
Positive self-talk
Positive self- talk is the most used technique for a player/athlete to motivate themselves prior to a game/competition or even in training. It help reinforce their self-esteem and the important aspects of their performance by using their inner voice. By using repetition, self-talk can have a positive effect on a players/athletes motivation (Ryan, M. Deci, E. 2000).
‘I figured that, if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.’ – Mohammed Ali
In the last couple of years the sport motivation scale has been criticised. Researchers were suggesting that the scale should be revisited and to include more measures, as currently the scale didn’t represent all the constructs in the self-determination theory framework. The new additions Mallet et al. we’re wanting to add were taken from other Self-Determination Theory based motivation scales for example motivation towards the environment scale and simply modified to be applicable to sport, however these proposed items did fit well into the theory but some overlapped with the items measuring identified and intrinsic regulation. Lonsdale, Hodge and rose developed the behavioural regulation in sport questionnaire in 2008, this was seen as an alternative measure of sport motivation as hypothesised by Self-Determination Theory, and unlike Mallet et al. these authors used a whole new set of items. (Pelletier, L. Rocchi, M. Vallerand, R. Deci, E. Ryan, R. 2013).
It was decided by Deci and Ryan, that any of the specific item changes that were recommended by Mallet et al. and by Lonsdale et al. would not be implemented into the sport motivation scale, however it was recognized that some of their concerns were legitimate and should be addressed in the near future. Between 2008 and 2009, several discussions took place between, Deci, Ryan and Lonsdale which led to a review of the sport motivation scale, they came to a conclusion that many of the items were potentially wrongly classified, some conflicted each other and some were not clear enough. In 2010, 15 years after the sport motivation scale has been produced the authors reviewed the structure of the scale and the face validity of all the times. It was agreed that some items didn’t fit into the theoretical constructs as defined by the self-determination theory as they should do. These were removed and a series of replacements were produced. Since the time of the initial publishment, research into self-determination theory had evolved and it was agreed that an integration subscale should be included in the new version. After this was finalised, the authors concluded that the 12 items measuring the different types of intrinsic motivation made the scale less practical to users and that not all investigators maybe not have an interest in the 3 types of intrinsic motivation, therefore they then went on to review the intrinsic motivation subscales and suggested that just one measure of intrinsic motivation would be more appropriate but the 12 items measuring the types of intrinsic motivation of the original sport motivation scale could be retained and then used by the researchers interest by the role of the different forms of intrinsic motivation could play in regular sporting behaviour. Overall the authors concluded that even though the years of research they had put in for the original scale had made significant contributions. It would be useful to increase the scales performance by improving its structure and modifying some items (Pelletier, L. Rocchi, M. Vallerand, R. Deci, E. Ryan, R. 2013).
References
Ball W, J. Bice, R, M. and Parry T. (2014). Adults’ Motivation for Physical Activity: Differentiating Motives for Exercise, Sport, and Recreation. Recreational Sports Journal. 38 (1), 130-142.
Gagne, M and Deci, L, E. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behaviour. 26 (1), 331-362.
Hodge, K. (2010). Motivation for peak performance. In: Hodge, K Sport Motivation. New Zealand: Penguin Group. 40-41.
Ryan, M. Deci, E. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 25 (1), 54-67.
Pelletier, L. Rocchi, M. Vallerand, R. Deci, E. Ryan, R. (2013). Validation of the revised sport motivation scale. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 1 (1), 329-341.