Motivational Theories in Sports Psychology - Literature review Example

Motivational Theories in Sports Psychology 1.0 Introduction  1.1Overview of the psychological factors effecting performance.  Sport psychology is the scientific study of the actors in sports and their behaviour. It is multidisciplinary drawing from Kinesiology and psychology. Its prime aim is to study the factors influencing performance in sports, particularly how the psychological factors affect an athlete’s performance and how physical activity affects the psychological development and well-being of an athlete. In summary sports psychology tends to answer the questions on the influence of anxiety, self-confidence, coaches influence, self-esteem, personality development on the performance of an athlete (Deci & Ryan, 1985, pp.56-63). There are many factors that might affect the athlete’s performance e.g. Anxiety, peer group, parents, motivation, personality, self-confidence, opposition, personal ability, coach’s influence etc. The most discussed psychological factors include: motivation, stress, anxiety and self-confidence. This paper will discuss the effect of motivation in sports performance. We will explore the theories on motivation and its impact in sports psychology (White, 1959, pp.297–333). This paper tries to establish the motivational factors that influence people to do whatever they do especially in the sporting field by looking at the motivational theories in terms of sporting. The reasons behind sporting people doing what they do in sports are very crucial to the understanding of the best motivational factors for people in sports.  1.2 Motivation in sports psychology  Motivation is defined as the impetus or inspiration to do something. Somebody who is motivated will show a greater impetus, interest and inspiration not only to do something but also to do it well. A person with no impetus and interest in do something is regarded to as having no motivation. Thus in motivation we have two issues to discuss i.e. as whether some has motivation or not or the level of motivation that one has. Other motivational theorists have classified motivation according to orientation (Lepper, et al., 1973, pp.129–137). Orientation of motivation is mainly concerned with the source of motivation, is it coming from the satisfaction and enjoyment of an activity or does it come from the products accruing or surrounding the performance of a particular task. In the first case motivation is intrinsic while in the second case, extrinsic. Other psychological approaches that have reinforced intrinsic motivation include self-determination theory (SDT) and flow theory. SDT is concerned with the degree of self-determination of an individual based on a number of regulations or motives. Self-determination has to do with a person’s behaviour and his initiative to do something. SDT reflects a self-determination continuum from the least self-determined (amotivated) all the way to the most self-determined (intrinsically motivated). According to Csikszentmihalyi (1990, pp.45-56), the flow state is the highest level of intrinsic motivation. Athletes in the flow state are usually completely immersed to what they are doing. Complete immersion of an athlete makes him one with the activity, where nothing else matters. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1990, pp.45-56), such a person is in a state of perfect match between the perceived demands of an activity and his perceived ability or skills. In various sports field there are athletes who have been seen to achieve the flow state, a good example is the Argentinean footballer Lionel Messi dribbling abilities. In his case the ball is like an extension of his feet when he dribbles the ball, he somehow feels oblivious of the tackles flying past him especially when he is goal bound (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, pp.45-56). 2.0 Literature review of motivation theory This section reviews literature on motivation theory in relation to sports performance. Specifically we will review the relevant psychological theories and sub theories on behaviour in relation to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation classification. 2.1 Intrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation has been defined as doing an activity for its intrinsic satisfaction. In this case satisfaction and actualization is actualized not through the end result or the outcome of pursuing that specific activity but through doing it for the sake of it. In most case intrinsic value is attained when you find enjoyment in doing an activity regardless of the challenges and difficulty of the tasks (White, 1959, pp.297–333). Intrinsically motivated people act for the fun of it as opposed to the glory or gain they will gain from doing a particular task. Such people will do something owing to the challenge or the enjoyment that comes with that activity. This phenomenon was initially acknowledged by experiments conducted to animals to study their behaviour, the studies revealed that there are activities that the animals engage in not because they are going to get reward or reinforcement but because of the goodness or the unconscious importance in their adaptive life (Deci & Ryan, 1985, pp.56-63). Such activities included playfulness and curiosity driven activities. For instance young chimps and animals in general are very playful, they will run, do mock fights etc. for the fun of it, however unconsciously, such activities will help then in running away from predators and in securing their territories, without doing that they their survival is at risk. In this case the act of playfulness is not motivated by reward but it is a good in itself. White (1959, pp.297–333) acknowledges that many organisms engage in spontaneous activities such as playfulness even if they are not being rewarded by their master (White, 1959, pp.297–333). The playfulness in most cases was being done owing to the positives experiences that accrue as in the long run these activities will extend their adaptive capabilities. It is not different with human beings and especially athletes. Intrinsic motivation is important and pervasive. In a healthy state, most humans are active, playful, and curious and showing impetus to learn new things, this is necessary for human development, surely one does not require reward or incentive to do these things (Lepper, et al., 1973, pp.129–137). It is natural because it is a critical element for physical, cognitive and social development. It is natural and normal for one to grow in knowledge, in body and in their social status because development is a critical aspect of every organism. The inclinations to grow physically, in knowledge and in the social cycles is not only limited to childhood but proceeds even later in life. Therefore intrinsic motivation is a significant feature in human life as it affects human performance and well-being (Ryan & LaGuardia, 1982, pp.450–461). It is true that people are intrinsically motivated in some activities and not others as some people will find fun in playing football that basketball. In this case the intrinsic motivation to play is present but it will vary in the sort of sport available to an individual. This is so because not everyone has the same inclinations. Therefore in this case we can define motivation in terms of interest between an athlete and a sport and satisfaction gained through the engagement of an intrinsically motivated task. In operant theory, Skinner (1953, pp.89-93) was of the view that all human behaviour are motivated by rewards. According to him the activities that we see to be intrinsically motivated are the activities within with the activity is a reward in itself. On the other hand, learning theory asserts that behaviours are instigated by physiological needs. In this case, intrinsically motivated persons gained satisfaction from those activities that provided for their innate psychological needs. Other scholars have defined intrinsic motivation operationally (Skinner, 1953, pp.89-93). Deci’s (1971, pp.105–115), experiments tended to focus on measuring “free choice” as a tenet of intrinsic motivation. It is this free choice that shows the extent of ones intrinsic motivation for a task, the longer time one takes in an activity that has no rewards the stronger his affinity for intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1971, pp.105–115). The vice versa is also true. Other psychologists have used self-reports as a methodology to measure intrinsic motivation. Other researchers have placed emphasis on the conditions that affect the intrinsic motivation i.e. those conditions that facilitate or undermine intrinsic motivation. For instance the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) tends to focus on the environmental and social tendencies that either reinforces or undermine human behaviour, more specifically, intrinsic motivation. Deci & Ryan (1985, pp.56-63) conceptualized the Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) whose intention was to identify social conditions that bring variability in human intrinsic motivation. According to them rewards, feedback facilitates feelings of competence, thus enhancing levels of intrinsic motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985, pp.56-63). In this case feelings of competence are no sufficient to bring about intrinsic motivation, but must be accompanied by individual autonomy. In summary athletes need not only to feel competent but also must be left to exercise their autonomy so that they can actualize their intrinsic motivation. Studies by Deci (1971, pp.105–115) showed that when an individual is provided with a positive performance feedback, his intrinsic motivation will be greatly enhanced. This outcome has a major effect on an organization that is looking forward to being the best in terms of performance. Workforce motivation thus plays a very critical role in ensuring that the level of employee utilization and their output is increased. The effect of negative performance feedback is a diminished intrinsic motivation (Deci & Cascio, 1972, pp. 112-118). Vallerand & Reid (1984, pp.94–102) recognized that perceived competence and a sense of autonomy conduced intrinsic motivation respectively. Other studies have shown that controllers of behaviour and self-direction such as rewards (Deci, 1971, pp.105–115; Lepper, et al., 1973, pp.129–137), pressure to conform (Deci & Cascio, 1972, pp. 112-118), ultimatums (Amabile, et al., 1976, pp.92–98), directives (Koestner, et al., 1984, pp.233–248), and competition pressure (Reeve & Deci, 1996, pp.24–33) diminish intrinsic motivation. 2.2 Extrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation on the other hand is when a person does an activity to attain instrumental value, an outcome which is outside the activity itself. For instance one can choose to play Football to gain the social recognition of being a tough person. His interest in the game is not to enhance it but rather for self-esteem feeding. In this case extrinsic motivation is the opposite of intrinsic motivation. SDT is of the view that the degree for extrinsic motivation varies in it autonomy (Amabile, et al., 1976, pp.92–98). For instance, an athlete who only comes to practice because he fears wage cuts is extrinsically motivated. Similarly, an athlete who turns up for practice because he personally believes it will add value to his football career also extrinsically motivated because he too is doing it for instrumental value rather than because he finds the game interesting. In the first case, the athletes is compelled by the system to do something (compliance purposes) while the second case involves personal endorsement and autonomy. However it is clear that both cases represents involve extrinsic motivation with a varying proportion of autonomy (Reeve & Deci, 1996, pp.24–33). Organismic Integration Theory (OIT), second sub theory within SDT, shows the various kinds of extrinsic motivations. These behaviours are presented in a continuum from a state of lacking motivation to a state of intrinsic motivation. Amotivation represents a state of lacking intention to act. The people in this state usually don’t value the activity in question. Another form of extrinsic motivation is external regulation which represents activities performed to please external demand. Such behaviour is usually regulated or controlled. After external regulation we have introjected regulation which represents a type of behaviour regulated internally but conducted to avoid guilt of to enhance ones ego (White, 1959, pp.297–333). Identification is also a type of extrinsic motivation where a person has personally identified with external regulation and with time he has justified and accepted it as being part of him. Finally, integrated regulation is the most autonomous of the above. In this case, it occurs when the identified regulations are fully assimilated and are in congruence with his values and needs (Amabile, DeJong, & Lepper, 1976, pp.92–98). An athlete’s performance program should have performance based rewards. Extrinsic rewards reinforce an athlete’s sense of competence and self-worth. We have seen that rewards can also undermine someone’s intrinsic motivation, thus its application should be used appropriately. Using names of athletes in medals, rewarding them in front of their completion are some of the ways to improve self-worth in an athlete. Other sports have used music to reinforce self-worth, for instance the singing of someone’s national anthem after gaining a gold medal in the Olympic and other tournaments improves the pleasure of experiencing success in an athlete. This will in turn motivate him to excel in coming tournaments. Positive talk when used effectively reinforces athlete’s inner power. Repetition of the same reinforces athlete’s self-esteem. Encouraging teams to have psyche songs, slogans, and team songs improves their performance in sports (Deci & Ryan, 1985, pp.56-63). Coaches and administrators should encourage goal setting as a way of enhancing their motivation levels. Encouraging athletes to set ambitions which are attainable in the long run will empower them and thus improve their motivation to excel. They should also be a follow up on the progress of attaining the goals they have set. The ambitions should be broken down in an achievable manner form short term goals to long term goals. It is true that in doing so they will find out that the short term goals are more practical that providing an impetus to achieve them. In short these short term goals should be sequential in achieving the long term goals this is what is also referred to as process goals. At the same time there should be a mechanism of monitoring and evaluating the achievement of these goals, monitoring allows reviewing and improving on the targets (Vallerand & Reid, 1984, pp.94–102). 3.0 Summary  In summary, motivation is a very important aspect in sports psychology as it determined the level of performance of the athletes. In practice, the desired form of motivation for every human beings, athletes include, is intrinsic motivation. Every effort should be put by the sports administrators to ensure that athletes achieve this form of motivation. At the same time they should also strive to enhance the athlete’s environment so that they can move those who are extrinsically motivated from a state of amotivation to integrated regulation. In sports administration self-motivation of athletes can be improved by providing necessary tools and equipment, performance based rewards, praising athletes, practicing, involving athletes and setting realistic goals for the team and individuals (Koestner, et al., 1984, pp.233–248). Borrowing from flow theory there are certain elements that are required to achieve flow for athletes. All these elements are intrinsically cantered as they touch on the inner self of the person. For the athletes to feel a sense of total involvement in what they are doing there should be mechanisms that will enable of facilitate a balance of their skills and the challenges presented in their environment. The concentration levels in the trainings ought to maximize to allow complete absorption. This is important as it will cultivate the same absorption during the actual games. Total concentration and integration of action and awareness also needs to be articulated in the training and the actual game situations. There are other tenets important for flow in athletes, they include encouraging loss self-consciousness awhile at the same time exercising a sense of control, encouraging motivation to perform, psyching the player before performing, using methodologies that can enhance players focus. The training and planning schemes should incorporate and encourage competition, physical preparation, mental reinforcement, encouraging positive attitudes even during hard or low times, encouraging positive team interaction to allow gelling of ideas and strategies, encouraging celebrations to enhance good feelings about performance. There are also certain factors which may impede flow from athletes, these include feeling not prepared, injury, fatigue, illness, stress from the external environment, lack of confidence, self-doubt, too much thought, worrying too much, lack of goals, external distractions etc. All these impede athletes to concentrate in the tasks they are doing (Deci & Ryan, 1985, pp.56-63). The aim of all the above strategies is to tap each and every energy source in athlete. By doing so the athlete will aim for superiority in the activities they are participating. Enhancing motivation is about bringing change of attitude, behaviour and performance in an athlete. A leader in sports has the big task of motivating his team mates. Such expectations are required in team captains. Each captain has to be endowed with the gift of motivation; he also has to be backed with structures that also facilitate people’s sense of competence. A good work ethic will push the motivation level to greater lengths of achieving the team goals. List of References  Amabile, T. M., DeJong, W., & Lepper, M. R. (1976). Effects of externally imposed deadlines on subsequent intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 92–98 Csikszentmihalyi M (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York: Harper and Row, 45-56 Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18, 105–115 Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour. New York: Plenum, 56-63 Deci, E. L., & Cascio, W. F. (1972, April). Changes in intrinsic motivation as a function of negative feedback and threats. Presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, 112-118 Koestner, R., Ryan, R. M., Bernieri, F., & Holt, K. (1984). Setting limits on children’s behaviour: The differential effects of controlling versus informational styles on intrinsic motivation and creativity. Journal of Personality, 52, 233–248. Lepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children’s intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the ‘‘over justification’’ hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129–137 Reeve, J., & Deci, E. L. (1996). Elements of the competitive situation that affect intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 24–33 Ryan, R. M. & LaGuardia (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 450–461 Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behaviour. New York: Macmillan, 89-93 Vallerand, R. J., & Reid, G. (1984). On the causal effects of perceived competence on intrinsic motivation: A test of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Sport Psychology, 6, 94–102 White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered. Psychological Review, 66, 297–333. Read More