Clifford J. Mallett, Stephanie J. Hanrahan
The Big Idea
“An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.”
So said Emil Zatopek, the remarkable Czechoslovakian distance runner, when asked what his motivation to run was. This one word, motivation, is a giant of a word. In the sporting world this one word has birthed thousands and thousands of inspirational quotes, sayings, locker room chalk-talks, T-shirt slogans, marketing ploys, even prayers. It is the one word that is the key to understanding the hearts and heads of the entire sporting world.
Takeaways
- This paper aims to dissect the complicated meanings of motivational theories as a way to capture the nature of motivation itself.
- Three social-cognitive theories of motivation are tested by way of conducting semi-structured interviews with ten elite track and field athletes (five female and five male).
- It turns out that it is self-determination theory that characterizes the athletes in this study, but that the three theories together explain best these athlete motivations.
- And it is suggested that goal accomplishment enhances perceptions of competence and consequently promotes self-determined forms of motivation.
- These elite athletes were characterised by multiple motivations, and in particular, multiple personal goals.
- Accomplishing personal goals was a powerful motivating force.
- A huge takeaway from this study is that coaches should be flexible in understanding motivation in elite athletes.
- For that matter, the athletes themselves may actually have no idea what motivates them to play, so we need to be especially careful in assuming that they do.
- In some cases, athletes may find financial rewards reinforcing their competence, not compromising it.
- Also, since elite athletes say they are driven by personal goals, it makes sense for coaches to welcome and encourage athletes to set up challenging personal goals.
- If elite athletes are targeting their improvement and striving to beat their opponents, coaches can facilitate their perceptions of competence by helping them to achieve their goals.
The Research
What is it, these researchers ask, that provides the combustion for the occasional elite athletes who glow with “fire” burning so brightly? The researchers want to help coaches and athletes themselves understand the motivational processes of driven athletes such as Emil Zatopek.
For background, the researchers introduce their reader to three heavily studied social-cognitive theories of motivation: self-determination theory (SDT), the hierarchical model of motivation (HMM), and achievement goal theory(AGT).
- SDT: A framework used to understand the relative climate of self-determined behavior that can facilitate or undermine intrinsic or extrinsic motivations. The self-determined also need to demonstrate competence, to achieve. There can be self-determined extrinsic motivations as well (choosing to practice to improve). There is also a prediction in SDT that there is a perception of needing connection to significant others, to be accepted, to belong.
- HMM: To complicate matters, this view proposes that motivation is even more multidimensional. That is, that there are really three forms of intrinsic motivation: towards accomplishment, towards experiencing stimulation, and to experience knowing or learning. There are also multiple dimensions of extrinsic motivation. And the lowest level of motivation is a-motivation (without motivation).
- AGT: That goals are central determinants of achievement behavior. Perceptions of achievement and failure are determined by whether such goals are achieved. Task goals involve mastering new skills or improving performance. Ego-oriented performers pursue a goal to try to prove their ability.
All three of these theories have commonalities. First, the experiences are influenced by various dispositional (nature) and situational (nurture) factors. Second, all three theories are multidimensional. And third, variations in motivations influence cognitions, affect, and behaviours.
For elite athletes, winning is the preferred outcome of the competitions. When there is excessive preoccupation with the outcome such as winning, previous research predicts that such extrinsic motivations (to win) can undermine intrinsic motivations (for the sake of the experience, mastery). But recent research does not fully support this outcome. There are a number of studies in which this prediction has not been supported.
The researchers in this study noted that there are not many studies on motivation with elite athletes; they also report that there are few studies where all three motivation theories were employed simultaneously. Now here is what they did.
The method was to invite five female and five male track and field athletes who had finished in the top ten in a major championship (such as Olympic Games, World Championships). The mean age of the athletes was 27 and they had been competing at the international level for an average of seven years. All had competed for Australia. The events included running, long jumping, and throwing. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews (45-60 minutes) were conducted. The basic tenets of all three theories of motivation were included. When concluded, the interviews, which had been taped, were transcribed and subjected to hierarchical content analysis.
What they learned was this: The athletes were: 1) highly driven by personal goals accomplishment; 2) they had strong self-belief; and 3) their life revolved around track and field. If the reader has the time, reading through the narrative summary of the responses and analysis for each of the three findings would be of terrific help in understanding what makes these athletes tick.
Overall, the researchers concluded that the three motivation theories together provided a useful and maybe better framework for studying elite athletes. They say that the study supported the thought that if an athlete accomplished the goals then the perception of competencies were enhanced, which in turn positively influences self-determination. They argue that elite athletes who are focused on winning and financial gains do not necessarily undermine self-determined forms of motivation for ego-oriented athletes. In other words, Zatopek’s distinction between money (extrinsic) and hope (intrinsic) may not hold; financial gain may not compromise personal goals (unless maybe the personal goal is only the money). They believe that self-determined forms of motivation and intrinsic motivation can be elevated if achievement of personal goals reinforces perception of competence and self-determination.
