A2 Physical EducationMotivation and Achievement Motivation

Remind ourselves of the definitions:

Drive and desire needed for continued effort.

External stimuli and internal mechanisms that arouse and direct behaviour

Two parts:

Inner drive – comes from our own satisfaction and need to do task

External rewards – what we want to win

Types of Motivation

Intrinsic – comes from within – pride satisfaction – can be promoted by achieving personal goals.

Extrinsic – outside source – tangible and intangible

Definitions of Motivation

Early research suggested that intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are addictive so more the merrier.

However some research suggested that extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation.

We need to look at one particular theory on this………………….

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

CET suggests that anything that effects a persons perception of competence and self-determination will ultimately effect their intrinsic motivation.

(Deci 1975) Cognitive evaluation theory

A theory developed by Deci according to which extrinsic rewards are perceived to

be either informational or controlling

CDT suggests that anything that effects a persons perception of and

will ultimately effect their intrinsic motivation.

Keywords explained

To function effectively or be

effective or have a level of skill

Being in control -autonomy

Perceived locus of causality (external)

Cause of behaviour lies

outside the person

Intrinsic motivation decreases

PositiveInformation

of competence

Increased perceived

competence

Intrinsic motivation increases

Negative information of competence

Decreased perceived

competence

Intrinsic motivation decreases

Perceived locus Of causality

(internal)

Cause of behaviourlies inside

the person

Intrinsicmotivationincreases

Informational aspect of a reward

Controlling aspect of a reward

Perceived locus of causality (external)

Cause of behaviour lies

outside the person

Intrinsic motivation decreases

Perceived locus Of causality

(internal)

Cause of behaviourlies inside

the person

Intrinsicmotivationincreases

Controlling aspect of a reward

Cognitive evaluation theory

L of C – what causes a person’s

behaviour

If reward outside and controlling behaviour then this reduces intrinsic motivation. I.e. controlled by pressure to win or only playing for the money, to conform to coaches demands and expectations.

Athlete becomes in the position of a pawn who is acted upon.

People who are intrinsically motivated feel they do something for themselves - they are self-determined. -increases intrinsic motivation.

Control aspects of reward

A 10 year old boy agrees to run 5 mile race with his Dad.

As a further incentive to training – Dad promises him a sum of money

Boy refuses a second go at the race with his father the following year – because he says “what’s in it for me?”

Why did the boy lose interest? Because he perceived that the primary reason for running was the money – money controls his behaviour.

Not doing it for intrinsic fun factors

Example……..

6 controls used by coaches that undermine intrinsic motivation:

1. Tangible rewards

2. Controlling feedback e.g. A coach who only gives negative feedback and not positive

3. Excessive personal control e.g. A coach who interacts with athletes in an authoritative manner, commanding them to do things

4. Intimidation behaviours e.g. Coaches who uses the threat of punishments to push athletes to work harder

5. Promoting ego-involvement e.g. Coach evaluation an athlete's performance in front of their peers

6. Conditional regard e.g. A coach who says things to make a athletes feel guilt - you let me down

Research suggests……..

PositiveInformation

of competence

Increased perceived

competence

Intrinsic motivation increases

Negative information of competence

Decreased perceived

competence

Intrinsic motivation decreases

Informational aspect of a reward

If an external reward provides feedback that increases a person’s sense of competence and self-determination – this leads to an increase in intrinsic motivation

Informational Aspects

A 13 year old girl competed in a singles tennis competition and won an award for accomplishment

The certificate stated – “in recognition of your placing in the top ten of the City Tournament”

This is positive feedback about her performance giving the girl a feeling of competence and self-determination

Increased intrinsic motivation – goes on

to play several more tournaments.

Example……

That every external reward has two aspects –

o Controlling aspect and informational aspect

A change in locus of control from internal to external is associated with a loss of self-determination and control

Not the actual strength of the reward but the perceived strength of the controlling or informational aspect that makes the difference

The theory indicates the potential danger of rewards but also highlights the information value they give – rewards that give positive feedback on ability often lead to greater intrinsic motivation

C.E. Theory – Key points

Links to reinforcement

If an athlete perceives the locus of causality as internal then this promotes intrinsic motivation

e.g. Sport and exercise programmes that provide individuals with opportunities for input about choice of activities, personal goals, team objectives - results in higher intrinsic motivation.

Informational aspects of rewards - information that effects how competent we feel. E.g. Receiving most valuable player award reinforces someone's opinion on their competency.

In summary for a reward to be successful they need to be about specific levels of performance or behaviour.

If a coach is always negative in their approach an athlete can internalise this negativity as negatives about their value and worth and this can lower intrinsic motivation.

Third major element of CET is whether an athlete perceives a reward as controlling or informational e.g. Giving trophies to recognise a reams or individuals achieves may seem good but depends in whether an athlete perceives this as information on their competency or controlling their behaviour.

In general perceived choice ads positive feedback bring out informational aspects whereas rewards deadlines and surveillance make the controlling aspect more noticeable.

Example of wrestling student performer who was given lots of control and positive feedback but still lacked intrinsic motivation because father had forces him to join team.

“an individual’s motivation to strive for success, which enables the individual to persist even when he or she meets obstacles and perhaps failure” (Woods, 1998, P2)

It is viewed as an aspect of personality (and therefore stable) and also situation specific (Atkinson, 1964)

Motive to achieve success defined as: “the capacity to experience pride in accomplishments”

Motive to avoid failure defined as:”the capacity to experience shame in failure” (Gill, 2000, p104)

Achievement Motivation

All have these two motives to some extent.

Difference between the two motives provides personality factor called achievement motivation

Measure the difference (attitude scales/questionnaires!)

But must also consider the situation factors

Achievement Motivation

Personality Factors

Motive to achieve success

Motive to avoid failure

Situational Factors

Probability of success

Incentive value of success

Resultant Tendency

Approach success

Avoid failure

Emotional Reactions

Focus on pride of success

Focus on shame of

failure

Achievement Behaviour

Seek out achievement

situations

Look for challenges

Enhanced performance

Avoid achievement

situations

Avoid risk (Challenges)

Perform poorly

=

=

High achiever Low achiever

Motivational orientation

High motivation to achievesuccessLow motivation to avoid failureFocuses on the pride of success

Low motivation to achieve successHigh motivation to avoid failureFocuses on shame and worry that may result from failure

Attributions Ascribes success to stable and internal factorsAscribes failure to unstable and external factors

Ascribes success to unstable and external factorsAscribes failure to stable and internal factors within one’s control

Goals adopted

Usually adopts task goals Usually adopts outcome goals

Perceived competence and control

Has high perceived competence and believes that achievement is within own control

Has low perceived competence and believes that achievement is outside own control

Task Choice Seeks out challenges and able competitors and tasks

Avoids challenges; seeks out very difficult or very easy tasks and competitors

Performanceconditions

Perform well in evaluative conditions

Performs badly in evaluative conditions

Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Weinberg, Daniel Gould

n.Ach n.Af

Seeks challengesStandards are importantPersists for longerValues feedbackEnjoys evaluation situation (likes to be tested)Not afraid of failureTakes responsibility for own actionsOptimisticConfidentTask goal – orientated

Attributes performance to internal factors e.g. Success = effort failure = lack of effort

Avoids challenge – takes easy optionDislikes 50 – 50 situationGives up easilyDoes not like feedbackDislikes evaluation situationsPerforms worse in evaluation situationsAvoids personal responsibilityBlames failure on external factors e.g. “The rain is effecting my vision” or “I don't play well on this surface”Pessimistic Low confidenceTakes a long time over a taskOutcome goal orientated

Personality component:Comparison of a n.Ach & n.Af

Development of AM (Veroff, 1969)

Autonomous

Competence Stage

Social Comparison Stage

Integrated Stage

Begins around Age 5-6.

A child focuses directly on comparing directly his performance with others

Who is faster, bigger, smarter and stronger?

Veroff, 1969

Before age of 4

Child focuses on mastering their environment and on self-testing

Veroff 1969

Integrates previous 2 stages

Person who fully masters this stage knows when it is appropriate to compete and compare and when to adopt self-referenced standards

No typical age for entering this stage

Veroff 1969

If we can recognise the stage a child is in – the better we understand the child

We must aim for all to develop to an integrated stage

Must teach young people when to compete and when not to.

Coaches and parents must make sure young people are not confronted with repeated failure

Importance of winning is de-emphasized

Success is viewed in terms of effort and improvement

Implications for coaching young children

encourage independence and reinforce a child’s efforts at becoming independent

Be warm and encouraging to their children Comfort and support their children when setbacks, fear and

discouragement occur Expect their children to be able, competent and responsible Demonstrate confidence in their children’s ability by resisting the urge

to take charge Allow and expect many trials for a child to master a task – appreciate

the small steps Applaud success Pay attention to their child’s efforts. Listen to problems. Pay attention

Parental role (Summary of research)

Parents should:

Allow early success

Raise self-efficacy (sport specific self-confidence)

Attribute success internally and failure externally

Use rewards and reinforcement

Promote intrinsic motivation with personal goals

Show successful, attainable role models

Redefine failure

Control arousal with relaxation techniques

Developing AM

Measuring AM – unreliable measures (Attitude scales)

Calculating AM 0 not clear how the scores for each motive should be interpreted

Link between AM and performance – no clear relationship – research contradictory

AM a ‘global’ concept – used to cover achievement in general so more useful to breakdown concept of AM – e.g. AM not same in all activities for an individual

So sport psychologists started to look at competitiveness

Issues & criticisms………

Martens suggested that the motive to success combined with the motive to avoid failure leads to a measure of competitiveness.

That Nach and Naf motives in a sporting setting were:

Motive to avoid failure = Competitive trait anxiety

Motive to approach success = competitiveness

Competitiveness (Martens, 1976)

Competitiveness made of 3 parts:

Competitiveness (working towards success in sport specific situations)

Win orientation (working to win competitions between individuals/sporting events)

Goal orientation (Desire to reach personal goals)

Gill (1986) defines competitiveness as a sport-specific form of achievement motivation. It is linked with an athlete's win orientation (the desire to win interpersonal competitive sporting events) and goal orientation (the desire to reach personal goals in sport). (BEST DEFINITION TO LEARN)

Research done using a Sport Orientation Questionnaire (Gill and Deeter – 1988)

Males score higher on competitiveness and win orientation

Females score higher on goal orientation

Athletes scored higher than non=athletes on most dimensions of the SOQ

Athletes were more concerned than non-athletes about performance and less about outcome than non-athletes

Competitiveness (Martens, 1976)

Defined as the motive to avoid failure within a sporting context

Competitive Trait Anxiety

Clearly the more confident you are and specifically the more self-efficacy you have in a particular situation the more likely you are to show approach behaviour

Therefore display a Nach personality

Confidence and Self-efficacy is our next topic

Link to Self-confidence and Self-efficacy

Define achievement motivation and competitiveness and explain fully, using examples, different motives that athletes may hold

Exam Q – June 2011

Q.1 (a)Define achievement motivation and competitiveness and explain fully, using examples, the different motives that athletes may hold. [4]

Achievement motivation can be defined as an individual's drive to strive for success. It is viewed as an aspect of personality (and therefore, stable) and also situation-specific (Atkinson, 1964).

Athletes are fuelled by this achievement motive to seek out success and avoid failure and are prepared to defeat others in pursuit of reaching their individual goals.

Gill (1986) defines competitiveness as a sport-specific form of achievement motivation. It is linked with an athlete's win orientation (the desire to win interpersonal competitive sporting events) and goal orientation (the desire to reach personal goals in sport).

McClelland and Atkinson (1953) model of achievement motivation proposes that athletes hold two different motives: the motive to achieve success (NAch) and the motive to avoid failure (NaF).

Athletes with a high motive to achieve success will seek out challenges, show high levels of persistence, value feedback (both positive and negative) from others and enjoy performing in situations where they may be evaluated by others. They will not be afraid of failure. Attacking players tend to be NAch whilst defenders tend to be NaF although this is very generalised.

Athletes with a strong motive to avoid failure tend to worry about their performance, avoid risk and tend to avoid situations in which they may be judged. They prefer to play against opponents that they know they can beat easily (and thus guarantee success) or where defeat is inevitable (and so failure cannot be attributed to them and their ego can be protected).

Appropriate examples of each motive will need to be offered and explained.

Some candidates may discuss extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and ego and task orientations. Credit should be given for this providing the response is discussed in detail.

[1+1+2 for discussing motives]