Motivation and Emotion in Sport - Case Study Example

Introduction The motivation behind the performance of athletes in competitive sports has always been a matter of intrigue and critical importance for psychologists who study sports behavior (Ryan and Deci 1). Psychologists have associated motivation behind behavior with external reward that is associated to the behavior. It has been observed that people are motivated to act or to behave in a certain way when they expect a certain external reward for that behavior (Ryan and Deci 1). The external reward functions as a motivation for an athlete to perform. However, the question is, what is ‘motivation’ actually? Is it really the external reward that makes people to participate in competitive sport or is there some other explanation to it? Psychology has different take on motivation. Definition of Motivation According to Sage (1977), motivation is defined as “direction and intensity of one’s effort” (Weinberg & Gould 52). For example, a person can be said to be motivated when he seeks out or approaches those resources which help him to improve his skills to perform a particular activity (Weinberg & Gould 52). His effort to seek different methods of improvement shows that he is ‘directing’ his effort with certain aim in mind. The intensity of effort refers to the amount of hard work and sincerity a person puts in his effort to achieve a particular goal or to perform a particular action (Weinberg & Gould 52). The intensity with which a person makes efforts to achieve a certain goal shows his level of motivation to achieve a particular skill or reach a particular goal. Hence, the direction and the intensity of human being’s effort show how much he is motivated to do a particular action. Similarly, the performance of a player in competitive sports depends on his motivation level. According to researchers Ryan and Deci ( 2000), all the aspects of human activity and intents like energy, direction, intensity and persistence are driven by motivation (Walker et al. 5). Without motivation, it is highly impossible for a sportsperson to perform in a competitive sport. Participating in a competitive sport needs a player to have high level of physical energy, discipline, determination, consistency, stamina etc. Without motivation, no human being can put in such an intense effort in performance. All the “biological, cognitive and social” regulations that an athlete follows are driven by his motivation to succeed in competitive sport (Walker et al. 5). Hence, motivation is considered the most important aspect of performance in competitive sports. In most of the activities, the reward for the performance is very obvious. However, when it comes to sports, the rewards or the external reaction is not always clear (Ryan and Deci 1). According to Pedersen (2002), the lack of apparent external reward reveals that the motivation behind the sportsman’s performance is not the external reward or external reaction (Ryan and Deci 1). It has something to do with their internal psychological and emotional pattern. The fact that people participate in competitive sports without knowing the external reward for it, makes it an interesting study for sports psychologists. What drives a sportsperson to work for so many hours everyday with so much of energy, dedication, stamina and discipline, without having any surety of the external reward for it? The question is, what is the motivation behind his hard work and performance? Different researchers have proposed different theories of motivation in competitive sports. However, the theory that answers this question is called the self-determination theory of sports (Ryan and Deci 1). Theories of motivation Self-determination theory of motivation Self-determination theory is one of the most important and major theory of human motivation (Ryan and Deci 1). This theory has established a special position in the field of competitive sports as this is the only theory which has acknowledged the fact that human behavior and action is not always motivated by the external reward (Ryan and Deci 1). Sometimes, human behavior is motivated by intrinsic motivational factors which play an important role in enhancing or debilitating their performance and behavior (Ryan and Deci 1). According to the self-determination theory, human being’s actions are spontaneous as they are caused by the internal factors (Ryan and Deci 2). The external factors work as opportunities to bring the internal nature of human beings into action (Ryan and Deci 2). Human beings try to find some reason or other to bring out the latent motivation inside them into action and hence, sport is nothing but a manifestation of the motivation which is latent in the human spirit (Ryan and Deci 2). The two main concepts that are central to self-determination theory are ‘intrinsic motivation’ and ‘effectance motivation’. The term ‘intrinsic motivation’ was termed by Harlow (1950) (Ryan and Deci 2). Self-determination theory states that the inherent and natural inclination of human beings to learn new skills, participate in challenging situations and showing interest in the new activities even in the absence of external rewards, show that their motivation to act and behave is intrinsic in nature (Ryan and Deci 2). White (1959) later on proposed that human beings have innate inclination to learn different skills which make them capable and sufficient to perform certain activities with expertise (Ryan and Deci 2). He named this concept as an ‘effectance motivation’ (Ryan and Deci 2). White suggested that the psychological satisfaction that a human being gets by mastering a particular skill or performing a particular action becomes a reward in itself (Ryan and Deci 3). It can be said that when a player participates in a sport just to enjoy the game and without having any desire for external reward or appreciation, then his actions are driven by intrinsic motivation (Walker et al. 9). In such cases, the players are not influenced by fear or burden from others and hence, experience a pure bliss in their performance (Walker et al. 9). This leads to an experience of a ‘zone’ or ‘flow’ in sports. Hence, White (1959) concluded that human behavior is not driven by external direction or rewards as suggested by Skinner, but is a result of intrinsic nature (Ryan and Deci 3). According to White, the “reward for an activity are inherent in the activity” (Ryan and Deci 3). Also, under the theory of self-determination, researchers Ryan and Deci (2000) proposed that human beings have three innate needs and they are: “to be in relationship with others, to experience competence and to function with autonomy.” (Walker et al. 9). For example, when a person is loved, encouraged and accepted by people around him, he feels related to them (Ryan and Deci 3). Similarly, he develops a sense of relatedness and sense of belonging with other things like a particular place, town, team or followers when he gets acceptance and love from them. Also, for a person to perform his best, he needs to feel that he, and not others, is in control of himself (Ryan and Deci 3). If a person gets a feeling of being directed and controlled by others, then loses the sense of autonomy and this discourages his performance (Ryan and Deci 3). Human being’s intrinsic motivation is enhanced when his environment facilitates his need of competence, autonomy and relatedness (Ryan and Deci 3). Hence, when a person is provided with an environment which facilitates opportunity for the fulfillment of these three basic needs, then he functions at his best (Walker et al. 9). Therefore, it is suggested that for a person to perform to the best of his ability, he should be provided with a suitable environment. Self-determination theory is considered as one of the most complete theories of motivation as it has acknowledged the importance of intrinsic factors behind motivation and hence, has suggested that human being is not just a robot who can be trained into behaving as others want him to, but has his own independent spirit which functions at its best only when given a freedom, love and skill set. Need for achievement theory of motivation McClelland and Atkinson’s (1953) ‘need for achievement’ theory was one of the first theories of motivation which was proposed to understand the motivation behind the performance and behavior of sportspeople (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). According to the ‘need for achievement’ theory, the motivation factor in people is not similar (Shaffer 223). The intensity of the desire to achieve their goals differ from person to person (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). According to the theory, the need for achievement depends on how much a person values success and the likelihood of success (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). The need for achievement drive people to choose the game or sport they perform. People with high achievement needs choose to participate in activities which are intermediate on difficulty level (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). This increases the likelihood of their success. People with low achievement needs prefer to participate in activities which have either high level of difficulty or low level of difficulty (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). Even though the need for achievement theory suggested that people choose their tasks on the basis of their need for achievement, later researches revealed that everyone prefers the tasks which have intermediate difficulty level, no matter what the level of their need for achievement is (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). Hence, this theory lost its strength later on as many of the future findings did not support the aspects of the theory. Expectancy theory of motivation According to the expectation theory of motivation, what motivates an athlete to perform is his expectation of the outcome from that performance (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). The relation of the action with the outcome affects his motivation level. The athlete performs well if he believes that his action will result in good performance and his good performance will be rewarded appropriately (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). Hence, according to the expectation theory, the athlete is motivated to perform when, a) he values the outcome of the performance (valence), b) he is sure of certain reward in case of good performance (instrumentality) and c) he is sure that if he works hard in specific direction, he will be able to give good performance (expectancy) (Shaw, Gorely and Corban 94). Achievement goal theory Achievement goal theory emphasizes the importance of the ‘goal’ in human being’s life and his desire to achieve success. According to the achievement goal theory, if the goal of a person is understood, then it becomes easy to understand the motivation of that person and also the behavior pattern he adopts to achieve the goal (Roberts 92). People adopt different behavior patterns to achieve different goals. Their behavior and motivation is shaped and influenced by the goals they set to achieve. Hence, ‘goal’ of an individual is a central aspect of ‘achievement goal theory’. Human being is a rational being (Roberts 92). His behavior and his actions are not random in nature but are planned and executed with a certain objective in mind (Roberts 92). The goals that he set for himself become his objective. His beliefs, his motivation and his goals give meaning to his behavior pattern (Roberts 92). To understand the motivation in human being, one should try to understand the goals that he has set for himself (Roberts 92). The achievement goal theory states that human being’s actions are intentional and hence, his achievement behavior is shaped by his intention to reach his achievement goals (Roberts 92). His goals guide the decision making and behavior pattern adopted in achievement context (Roberts 92). Similarly, the behavior and performance of an athlete depends on what he aims to achieve. If the goals of an athlete are known, then one can understand what motivates him to perform well. Achievement goal theory of motivation puts the emphasis completely on the goal of an athlete. According to the theory, it is the goal of an athlete that motivates him to perform in a certain way. Hence, if an athlete is to be motivated to perform, it is beneficial to know what goal he has set for himself. Reversal theory of motivation Reversal theory of motivation is one of the most comprehensive theories of motivation which explains the ‘widely diverse and unique character’ of motivation of individuals participating in the competitive sports (Kerr 6). Apter (1982) developed the reversal theory of personality and motivation which adopted innovative and unique features in explaining the nature of motivation in sports (Kerr 9). The unique features of the theory are as follows: 1. It is general theory which is applicable to any area of psychological studies 2. It is phenomenological theory which explains the experience of motivation through subjective aspects like cognition and affect, rather than through behavior (Potocky and Murgatroyd 14). 3. It is structural theory as it assumes that some structure and pattern influences the way people perceive their world (Kerr 9). 4. The theory assumes that the human beings have a natural tendency of displaying inconsistent behavior patter (Kerr 9). Reversal theory states that the performance of a person depends not on his motivation but on the way he ‘interprets his motives at any given time’ (Kerr 9). The concept that explains the influence of interpretation of experience of motive is called as metamotivational states (Kerr 9). Metamotivational states are the frames of mind which help people to interpret and experience their motives (Kerr 9). Hence, even though it does not directly affect the motives or behavior, it does affect the way a person ‘interprets’ the motives (Kerr 9). These interpretations result in the inconsistency of behavior. According to the reversal theory, people not only “behave in different ways at different times in similar circumstances, but they also behave in similar ways in diverse circumstances” (Potocky and Murgatroyd 14). Also, different underlying motivation may lead them to “behave in similar ways at different times” (Potocky and Murgatroyd 14). This shows that how an athlete will perform on a given day depends on how he experiences his motive on a given day. Conclusion Different theories of motivation have been proposed to explain the performance of a sportsperson in competitive sports. However, the one theory that comes closest to explaining the motivation in sports is the self-determination theory of motivation. By understanding the importance of intrinsic motivation in regards to performance in competitive sports, it has celebrated the spirit of freedom and emotions in a human being. Hence, it has achieved a special position in the field of competitive sport. Work Cited Kerr, John, H. Motivation and Emotion in Sport: Reversal Theory. East Sussex: Psychology Press Ltd, 1997. Print. Potocky, M., and Murgatroyd, S. Advances in Reversal Theory. Ansterdam: Swets and Zeitlinger, 1993. Print. Ryan, Richard, and Edward Deci. Intrinsic Motivation and Self Determination in Exercise and Sport. Ed. Martin Hagger and Chatzisarantis. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. Print. Roberts, Glyn, C. Current Research Topics in Exercise and Sport Psychology in Europe. Ed. Filip Boen, Bert De Cuyper and Joke Opdenacker. Leuven: LannooCampus Publishers, 2006. Print. Shaffer, David, R. Social and Personality Development. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Shaw, Dave, Gorely,Trish, and Corban, Rod. Instant Notes in Sport and Exercise Psychology. New York: Garland Science/BIOS Scientific Publishers, 2005. Print. Weinberg, Robert, S. and Daniel Gould. Foundation of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. Print. Walker, Brent, et al. Applying Sport Psychology: Four Perspectives. Ed. Jim Taylor and Gregory Scott Wilson. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2005. Print. Read More