Gareth E. Jowett

Relationships Between the Coach-Created Motivational Climate and Athlete Engagement in Youth Sport

Youth sport is a source of well-being for adolescents, yet experiences vary and attrition can be high. We sought to better understand the coach behaviors that foster positive experiences in youth sport by examining relationships between the motivational climate and athlete engagement (viz., confidence, dedication, enthusiasm, and vigor). We reasoned that a mastery climate (emphasis on effort and learning) would correspond with higher engagement, whereas a performance climate (emphasis on ability and outcome) was expected to correspond with lower engagement. Two-hundred sixty adolescent soccer players completed measures of engagement and perceived coach motivational climate. All dimensions of engagement were positively predicted by a mastery climate. Furthermore, cognitive aspects of engagement were positively predicted by a performance climate. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that a composite of engagement was positively associated with a mastery climate. Results suggest that a mastery climate offers a means of promoting higher levels of overall engagement.

An independent effects approach to perfectionism in sport, dance, and exercise

A large portion of research that has examined perfectionism in sport, dance, and exercise has done so by examining the effects of dimensions of perfectionism separately and, in many cases, their unique effects. In this chapter, we describe this approach and provide a summary of research that has adopted it in sport, dance and exercise. In reviewing research, particular attention is given to studies that have examined the relationship between perfectionism and athlete burnout. This is because, more so than other outcomes, there are ample studies on which to draw that have examined this relationship. In addition, these studies illustrate nicely the divergent processes associated with dimensions of perfectionism. We conclude by offering a caveat to this approach that centres on the ‘perils of partialling’ and the importance of viewing ‘pure’ dimensions of perfectionism as potentially distinct from their original counterparts.

Multidimensional Perfectionism in Sport: A Meta-Analytical Review

The current study provides an updated and meta-analytical review of research examining multidimensional perfectionism in sport. In doing so, studies that report the relationships between perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns and a range of motivation, emotion/well-being, and performance criterion variables are examined. A literature search yielded 52 studies and 697 effect sizes for 29 criterion variables. Random effects models revealed that perfectionistic strivings displayed small-to-medium relationships with a mix of maladaptive and adaptive motivation and emotion/well-being, and a small-to-medium relationship with better performance. By contrast, perfectionistic concerns displayed a small-to-medium relationship with maladaptive motivation and emotion/well-being and were unrelated to performance. After controlling for the relationship between the two dimensions of perfectionism, the relationships displayed by residual perfectionistic strivings were indicative of it being less problematic, and the relationships displayed by residual perfectionistic concerns were indicative of it being more problematic than their unresidualized counterparts. There was also some preliminary evidence that some of the relationships were moderated by gender, age, sport type, and instrument. The findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns are clearly maladaptive for athletes, whereas perfectionistic strivings are complex and ambiguous.

The relationship between perfectionistic self-presentation and reactions to impairment and disability following spinal cord injury:

Univariate and multivariate relationships between perfectionistic self-presentation and reactions to impairment and disability following spinal cord injury were examined. A total of 144 adults with spinal cord injury (M = 48.18 years old, SD = 15.96) completed self-report measures. Analyses revealed that, after controlling for time since injury and gender, perfectionistic self-presentation predicted six of eight reactions, shock, depression and internalised anger particularly strongly. In addition, at multivariate level, perfectionistic self-presentation was positively related to non-adaptive reactions and negatively related to adaptive reactions. The findings suggest that perfectionistic self-presentation may contribute to poorer psychosocial adaptation to spinal cord injury.