Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre

Perceived motivational climate in male youth soccer: relations to social–moral functioning, sportspersonship and team norm perceptions

Aim: To investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, sportspersonship, social–moral functioning and team norms in a sample of young male Norwegian soccer players. Hypotheses: It was expected that a performance-oriented motivational climate would be associated with lower levels of social–moral functioning, sportspersonship and the perceptions of team norms that would approve of illegitimate behaviours in soccer. By contrast, a mastery-oriented climate was hypothesised to be beneficial with respect to social–moral functioning, sporstspersonship and morally constructive team norm perceptions. Method: A cross-sectional study of 279 male soccer players (aged 12–14 years) taking part in the international youth soccer tournament, The Norway Cup, was conducted in which players responded to a questionnaire measuring different dimensions of social–moral functioning, including moral judgements, priority for more mature social–moral motives or reasons faced with moral dilemmas, amoral and sportspersonship behaviours and team norm perceptions. Results: Canonical correlation analysis coupled with multivariate analysis of variance showed that players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented reported more mature levels of social–moral reasoning and better sportspersonhip behaviours. These players were also less apt to report amoral behaviour and perceive team norms as strongly disapproving of pro-aggressiveness. In contrast, players perceiving the motivational climate as predominantly performance-oriented were more apt to report amoral behaviours in soccer and were less likely to express sportspersonship behaviour. Conclusions: The findings illustrate the importance of studying motivational conditions in order to provide an understanding of social–moral functioning, sportspersonship and social–moral team norms in youth soccer.

Peer relationships in adolescent competitive soccer: associations to perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and perfectionism.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, achievement goals, perfectionism and indices of peer relationships in a sample of young male and female Norwegian soccer players. The sample consisted of 1719 experienced soccer players (1231 males, 488 females) aged 12 – 19 years (mean  =  14.9 years) participating in the Norway Cup international youth soccer competition. The players responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived peer acceptance and quality of friendship in soccer, perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and perfectionism in soccer. Canonical correlation analyses revealed that young female players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented, and who were moderately task oriented and scored negatively on maladaptive perfectionism, reported better relations with their peers in soccer. Constructive peer relations were evident in that they scored positively on companionship with their best friend in soccer; they perceived this friend as being loyal and of allowing free discussion, and they reported being socially accepted by their peers in soccer. Mirroring these findings, young male players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly performance oriented, who had a moderately negative score on task orientation but a quite strong positive score on maladaptive perfectionism, reported negative relationships with peers in terms of these aspects. They also reported being in conflict with their best soccer friend. The findings suggest that the qualities of motivation have a systematic relationship with peer acceptance and the quality of friendship in male and female youth soccer.

Achievement Goal Orientations, Perceived Ability, and Sportspersonship in Youth Soccer

The present study was designed to examine the contribution of goal orientations and the influence of perceived ability as a moderating factor in predicting sportspersonship in competitive youth soccer. Participants were 511 Norwegian male youth soccer players, from ages 13 to 16, participating in the Norway Cup International Football Tournament. Findings revealed that high task-oriented participants consistently endorsed sportspersonship. However, participants who were high in ego orientation and high in task orientation only partially endorsed low sportspersonship. Perceived ability was a significant factor in that players high in ego orientation and low in perceived ability expressed the lowest respect for rules and officials and endorsed cheating behavior to reach their goals. In contrast, participants high in perceived ability and low in ego orientation expressed the highest level of respect for rules and officials. In this study, being high or low in ego orientation had a significant effect on sportspersonship.

Motivation, overtraining, and burnout: Can self-determined motivation predict overtraining and burnout in elite athletes?

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine whether quality of self-determined motivation at the start of the competitive season in elite athletes and symptoms of overtraining can predict athlete burnout propensity at the end of the season. The participants were 141 elite winter sport athletes. In September, at the beginning of the season, the athletes responded to a self-determined motivation questionnaire, while they answered questions assessing overtraining symptoms and burnout in March, at the end of the season. Findings indicated that self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining were negatively and positively linked respectively to dimensions of athlete burnout. The results suggest that self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining are both independently linked to signs of burnout in elite athletes and that although no moderating effect was found, pairing self-determined motivation with symptoms of overtraining increased the prediction of burnout in athletes at the end of the season. Our findings are in line with those of recent research (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre, Treasure, & Roberts, 2006) and support a motivational approach to study burnout in elite athletes.

Foundations of Intervention Research in Instrumental Practice.

The goals of the present study are to evaluate, implement, and adapt psychological skills used in the realm of sports into music performance. This research project also aims to build foundations on how to implement future interventions to guide music students on how to optimize practice toward performance. A 2-month psychological skills intervention was provided to two students from the national music academys bachelor program in music performance to better understand how to adapt and construct psychological skills training programs for performing music students. The program evaluated multiple intervention tools including the use of questionnaires, performance profiling, iPads, electronic practice logs, recording the perceived value of individual and combined work, as well as the effectiveness of different communication forms. Perceived effects of the intervention were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and logs.

Changes in Motivation and Burnout Indices in High-Performance Coaches Over the Course of a Competitive Season

Being subject to a great range of demands is believed to increase burnout propensity in high-performance coaches. This study is the first to explore whether the 4-step self-determination theory process model is a valuable framework to better understand the process influencing burnout and well-being in high-performance coaches (N = 343, M = 40.33 years) throughout a competitive season. Findings indicated that coaches on average increased in burnout and decreased in well-being. Hypotheses were to a large extent supported: change in perceived environment → change in psychological need satisfaction → change in autonomous motivation → change in burnout and well-being.

Instrumental practice in the contemporary music academy: A three-phase cycle of Self-Regulated Learning in music students

The purpose of the present study was to test an adapted model of self-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 1989) in the context of higher music education (n = 204). The following four hypotheses were tested: 1) Forethought phase constructs such as goal setting, self-efficacy, and time management were hypothesized to positively predict the use of psychological skills (i.e., self-observation, arousal-regulation, imagery, concentration, and self-control); 2) The use of psychological skills was expected to predict self-reflection phase constructs such as coping and perception of progress; 3) The links from the forethought phase to the reflection phase of the model were predicted to be indirect through psychological skills; 4) Self-reflection phase constructs were expected to positively predict forethought phase constructs. Applying Structural Equation Modeling, hypotheses 1 and 2 were partly supported. Regarding hypothesis 3, goal setting was indirectly positively linked to coping and perception of progress through self-observation and self-control. Self-efficacy was indirectly positively linked to coping through arousal-regulation. A follow-up multiple regression analysis was conducted in regard to hypothesis 4. The self-reflection phase constructs positively predicted forethought phase activities. Moreover, the study verified adaptive cyclical learning in the music students who were self-regulated learners.

Exhaustion experiences in junior athletes: the importance of motivation and self-control competencies

Quality of motivation, self-control competencies, as well as past performance experience influence sport participation outcomes in developing athletes. Studies have shown that junior athletes high in self-determined motivation are less prone to experience burnout, while self-control competencies help developing athletes to be conscious and deliberate in their self-regulatory efforts toward elite sport performances and avoid negative sport participation outcomes. Combining the self-determination theory framework and psychosocial theories of self-regulation, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine how various types of motivation and self-control competencies together are associated with the development of burnout symptoms in junior athletes. High-level Norwegian winter-sport athletes from elite sport academies (N = 199; female n = 72; 16–20 years of age) consented to participate. Associations between six types of motivational regulation, self-control, and indices of exhaustion were investigated. We hypothesized that athletes’ self-control competencies are important to operate successfully, and influenced by different types of motivation, they are expected to help athletes avoid negative sport participation outcomes such as emotional and physical exhaustion. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to analyze these relationships, and results revealed some multifaceted associations. When identifying antecedents of sport participation exhaustion and burnout, there is a need to go beyond the unique framework of motivation theories, and explore what cognitive competencies ensure fulfillment of motivation desires. In the current study, differences in junior athletes’ quality of motivation influenced self-control competencies when predicting exhaustion. Interestingly, young athletes driven by self-determined (intrinsic, integrated, and identified), and controlled (introjected and amotivation) regulations in association with self-control offered the strongest negative and positive associations with exhaustion, respectively. Findings clearly indicate that motivation and self-control competencies are meaningfully interrelated when assessing burnout propensity in young developing athletes.

Understanding coach burnout and underlying emotions: a narrative approach

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate coaches’ subjective experiences of burnout in order to shed light on the complex emotional nature of this syndrome. Five full-time paid coaches (two women and three men) experiencing burnout participated in an in-depth individual interview as part of a larger 13-week intervention study. A content analysis of the interview data resulted in the construction of five non-fictional short stories highlighting the emotions underlying the coaches’ experiences of burnout. The coaches described a variety of emotions including anxiety, anger, apathy and dejection, which had negative implications upon their well-being and coaching practice. Emotions were linked to the three dimensions of burnout; that is, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Findings support calls for intervention research to help coaches manage their emotions and prevent burnout.