Relationally-Autonomous Reasons (RARs) for pursuing goals are motives that take one’s own personal needs and the needs and desires of close others into account. These relational reasons motivate people in pursing health, school, or sports goals. The purpose of this study was to identify what mechanisms drive relational motivation that in turn affects athletic performance. Participants (n = 156) in this study were student-athletes from various sports, who completed a questionnaire. Athletic performance was obtained and standardized through each athlete’s performance statistics within their sport. The results of the study revealed that closeness, support, accountability, and shared values predicted relational motivation in student-athletes, while coaching relationship and sport type did not predict RARs. In addition the findings showed effort is driven by RARs and coaching relationship but that effort did not predict athletic performance.
","abstract_html":"<p>Relationally-Autonomous Reasons (RARs) for pursuing goals are motives that take one’s own personal needs and the needs and desires of close others into account. These relational reasons motivate people in pursing health, school, or sports goals. The purpose of this study was to identify what mechanisms drive relational motivation that in turn affects athletic performance. Participants (n = 156) in this study were student-athletes from various sports, who completed a questionnaire. Athletic performance was obtained and standardized through each athlete’s performance statistics within their sport. The results of the study revealed that closeness, support, accountability, and shared values predicted relational motivation in student-athletes, while coaching relationship and sport type did not predict RARs. In addition the findings showed effort is driven by RARs and coaching relationship but that effort did not predict athletic performance. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Szarabajko, Alexandra"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:39Z","subjects":["Athletic Performance","Coaching Relationship","Motivation","Relationally-Autonomous Reasons","Relational Mechanisms","Cognitive Psychology","Exercise Science"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Alexandra Szarabajko"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/435","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Szarabajko, Alexandra"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Athletic Performance","Coaching Relationship","Motivation","Relationally-Autonomous Reasons","Relational Mechanisms","Cognitive Psychology","Exercise Science"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Alexandra Szarabajko"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/435"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Relationally-Autonomous Reasons (RARs) for pursuing goals are motives that take one’s own personal needs and the needs and desires of close others into account. These relational reasons motivate people in pursing health, school, or sports goals. The purpose of this study was to identify what mechanisms drive relational motivation that in turn affects athletic performance. Participants (n = 156) in this study were student-athletes from various sports, who completed a questionnaire. Athletic performance was obtained and standardized through each athlete’s performance statistics within their sport. The results of the study revealed that closeness, support, accountability, and shared values predicted relational motivation in student-athletes, while coaching relationship and sport type did not predict RARs. In addition the findings showed effort is driven by RARs and coaching relationship but that effort did not predict athletic performance.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Relationships and Sports: Mechanisms in Relational Motivation and Its Impact on Athletic Performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Szarabajko, Alexandra"],"dc:description.abstract":["Relationally-Autonomous Reasons (RARs) for pursuing goals are motives that take one’s own personal needs and the needs and desires of close others into account. These relational reasons motivate people in pursing health, school, or sports goals. The purpose of this study was to identify what mechanisms drive relational motivation that in turn affects athletic performance. Participants (n = 156) in this study were student-athletes from various sports, who completed a questionnaire. Athletic performance was obtained and standardized through each athlete’s performance statistics within their sport. The results of the study revealed that closeness, support, accountability, and shared values predicted relational motivation in student-athletes, while coaching relationship and sport type did not predict RARs. In addition the findings showed effort is driven by RARs and coaching relationship but that effort did not predict athletic performance.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/435"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Alexandra Szarabajko"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Athletic Performance","Coaching Relationship","Motivation","Relationally-Autonomous Reasons","Relational Mechanisms","Cognitive Psychology","Exercise Science"],"dc:title":["Relationships and Sports: Mechanisms in Relational Motivation and Its Impact on Athletic Performance"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:39Z"}