Play Like You Mean It: Motivational Predictors of Female Student Athletes' Practice and Game Performance

<p>The current study explores how motivational reasons for goals influence athletic performance on a women's basketball team. The purpose of the current study was to expand on past research associated with fluctuation of motivation in practice and game performance throughout a season. Participants (n = 15) in the current study were female student-athletes, who completed a motivational survey that measured Relationally-Autonomous Reasons (RARs), Personally-Autonomous Reasons (PARs), and Controlled Reasons (CRs). Athletic performance was measured by examining daily practice performance and game statistics for each athlete. The results of the current study showed that RARs were associated with game performance (p < .05), however PARs and CRs were not. RARs were positively associated with game performance whereas PARs were not. The association for RARs and game performance was stronger than RARs and practice performance. Overall, the findings confirm that RARs are associated with game performance in women's sports. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year

2018

Author dc:creator

• Foster, Zipporah Rebekah

• Athlete
• Coach-Athlete Relationship
• Motivation
• Performance
• Sports
• Sports Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Sports Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2018 Zipporah Rebekah Foster

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/568

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1566