Current research on sport motivation has focused primarily on goal perspective approaches in an attempt to understand behavior in achievement situations (Ames, 1984; Nicholls, 1984). According to Nicholls' (1984) theory, the achievement goal orientation an individual develops may be influenced by both individual differences and situational factors. Relative to situational factors, the team motivational climate may promote either a task-involved or an ego-involved orientation dependent upon which goal orientation is emphasized by the coach. In addition, Ames (1992a) argued that environmental structures influence the motivational climate which ultimately impact the athlete's achievement orientation. Educational research (Epstein, 1988) has identified specific environmental structures (TARGET structures) as being salient to the development of a mastery climate. Little research has been conducted on athletes' perceptions of their coaches' behavior, in regard to specific environmental structures, and how this may ultimately influence athletes' achievement goal orientation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among TARGET structures, team motivational climate, and achievement goal orientation. The subjects consisted of 186 high school softball players and 171 high school baseball players, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years. The TEOSQ, PMCSQ, and TARGET questionnaires were administered to subjects at the beginning of a sport practice. LISREL8, a structural equation modeling program, was the statistical analysis employed. Results indicated that a positive linear relationship existed, linking task and reward/evaluation components of the TARGET structures to mastery climate to task orientation. These two structures may be the most salient structures within a sport setting. This finding suggests there is a positive association between coaches' promotion and employment of task-involved goals in their practices and athletes' perception of a mastery-oriented team motivational climate. Direct relationships linking three TARGET structures to performance climate to ego orientation were also reported. Grouping and authority components of the TARGET structures were found to have a significant inverse relationship with performance climate, while task structure and performance climate were positively related. Additionally, the results confirmed that there was a significant positive relationship between mastery climate and task orientation and between performance climate and ego orientation. / Graduation date: 1995

No description available.

This study explored elite female adolescent swimmers' perceptions of the motivational influences of their coaches, parents, and peers using qualitative methods. Nine elite female swimmers (aged 13--15 years) participated in two semi-structured interviews that were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data was gathered and analyzed according to Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2003). Six categories emerged including: individual factors, and assistance, informational, esteem, emotional, and network support. Results indicated girls' interpretations and unique, salient aspects of social support types provided by coaches, parents, and peers. Findings are related to past self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985) motivational research. In particular, swimmers social support experiences were uniquely linked to their perceptions of competence, autonomy, relatedness, and motivation in elite competitive swimming. Findings support main SDT tenets and offer new insights into the important and differential social support influences in sport.

The purpose of the present study is to extend past outcome-dependent models of Sport Competition Anxiety (SCA) to include attribution theory as an appraisal process of past performance outcome. It was hypothesized that unstable causal attributions for past unexpected performances would lead to uncertain expectations of future performance and subsequent SCA. Sixty-three male subjects were assessed for initial expectations of how they would perform in a cycling task, i.e., high and low, in which each subject received false feedback about his performance (success or failure). After completing the task, subjects completed questionnaires assessing the discrepancy between expected and actual outcome, attributions for past performance (Causal Dimension Scale), expectation for future performance, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 which measures state cognitive and somatic anxiety and state self-confidence. Contrary to predictions, results indicated that attribution did not mediate SCA, but rather attributions were made systematically in response to success and failure and not unexpected outcome. However, path analysis carried out on a modified model of SCA that includes outcome and expectations of future performance, indicated that somatic anxiety and state self-confidence are mediated by expectation of future success. The findings are discussed in terms of attribution theory and other cognitive constructs (e.g., self-schemata and efficacy expectations) that might have an impact on attributional patterns that lead to performance expectations and SCA. It is noted that because only male subjects were used, generalizability to female competitors may not be appropriate due to differences in sport socialization. / Department of Psychological Science

The purpose of-this investigation was to determine the effects of cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal on performance on a pre-determined motor task, and the application of the catastrophe model of anxiety and performance to women's field hockey. There were six subjects (three in group 1 and three in group 2). Cognitive and somatic anxiety values were measured before and after a one day competition using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory2. Performance was evaluated before and after the one day competition using the motor task: shooting on goal. The data were analyzed using the ANOVA-Repeated Measures and thedifference among treatment conditions. It was apparent that physiological arousal, and the associated somatic anxiety, were not detrimental to performance on the pre-determined motor task when cognitive anxiety was low. However, when cognitive anxiety was high, performance on the pre-determined motor task was associated with catastrophic effects. / School of Physical Education

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between task and ego goal orientation and ZOF. The subjects consisted of interscholastic athletes of the men's varsity and junior varsity baseball, men's track and field, and women's track and field teams from a local Midwestern high school. By providing a more concise zone of optimal function (ZOF) by breaking down the zone into three components: psychological, physiological, and competitive (evaluated by the Sport Participation Questionnaire) the athletes may be able to manipulate their ZOF by using the characteristics of their task and ego orientation (evaluated by the TEOSQ). The data was analyzed by doing a series of factor analyses and multiple regressions. After finding four significant factors (two separate psychological, one physiological, one competitive) a multiple regression was employed to determine the relationship between the factors and task and ego orientaXon.Nearly significant was the regression with ego-oriented athletes and the thinking construct which consisted of items 16-18 of the Sport Participation Questionnaire. Also, significant were relationships of the task or ego score and the demographic findings. / School of Physical Education

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

There is no abstract available for this thesis. / School of Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of mood lability on anticipation timing performance. The influence of gender and stimulus speed on timing error was also analysed. Spectral analysis was used to quantify frequency of mood change. The within-subjects standard deviation was calculated as a measure of intensity of mood change. Thirty-eight physical education students (18 men; M = 23.8 yrs, SD = 2.1 and 20 women; M = 20.4 yrs, SD = 1.6) participated in this study. Mood changes were measured along the Pleasantness and Energetic dimensions of the Affect Grid. Performance was assessed using the Bassin Anticipation Timer. It was hypothesized that: the fast mood changers would incur greater timing errors than the slow mood changers, men would perform with less error than women, and stimulus speed would have a significant influence on timing error. / Mixed factorial ANOVAs with repeated measures on the last factor were utilized to compare mean timing error scores: constant error, absolute error, variable error, and total error, over two levels of frequency of mood change (fast/slow) and intensity of mood change (high/low) groups, two levels of gender (men/women) and four levels of stimulus speed (5/10/15/25 mph). Alpha was set at the.05 significance level for all statistical comparisons. Results showed that intensity of mood change had a significant influence on anticipation timing performance, frequency of mood change factor did not have a significant effect on timing error, men performed with less variability than women and stimulus speed had a significant influence on anticipation timing. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) results, showed that women scored lower on the negative mood states than men. Total mood disturbance for both men and women showed no significant relationship to the timing error scores.

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of mental practice on the shooting accuracy performance of male water polo players at three skill levels. Thirty-six right handed athletes from the Quebec League, assigned by experienced coaches to novice, intermediate and elite groups according to their overall water polo playing ability, served as subjects. They were tested on shooting accuracy by the average score of ten shots in the beginning of the study, after a two-week mental practice treatment, and after a one-week break with no treatment. / A 3 way ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor was conducted on the shooting accuracy scores. Those who received the mental practice program had significantly higher post-treatment scores than their control group counterparts who had received a relaxation training program during the treatment period. As noted above, the experimental group improved significantly from Pre to Post1 test-time, and there was no change in performance between the two Post-tests. There was no significant difference in shooting performance between Intermediate and Elite skill groups but both of them scored significantly better than the Novice group.