This thesis is presented as a collection of four studies in which the associations between athlete attachment styles, perceptions of basic psychological needs, and experiences of well/ill-being are examined. The first study of this thesis examined the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction, within the coach and parent relational contexts, in the associations between athletes (N = 430) global attachment styles and their experiences of well-being. Results demonstrated that satisfaction of the athletes basic psychological needs did mediate the associations between attachment styles and well-being. Study 2 examined whether mean differences and changes in athletes (N = 110) attachment style predicted psychological need satisfaction, within two relational contexts (coach and parent), and well-being, and whether mean differences and changes in need satisfaction within the relational contexts predicted well-being. Findings from the study provide further support for the role of attachment in need satisfaction and well-being within sport psychology, as well as highlighting important within- and between-person effects. Study 3 aimed to examine the possible social mechanisms that affect insecure athletes (N = 215) perceptions of basic need satisfaction. The social factors investigated as possible mediators were social support, interpersonal conflict, autonomy supportive behaviours, and controlling behaviours, each examined within both the coach and parent relational contexts. The findings of Study 3 highlighted that social factors have an important role in explaining the associations between athletes insecure attachment styles and their perceptions of basic psychological need satisfaction within two important relationships. The final study presented in this thesis aimed to focus on how thwarting of athletes basic psychological needs impacted upon athletes experiences of both well- and ill-being. Study 4 also measured athletes (N = 241) attachment styles to the coach specifically. Findings revealed that when athletes perceptions of their basic psychological needs were actively thwarted, within both aforementioned contexts, athletes insecure attachment to the coach impacted upon experiences of well- and ill-being. Overall, the findings of the current research have supplied new knowledge and understanding concerning athletes psychological functioning through the employment of established theoretical frameworks.

Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka sambandet/effekten mellan målsättning, behovstillfredsställelse, behovsfrustration, motivation och träningsfrekvens bland gymaktiva vuxna. Utifrån två arbetsmodeller utformades två hypoteser som testades via medieringsanalyser. En kvantitativ forskningsansats genomfördes där respondenterna fick besvara ett enkätformulär med frågor från mätinstrumenten: Godin Leisure- Time Exercise Questionnaire, Task and Ego Goal Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, The Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs, samt Behavorial Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire. Utifrån ett bekvämlighetsurval rekryterades 128 respondenter (70 kvinnor och 58 män) i åldern 19-36 (M = 22.3, SD = 2.5) som deltog i studien. Medelvärdet på antal träningspass/vecka (lätt, måttlig och hård träning) uppkom till cirka nio stycken bland deltagare. Studiens huvudsakliga fynd var att prestationsmål korrelerade positivt med identifierad reglering, inre motivation, tillfredställelse av de tre grundbehoven samt självbestämmande motivation. Det fanns även ett positivt samband mellan inre motivation och träningsfrekvens. Vidare visade resultatet ett positivt samband mellan resultatmål, amotivation och behovsfrustration. De två hypoteserna förkastades då resultatet inte genererade några direkta medierande effekter. För framtida forskning föreslås bland annat studier som syftar till att undersöka hur effekten på träningsfrekvens kan påverkas beroende på målorientering, samt föreslås ytterligare studier som undersöker behovsfrustration i samband med gymkontexter. / The present study aimed to investigate the relationship/effect between goal orientation, needs satisfaction, needs frustration, motivation and training frequency among gym active adults. Based on two working models two hypotheses were designed and tested through mediation analyzes. A quantitative research approach was conducted in which respondents were asked to answer a questionnaire with questions from the following measuring instruments: Godin Leisure- Time Exercise Questionnaire, Task and Ego Goal Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, The Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs and Behavioral Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire". From a convenience sample, 128 respondents (70 women and 58 men) in the age 19-36 (M = 22.3, SD = 2.5) were recruited who participated in the study. The average number of training sessions/week was about nine for the participants. The study's main finding suggest that task goals positively correlated with identified regulation, intrinsic motivation, satisfaction of the three basic needs and self-determination motivation. There was also a positive correlation between exercise frequency and intrinsic motivation and exercise frequency. The results also showed a positive correlation between ego goals, amotivation and thwarting. The two hypotheses were rejected because the result did not generate any direct media effects. For future research, it is suggested to design studies that aim to investigate how the effect of exercise frequency may be affected depending on the goal orientation, and further suggested studies that investigate thwarting in relation to gym contexts.

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure K-12 teacher demoralization. An increasing body of literature has labeled modern education policies as having a demoralizing effect on teachers (Darling-Hammond & Rustique-Forrester, 2002; Noddings, 2004; Ryan & Brown, 2005; Nichols & Berliner, 2007; Santoro, 2011; Hargreaves, Braun, & Gebhardt, 2013). Teacher demoralization has been defined as a teacher’s “inability to access the moral rewards of teaching” (Santoro, 2011, p. 3). Data was collected from a population of K-12 educators through cognitive interviews (n=6) and a large scale data collection analyzed with a principal component analysis (n=430) in an effort to determine which constructs should be included in the measurement of teacher demoralization. Feedback on the survey instrument was incorporated in an iterative process at each stage of data collection. Results revealed that the theory of teacher demoralization should include two factors: teacher dispositions and feelings of demoralization. The current study failed to find strong evidence of convergent validity with teacher burnout and self-determination need thwarting; however, results suggest that emotional exhaustion and autonomy need thwarting are moderately related to teacher demoralization. Evidence of discriminant validity in relation to teacher self-efficacy was found; however, other discriminant validity evidence was inconclusive. This study extends the literature by providing the first attempt to measure the phenomenon of teacher demoralization. Future studies should continue to refine the instrument of teacher demoralization, and can use this instrument as one way to examine the impact of policy on teachers.

Det senaste decenniet har visat en tydlig trend av ökad psykisk ohälsa, samt fysisk inaktivitet hos ungdomar i Sverige. Syftet med studien var att undersöka relationen mellan grundläggande psykologiska behov och psykisk hälsa genom de mellanliggande variablerna motivation och motionsbeteende hos gymnasieungdomar baserat på Självbestämmandeteorin. En kvantitativ undersökning genomfördes med 160 deltagare, varav 106 kvinnor och 54 män, i åldrarna 16 till 19 år (M=17,04, SD=0,93). Följande mätinstrument användes: Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire, Psychological Need Thwarting Scale och Self-Rated Mental Health. Resultatet från medieringsanalyserna visade ett tydligt negativt samband mellan behovsfrustration och psykisk hälsa. Hela medieringsmodellen visade även att kontrollerad motivation och motionsbeteende kunde mediera relationen mellan tillhörighetsfrustration och psykisk hälsa. Behovsfrustration är ett relativt nytt och understuderat begrepp, vilket gör att studiens resultat kan bidra till ökad kunskap kring de faktorer som påverkar ungdomars psykiska hälsa. Till framtida forskning föreslås att inkludera variabler som rör autonomistöd samt fortsatt fördjupning i tillhörighetsbehovet i motion- och skolmiljöer. Detta skulle kunna ge mer kunskap och förståelse för ungdomars psykiska hälsa och motivationsorientering, vilket i sin tur skulle kunna gynna hälsoinsatser och promotion för ökad hälsa bland ungdomar.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka a) om behovstillfredsställelse medierar relationen mellan ett autonomistödjande ledarskap och idrottslig utbrändhet hos unga elitsatsande lagidrottare b) om behovsfrustration medierar relationen mellan ett kontrollerande ledarskap och idrottslig utbrändhet hos unga elitsatsande lagidrottare. Studien har en kvantitativ longitudinell design och insamling av data skedde via digitala enkäter. Antalet deltagare som deltog vid båda mättillfällena inkluderades i studien, vilket var 71 idrottare. Samtliga deltagare utövade lagidrott och studerade på Nationellt godkända idrottsutbildningar. Baserat på tidigare forskning och Self-Determination Theory ställdes två hypoteser 1) behovstillfredsställelse medierar relationen mellan ett autonomistödjande ledarskap och idrottslig utbrändhet och 2) behovsfrustration medierar relationen mellan ett kontrollerande ledarskap och idrottslig utbrändhet. Hypoteserna bekräftades med hjälp av två genomförda medieringsanalyser. Resultatet stödjer tidigare forskning och teori, samt belyser vikten av ett autonomistödjande ledarskap för att genom behovstillfredsställelse kunna bidra till lägre nivåer av idrottslig utbrändhet. / The aim of the study was to investigate a) if basic need satisfaction mediates the relationship between autonomy-supportive leadership and athlete burnout in young elite team athletes, and b) if basic need thwarting mediates the relationship between controlling leadership and athlete burnout in young elite team athletes. The study used a quantitative longitudinal design and data collection took place via digital surveys. The number of participants who took part in both measurement occasions was included in the study, which was 71 athletes. All participants played team sports and studied at Nationally approved sport education. Based on previous research and Self-Determination Theory, two hypotheses were formulated 1) need satisfaction mediates the relationship between an autonomy-supportive leadership and athlete burnout and 2) need thwarting mediates the relationship between a controlling leadership and athlete burnout. The hypotheses were confirmed with the help of two conducted mediation analysis. The result supports previous research and theory and highlights the importance of an autonomy-supportive leadership in order to contribute to lower levels of athlete burnout through need satisfaction.

Inre motivation som konceptualiseras inom Self Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000) har en viktig roll i att främja fortsatt idrottande och välmående. Till vilken grad en individ upplever inre motivation kan ses utifrån faktorerna behovstillfredsställelse och behovsfrustration. Motivationen påverkas även av omgivningen genom så kallat behovsstöd och behovshindrande. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka om det fanns något samband mellan svenska badmintonspelares upplevelse av behovstillfredsställelse/-frustration och behovsstöd/-hindrande och deras intention att fortsätta med badminton i framtiden. 133 aktiva svenska badmintonspelare, i åldern 15-66 år och äldre deltog i studien. Intentionen att fortsätta spela badminton uppvisade ett statistiskt signifikant positivt samband med variablerna behovsstöd och behovstillfredsställelse. Inget samband hittades mellan Intentionen att fortsätta spela badminton och variablerna behovshindrande och behovsfrustration. Intentionen att fortsätta spela badminton var även högre ju äldre spelaren var, ju fler år spelaren spelat badminton och ju fler år med nuvarande huvudtränare de haft.  Behovsstöd och behovstillfredsställelse förefaller således vara områden att fokusera på inom idrottsföreningar med syfte att bidra till ett långsiktigt idrottande, även inom andra idrotter än badminton. / Studies have shown the importance of intrinsic motivation and Self Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000) when it comes to promoting sport participation and well-being. The amount of intrinsic motivation experienced by an individual can be estimated using the factors Need Satisfaction and Need Frustration and also be influenced by the surrounding people through Need Support and Need Thwarting. This study aimed to investigate whether a correlation between the experience of Need Satisfaction/-Frustration and Need Support/-Thwarting in Swedish badminton players and their intention to continue with badminton in the future existed. 133 active Swedish badminton players participated in the study, age 15 to 66 and older. The intention to continue playing badminton indicated a statistically significant positive correlation with the variables Need Support and Need Satisfaction. No correlation was found between the intention to continue playing badminton and the variables Need Thwarting and Need Frustration. The higher the age, more years as an active badminton player and more years with their current coach, the higher was also the intention to continue with badminton in the future. Need Support and Need Satisfaction can therefore be important areas of interest within sport clubs to promote long-term sport participation, in badminton as well as other sports.