Giving and receiving autonomy support in a high-stakes sport context: A field-based experiment during the 2012 London Paralympic Games☆

Abstract Objective Recognizing that high-stakes competitions tend to pressure coaches toward a maladaptive controlling motivating style, we sought to evaluate the capacity of an intervention to help coaches adopt a more autonomy-supportive style as they and their athletes prepared for the 2012 London Paralympic Games. Design We adopted a coach-focused experimental research design that longitudinally assessed coaches' and athletes' self-report, rater-scored, and objective dependent measures. Method We randomly assigned 33 coaches and their 64 athletes from 10 sports into either an experimental or control group and assessed their motivation and functioning longitudinally. Results In the control group, athletes and coaches both showed a significant longitudinal deterioration in all measures of motivation, engagement, and functioning. In the experimental group, none of the measures of motivation, engagement, and functioning deteriorated but, instead, were generally maintained. In terms of performance, athletes of coaches in the experimental group won significantly more Olympic medals than did athletes in the control group. Conclusion Enacting an autonomy-supportive coaching style within the context of a high-stakes sports competition functioned as an antidote to coaches' otherwise situationally-induced controlling style.

[1]  J. Reeve,et al.  Enhancing Students' Engagement by Increasing Teachers' Autonomy Support , 2004 .

[2]  Robert J. Vallerand,et al.  Competitive and recreational sport structures and gender: a test of their relationship with sport motivation , 1995 .

[3]  Martyn Standage,et al.  A test of self-determination theory in school physical education. , 2005, The British journal of educational psychology.

[4]  D. Lubans,et al.  A cluster-randomized controlled trial of strategies to increase adolescents’ physical activity and motivation during physical education lessons: the Motivating Active Learning in Physical Education (MALP) trial , 2012, BMC Public Health.

[5]  A. Hill,et al.  The relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and psychological need thwarting in junior sports participants , 2011 .

[6]  R. Larsen,et al.  The Satisfaction with Life Scale , 1985, Journal of personality assessment.

[7]  Hailey R Banack,et al.  Coach Autonomy Support, Basic Need Satisfaction, and Intrinsic Motivation of Paralympic Athletes , 2011, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[8]  B. Barber.  Parental psychological control: revisiting a neglected construct. , 1996, Child development.

[9]  N. Ntoumanis.  A Prospective Study of Participation in Optional School Physical Education Using a Self-Determination Theory Framework. , 2005 .

[10]  Geneviève A. Mageau,et al.  The coach–athlete relationship: a motivational model , 2003, Journal of sports sciences.

[11]  E. Skinner,et al.  Sense of Relatedness as a Factor in Children's Academic Engagement and Performance. , 2003 .

[12]  Megan Tschannen-Moran,et al.  Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct , 2001 .

[13]  J. R. Landis,et al.  The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. , 1977, Biometrics.

[14]  Sung Hyeon Cheon,et al.  Experimentally based, longitudinally designed, teacher-focused intervention to help physical education teachers be more autonomy supportive toward their students. , 2012, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[15]  E. Deci,et al.  Internalization of biopsychosocial values by medical students: a test of self-determination theory. , 1996, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  E. Deci,et al.  Need Satisfaction, Motivation, and Well-Being in the Work Organizations of a Former Eastern Bloc Country: A Cross-Cultural Study of Self-Determination , 2001 .

[17]  Nikos Ntoumanis,et al.  A review of controlling motivational strategies from a self-determination theory perspective: implications for sports coaches , 2009 .

[18]  R. Vallerand,et al.  Cohesiveness, coach's interpersonal style and psychological needs: Their effects on self-determination and athletes' subjective well-being , 2009 .

[19]  M. Hagger,et al.  Effects of an intervention based on self-determination theory on self-reported leisure-time physical activity participation , 2009, Psychology & health.

[20]  Sung Hyeon Cheon,et al.  The teacher benefits from giving autonomy support during physical education instruction. , 2014, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[21]  J. Reeve.  How students create motivationally supportive learning environments for themselves: The concept of agentic engagement. , 2013 .

[22]  R. Ryan,et al.  Psychological need thwarting in the sport context: assessing the darker side of athletic experience. , 2011, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[23]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[24]  Ronald E. Smith,et al.  Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure of Sport-Specific Psychological Skills: The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 , 1995 .

[25]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across four cultures , 2015 .

[26]  Tim Pitt,et al.  Physiology of Sport and Exercise , 2004 .

[27]  E. Deci,et al.  Effects of Performance Standards on Teaching Styles: Behavior of Controlling Teachers , 1982 .

[28]  N. Ntoumanis,et al.  The Effect of an Intervention to Improve Newly Qualified Teachers' Interpersonal Style, Students Motivation and Psychological Need Satisfaction in Sport-Based Physical Education. , 2010 .

[29]  Yuk Fai Cheong,et al.  HLM 6: Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling , 2000 .

[30]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Elements of the Competitive Situation that Affect Intrinsic Motivation , 1996 .

[31]  Martyn Standage,et al.  Students' Motivational Processes and Their Relationship to Teacher Ratings in School Physical Education , 2006, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[32]  C. Lonsdale,et al.  Cultural differences in the relationships among autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, subjective vitality, and effort in British and Chinese physical education. , 2010, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[33]  C. Wolters.  Advancing Achievement Goal Theory: Using Goal Structures and Goal Orientations to Predict Students' Motivation, Cognition, and Achievement. , 2004 .

[34]  N. Ntoumanis,et al.  The controlling interpersonal style in a coaching context: development and initial validation of a psychometric scale. , 2010, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[35]  D. Lubans,et al.  A cluster randomized controlled trial of strategies to increase adolescents' physical activity and motivation in physical education: results of the Motivating Active Learning in Physical Education (MALP) trial. , 2013, Preventive medicine.

[36]  J. Reeve,et al.  Do the benefits from autonomy-supportive PE teacher training programs endure?: A one-year follow-up investigation , 2013 .

[37]  Robert J. Vallerand,et al.  Associations Among Perceived Autonomy Support, Forms of Self-Regulation, and Persistence: A Prospective Study , 2001 .

[38]  F. Dochy,et al.  Psychologically controlling teaching: Examining outcomes, antecedents, and mediators , 2012 .

[39]  Geneviève A. Mageau,et al.  Passion and performance attainment in sport , 2008 .

[40]  Luc G. Pelletier,et al.  Pressure from above and pressure from below as determinants of teachers' motivation and teaching behaviors. , 2002 .

[41]  Bruno D. Zumbo,et al.  Psychological need satisfaction and thwarting: A test of Basic Psychological Needs Theory in physical activity contexts ☆ , 2013 .

[42]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  The balanced measure of psychological needs (BMPN) scale: An alternative domain general measure of need satisfaction , 2012 .

[43]  Arlen C. Moller,et al.  On the Benefits of Giving as Well as Receiving Autonomy Support: Mutuality in Close Friendships , 2006, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[44]  G. Cardon,et al.  Observed need-supportive and need-thwarting teaching behavior in physical education: Do teachers' motivational orientations matter? , 2013 .

[45]  Sung Hyeon Cheon,et al.  A classroom-based intervention to help teachers decrease students' amotivation , 2015 .

[46]  Joan L. Duda,et al.  Testing a self‐determination theory‐based teaching style intervention in the exercise domain , 2008 .

[47]  Nikos Ntoumanis,et al.  Predicting the brighter and darker sides of interpersonal relationships: Does psychological need thwarting matter? , 2015 .

[48]  L. Pelletier,et al.  Determinants of coach motivation and autonomy supportive coaching behaviours. , 2013 .

[49]  J. Reeve,et al.  A Meta-analysis of the Effectiveness of Intervention Programs Designed to Support Autonomy , 2011 .

[50]  L. Pelletier,et al.  Pressure From Above and Pressure From Below as Determinants of Teachers ’ Motivation and Teaching Behaviors , 2002 .

[51]  J. Reeve.  Why Teachers Adopt a Controlling Motivating Style Toward Students and How They Can Become More Autonomy Supportive , 2009 .

[52]  Richard M. Ryan,et al.  Can self-determination theory explain what underlies the productive, satisfying learning experiences of collectivistically oriented Korean students? , 2009 .

[53]  N. Ntoumanis,et al.  The Social Context as a Determinant of Teacher Motivational Strategies in Physical Education , 2009 .

[54]  Terry E. Duncan,et al.  Psychometric properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a competitive sport setting: a confirmatory factor analysis. , 1989, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[55]  Nathalie Aelterman,et al.  Do perceived autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching relate to physical education students' motivational experiences through unique pathways? Distinguishing between the bright and dark side of motivation , 2015 .

[56]  A. Mouratidis,et al.  Perfectionism, self-determined motivation, and coping among adolescent athletes , 2011 .

[57]  Nikos Ntoumanis,et al.  Antecedents of perceived coach interpersonal behaviors: the coaching environment and coach psychological well- and ill-being. , 2012, Journal of sport & exercise psychology.

[58]  Marylène Gagné,et al.  The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in Prosocial Behavior Engagement , 2003 .