Social environment and participation of older adolescents in some martial arts

Da bi ostali u sportu, mladi se moraju osjećati prihvaćenima od vlastite socijalne okoline koju čine roditelji, treneri i vršnjaci. Mladi sportaši su jako vezani uz svoju socijalnu okolinu koja ih čini motiviranijima za nastavak bavljenja sportom. Cilj ovog istraživanja je pokazati odnos socijalne okoline (roditelji, treneri, vršnjaci) i razine zadovoljstva, intrinzične motivacije i posvećenosti sportu mladih sportaša u tri borilačka sporta (judo, taekwondo, karate). Na uzorku od 472 mlada sportaša iz tri navedena borilačka sporta primijenjene su hrvatske verzije sljedećih upitnika: Upitnik posvećenosti sportu (Scanlan i sur., 1993), Skala ukupnog zadovoljstva u sportu (Scanlan i sur., 1993) i Skala socijalne orijentacije u sportu (Stuntz i Weiss 2003.), prilagođene za navedene borilačke sportove, koji su pokazali vrlo dobra metrijska svojstva. U istraživanju su koristilo i Upitnikom intrinzične motivacije (Štimac, Horga i Jurinić-Matoš, 1999, prema Štimac, 2000) i Upitnikom roditeljske potpore djeci u sportu (Bosnar, 2003). Regresijska analiza je pokazala da je trenerska potpora povezana sa zadovoljstvom u sportu, percipiranom kompetentnošću i pritiskom/tenzijom. Rezultati kanoničke korelacije su pokazali kako su mladi sportaši s visokom razinom socijalne orijentacije prema vršnjacima (vršnjačko prijateljstvo i prihvaćanje grupe), posvećeniji i zadovoljniji u svom sportu te imaju veću razinu intrinzične motivacije (veći interes, napor i veća razina percipirane kompetentnosti te osjećaju manji pritisak). Diskriminacijska analiza je pokazala kako se mladi judaši, taekwondoaši i karataši najviše razlikuju u socijalnim aspektima motivacije kao što su trenerska pohvala i vršnjačko prijateljstvo kao i u subdimenziji intrinzične motivacije pritisak/tenzija. Unutar kvalitativnog dijela istraživanja napravljeno je petnaest intervjua (pet u svakom borilačkom sportu). Rezultati kvalitativnog istraživanja su potvrdili kvantitativne rezultate te nam dali još bolji uvid u socijalne aspekte motivacije kod mladih judaša, taekwondoaša i karataša. Buduća istraživanja bi osim varijabli socijalne orijentacije trebala istražiti i utjecaj drugih čimbenika socijalne motivacije kao što su npr. kvaliteta bliskog prijateljstva, dinamika grupe, osobna ulaganja te njihov utjecaj na zadovoljstvo u borilačkim sportovima te bi se mogli pronaći motivacijski obrasci kako zadržati mlade u sportu.In order to stay in the sport, young people need to feel accepted by their social environment consisting of parents, coaches and peers. Young athletes are strongly related to their social environment which makes them more motivated to continue doing sports. The goal of this research was to show the relationship among social environment (parents, coaches, peers) and levels of satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, dedication to the sport and young athletes in three martial arts (judo, taekwondo, karate). In a sample consisting of 472 young athletes from the three mentioned martial arts, the Croatian version of the following questionnaires was applied: Questionnaire of dedication to sport (Scanlan et al., 1993), Scale of total satisfaction in sport (Scanlan et al., 1993) and Scale of social orientation in sport (Stuntz and Weiss, 2003), which were adapted for those martial arts that showed very good metric characteristics. The Questionnaire of intrinsic motivation (Stimac, Horga and Jurinić-Matos, 1999, according to Stimac, 2000) and Questionnaire of parental support for children in sport (Bosnar, 2003) were used in the research. Regression analysis showed that the coaching support was associated with pleasure in the sport, perceived competence and pressure / tension. Results of canonical correlation showed that young athletes with a high level of social orientation towards peers (peer acceptance and friendship groups) were more committed and more satisfied in their sport and had a greater level of intrinsic motivation (they had a greater interest, effort and higher levels of perceived competence and felt less pressure). Discriminance analysis showed that the young judoka, taekwondo and karate athletes were the most distinguished in the social aspects of motivation such as coaching praise and peer friendship and subdimension of intrinsic motivation pressure/tension. Within the qualitative part of the research 15 interviews were completed (five in every martial art). The results of qualitative research confirmed the quantitative results, and gave us even better insight into the social aspects of motivation in young judoka, taekwondo and karate athletes. Beside the variables of social orientation, future research should investigate the impact of other factors of social motivation, such as the quality of close friendship, group dynamics, personal investments and their impact on satisfaction in martial arts, and be able to find motivational patterns that keep young people in sport