In search of quality of motivation: antecedents and correlates of autonomous motivation and achievement goals in sport and physical education

In Search of Quality of Motivation: Antecedents and Correlates of Autono mous Motivation and Achievement Goals in Sport and Physical Education Based on the Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and on the ac hievement goal perspective (Dweck, 1986; Elliot, 2005), the present doct oral project investigated various correlates and antecedents that may in fluence quality of motivation in sports and physical education settings. With respect to the correlates of quality of motivation, it was shown t hat mastery goals were related to emotional and social adjustment regard less of students perceived competence or peer acceptance and prosocial behavior. Also, it was tested whether experimentally manipulated mastery goals with task-referenced or self-referenced standards yielded differe nt effects on performance and well-being, whereas it was demonstrated th at athletes endorsing performance goals for controlling reasons, as thes e are defined within SDT framework, were more susceptible to report ill- being. Also, further evidence for a link between achievement goals and a utonomous and controlled motivation was provided, and an association bet ween mastery goals and outcome goals and between performance goals and a bility goals was also found. With respect to the antecedents of quality of motivation, the present doctoral research provided evidence of a moti vational model in which the need for competence and autonomous motivatio n mediated the effects of positive competence feedback on intrinsic moti vation, well-being, and performance. Similarly, it demonstrated that the need for autonomy and competence mediated the differential relation of autonomous and controlling styles of corrective feedback to well being, and moral functioning. Last, it showed that autonomy- and relatedness-su pporting environments interact with individuals motivational orientatio ns on the prediction of enjoyment and vitality as it was found that opti mally motivated individuals benefited more when embedded in favorable mo tivational environments. When considered together, these set of studies demonstrated that quality of motivation, as operationalized within both self-determination theory and the achievement goal perspective, is multi faceted, but still important.status: publishe