«Mellommenneskelige faktorer og motivasjon i toppidrett: En kvalitativ undersøkelse av ungdomsutøveres opplevelse av å miste motivasjon til aktiv satsing»

The aim of this study was to examine the significance of other peoples influence on aspiring athletes' motivation to participate or discontinue sporting investment. Motivation was operationalized as a intent to choose and persist in athletic activity, forming an antithesis to burnout which implies a lack of psychological significance in a former valued activity. A qualitative interpretative-phenomenological approach was adopted to pinpoint the athletes individual experiences of losing motivation. Three athletes, with medals or victories from national championships, participated in semistructured in-depth interviews. The results of the analysis formed five meaningful categories called: Training and career", Achievement attitudes and efficacy", Motivation and motivational attributions", The sports significance in the family" and Other social influences". The results were compared with earlier findings and theory. The validity and implications of the findings are later discussed