Social Motivation in Youth Sport

By Justine B. Allen. 2003

327 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Youth sport participants frequently report social reasons for their involvement in sport such as wanting to be part of a team or to be with friends, and social sources of positive and negative affect such as social recognition and parental pressure. Although a social view of sport has been recognized, youth sport motivation researchers have emphasized approaches centered on constructs related to physical ability and have not examined the social aspect of motivation in detail. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the contribution that social goal orientations and perceptions of belonging make toward understanding youth sport motivation. Specifically, female adolescents’ (N = 100) social motivational orientations, achievement goal orientations, perceived belonging, perceived physical ability, and interest in sport were assessed. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that social motivational constructs added to the explanation of adolescents’ interest in sport. When given the choice, few individuals elect to participate in sport on their own. Whether it is tennis at the local courts with friends, a Little League team with teammates, or a high school championship soccer match with a stand full of spectators, inherent in these physical activities are social settings and interpersonal interactions. The social context of sport is salient to participants’ motivation. Participants report social reasons for engaging in physical activities including affiliation, being part of a team, and social status (McCullagh, Matzkanin, Shaw, & Maldanado, 1993; Passer, 1982). Researchers have also indicated that positive and negative affect comes from social sources such as friendship opportunities, social recognition, and parental pressure (Scanlan, Carpenter, Lobel, & Simons, 1993; Scanlan & Lewthwaite, 1984). Further, social interactions with parents, coaches, and peers have all been associated with the quality of young people’s sport experience (e.g., Brustad, 1993; Duncan, 1993; Wylleman, 2000). Sport clearly has meaning to participants because it provides opportunities for interpersonal interaction and the development of social bonds with significant others. Despite the salience of numerous social aspects of sport to participants, researchers examining youth sport motivation have tended to emphasize constructs related to physical ability such as perceived physical ability and task and ego goal

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Safety Research, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fa39b6246c3b433e583b0eac35192a81196eca14

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

In Safety Research

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

An Evaluation of Personal and Contextual Factors in Competitive Youth Sport (2009, background): “Within a sport context, the actual physical setting combined with the role of significant others, namely coaches (Côté, Salmela, Trudel, Baria, & Russell, 1995), peers (Allen, 2003), and parents (Wolfenden & Holt, 2005) are critical components of the individual’s environment.”
Parent Goals and Verbal Sideline Behavior in Organized Youth Sport (2015, background): “…present study, parent verbal sideline behavior seemed to be impacted by parents’ social ambitions for their children’s participation (e.g., meet other children/make new friends, become part of the “in crowd”), aligning with sport research on social goals (e.g., Allen, 2003; Stuntz & Weiss, 2009).”
“Specializers” versus “Samplers” in Youth Sport: Comparing Experiences and Outcomes (2009, background): “The impact of peers in a sporting context is related to motivation, interest, and developing social connections (Allen, 2003).”
Influencia del apoyo a la autonomía, las metas sociales y la relación con los demás sobre la desmotivación en educación física (2008, background): “Estudios previos ya mostraron que la meta de relación se asociaba con consecuencias positivas como el disfrute (Allen, 2003), y la meta de responsabilidad con otras como el esfuerzo y la persistencia (Guan, Xiang et al., 2006).”
Exploring the Contribution of the Caring Climate to the Youth Sport Experience (2010, background): “Some researchers (Allen, 2003; Andersen-Butcher & Conroy, 2002) have elaborated on Goodenow’s (1993) notion of perceived sense of belongingness. Goodenow felt that a key to school retention and motivation was the development of a bond between the student and the school. Building upon this notion, An”
Studying for the sake of others: the role of social goals on academic engagement (2012, background): “Outside the educational context, social goals have also been studied in the sporting or physical activity domain (e.g. Allen, 2003, 2005, 2008; Stuntz & Weiss, 2009).”
The Motivational Atmosphere in Youth Sport: Coach, Parent, and Peer Influences on Motivation in Specializing Sport Participants (2010, background): “, “Like if you get on well with them and you like do a really poor performance they like, don’t wanna be your friend any more” [M-13-ROWING/CRICKET], which was also identified by Allen (2003) and Vazou et al. (2005); ‘Friendship and affiliation’ (e.”
Dispositional Flow in Physical Education: Relationships With Motivational Climate, Social Goals, and Perceived Competence (2009, background): “…only between (a) responsibility goals and (b) particular desirable consequences, such as effort or persistence (Guan, Xiang, McBride, & Bruene, 2006), but also between (c) relationship goals and (d) interest, enjoyment, intrinsic motivation, and satisfaction (Allen, 2003; Papaioannou et al., 2007).”
Whatever it Takes: Health Compromising Behaviors in Female Athletes (2005, background): “They feel most positive about their sport involvement when they have the approval of others or if they are a part of the popular group (Allen, 2003).”
A new view: exploring positive youth development in elite sport contexts (2011, background): “The social environment of sport has an impact on motivation and interest for youth; this environment may lead to greater perceptions of belonging which can lead to increased confidence in developing physical skills in sport (Allen 2003).”
Moral behaviour in sport: a critical review of the literature (2008, background): “The other two variables are the goals of social affiliation and social status which involve orientations toward developing reciprocal relationships and achieving popularity among peers, respectively (Allen, 2003).”
Peer Motivational Climate in Youth Sport: Measurement Development and Validation (2005, background): “, Allen, 2003; Stuntz & Weiss, 2003). For example, athletes might actively seek to be part of a popular group or to validate themselves through peer recognition (Allen, 2003). However, whether there is a social motivational climate that transmits such social goals independent of task and ego goals i”