Effect of motivational climate profiles on motivational indices in team sport

Contemporary perspectives of achievement motivation have been based on social cognitive theories which give motivational climate a central place in the regulation of subsequent affective states, cognitions and behaviour in achievement contexts. This study examined the relationship between different profiles of the motivational climate in teamsport and achievement, and socially related cognitions among Norwegian team sport athletes. Players (N= 148) assessed their perception of the motivational climate using the Norwegian version of the Motivational climate in sport questionnaire, sources of satisfaction in team sport, achievement strategies, perceived purposes of sport, and conceptions of ability. Multivariate analysis of variance (2x2) showed both main effects for profiles of the motivational climate and an interaction effect. Athletes perceiving the climate as high in mastery and high in performance oriented criteria reported psychological responses that were more adaptative than those perceiving the climate as low in mastery and high in performance criteria. With one exception, the findings showed that those high in mastery and low in performance were more likely to emphasise self-referenced criteria when judging perceived ability in team sport. For both social responsibility and lifetime skills as purposes in sport, it was the high performance and low mastery athletes who were least likely to endorse these purposes. And importantly, the high mastery climate seemed to moderate the impact of being in a high performance climate. The pattern of findings suggests that perceiving the motivational climate as performance oriented may not be motivationally maladaptive when accompanied by mastery oriented situational cues.