Competence, perceived importance of competence and drop-out from soccer: a study of young players

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological centrality hypothesis and the selectivity/discounting hypothesis advanced by Rosenberg and Harter and the motivational consequences thereof within the context of soccer. A representative sample of 223 young soccer players aged 12-16 who were interviewed twice within a period of 16 months served as subjects. Within the younger as well as the older group of players, the psychological centrality hypothesis received support in that the influence of perceived soccer competence upon soccer-related self-esteem was shown to be dependent upon the personal importance of one's own soccer competence. The psychological selectivity/discounting hypothesis, stating that players actively value or devalue how personally important they consider soccer competence to be as a result of changes in the perception of such competence, was also supported. Additional results showed that perceived importance of soccer competence did neither mediate nor moderate soccer drop-out among players with low perceived soccer competence. Low perceived soccer competence, on the other hand, clearly mediated the relationship between low actual soccer competence and increased drop-out within the group of older players.