Abstract

This study examined these variables on the motivation of individual student-athletes recruited from the College of Wooster participating in varsity athletics on a team sport and on the success of their teams via the win-loss record in their most recent athletic season. The surveys assessed the perceived servant leadership level of the coach, the team psychological climate, the team spirit / encouragement during competition, and team initiation activities. The results showed that the more players perceived that their coaches empower them, the more intrinsically motivated and less amotivated the individuals were, and that the more players felt they could express themselves freely, the less extrinsically motivated the athletes were. Further, there were correlations between servant leadership level of coach and team psychological climate which means there is a potential connection between the two. There were no significant predictors of team success. Overall, fostering a coaching style based upon servant leadership and developing a positive psychological climate should be two fundamental objectives for a team to develop intrinsic motivation. In the future, a larger sample size would give more accurate information regarding the impact of these variables on a team’s success.

Advisor

Thelamour, Barbara

Department

Psychology

Disciplines

Community Psychology | Experimental Analysis of Behavior | Leadership Studies | Personality and Social Contexts | Sports Studies

Publication Date

2019

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2019 Madalyn Ireton