WJEC A Level PE

1. A2 Physical Education
Motivation and Achievement Motivation

2. Remind ourselves of the definitions:
 Drive and desire needed for continued effort.
 External stimuli and internal mechanisms that arouse and
direct behaviour
Two parts:
 Inner drive – comes from our own satisfaction and need to
do task
 External rewards – what we want to win
Types of Motivation
 Intrinsic – comes from within – pride satisfaction – can be
promoted by achieving personal goals.
 Extrinsic – outside source – tangible and intangible
Definitions of Motivation

3.  Early research suggested that intrinsic and
extrinsic motivators are addictive so more the
merrier.
 However some research suggested that
extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic
motivation.
 We need to look at one particular theory on
this………………….
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

4.  CET suggests that anything that effects a
persons perception of competence and self-
determination will ultimately effect their
intrinsic motivation.
(Deci 1975) Cognitive evaluation theory
A theory developed by Deci according to
which extrinsic rewards are perceived to
be either informational or controlling

5.  CDT suggests that anything that effects a
persons perception of and
will ultimately effect their
intrinsic motivation.
Keywords explained
To function
effectively or be
effective or have a
level of skill
Being in control -
autonomy

6. Perceived locus
of causality
(external)
Cause of
behaviour lies
outside the person
Intrinsic
motivation
decreases
Positive
Information
of competence
Increased
perceived
competence
Intrinsic
motivation
increases
Negative
information of
competence
Decreased
perceived
competence
Intrinsic
motivation
decreases
Perceived locus
Of causality
(internal)
Cause of behaviour
lies inside
the person
Intrinsic
motivation
increases
Informational aspect of a reward
Controlling aspect of a reward

7. Perceived locus
of causality
(external)
Cause of
behaviour lies
outside the person
Intrinsic
motivation
decreases
Perceived locus
Of causality
(internal)
Cause of behaviour
lies inside
the person
Intrinsic
motivation
increases
Controlling aspect of a reward
Cognitive evaluation theory
L of C – what
causes a
person’s
behaviour

8.  If reward outside and controlling behaviour then this
reduces intrinsic motivation. I.e. controlled by
pressure to win or only playing for the money, to
conform to coaches demands and expectations.
 Athlete becomes in the position of a pawn who is
acted upon.
 People who are intrinsically motivated feel they do
something for themselves - they are self-determined. -
increases intrinsic motivation.
Control aspects of reward

9.  A 10 year old boy agrees to run 5 mile race with his Dad.
 As a further incentive to training – Dad promises him a sum
of money
 Boy refuses a second go at the race with his father the
following year – because he says “what’s in it for me?”
 Why did the boy lose interest? Because he perceived that
the primary reason for running was the money – money
controls his behaviour.
 Not doing it for intrinsic fun factors
Example……..

10. 6 controls used by coaches that undermine intrinsic motivation:
1. Tangible rewards
2. Controlling feedback e.g. A coach who only gives negative
feedback and not positive
3. Excessive personal control e.g. A coach who interacts with
athletes in an authoritative manner, commanding them to do
things
4. Intimidation behaviours e.g. Coaches who uses the threat of
punishments to push athletes to work harder
5. Promoting ego-involvement e.g. Coach evaluation an athlete's
performance in front of their peers
6. Conditional regard e.g. A coach who says things to make a
athletes feel guilt - you let me down
Research suggests……..

11. Positive
Information
of competence
Increased
perceived
competence
Intrinsic
motivation
increases
Negative
information of
competence
Decreased
perceived
competence
Intrinsic
motivation
decreases
Informational aspect of a reward

12. If an external reward provides
feedback that increases a person’s
sense of competence and self-
determination – this leads to an
increase in intrinsic motivation
Informational Aspects

13.  A 13 year old girl competed in a singles tennis
competition and won an award for accomplishment
 The certificate stated – “in recognition of your
placing in the top ten of the City Tournament”
 This is positive feedback about her performance
giving the girl a feeling of competence and self-
determination
 Increased intrinsic motivation – goes on
to play several more tournaments.
Example……

14.  That every external reward has two aspects –
o Controlling aspect and informational aspect
 A change in locus of control from internal to external is
associated with a loss of self-determination and control
 Not the actual strength of the reward but the perceived
strength of the controlling or informational aspect that
makes the difference
 The theory indicates the potential danger of rewards but
also highlights the information value they give – rewards
that give positive feedback on ability often lead to greater
intrinsic motivation
C.E. Theory – Key points
Links to
reinforcement

15.  If an athlete perceives the locus of causality as internal
then this promotes intrinsic motivation
 e.g. Sport and exercise programmes that provide individuals
with opportunities for input about choice of activities,
personal goals, team objectives - results in higher intrinsic
motivation.
 Informational aspects of rewards - information that effects
how competent we feel. E.g. Receiving most valuable player
award reinforces someone's opinion on their competency.
 In summary for a reward to be successful they need to be
about specific levels of performance or behaviour.

16.  If a coach is always negative in their approach an athlete can
internalise this negativity as negatives about their value and
worth and this can lower intrinsic motivation.
 Third major element of CET is whether an athlete perceives a
reward as controlling or informational e.g. Giving trophies to
recognise a reams or individuals achieves may seem good but
depends in whether an athlete perceives this as information on
their competency or controlling their behaviour.
 In general perceived choice ads positive feedback bring out
informational aspects whereas rewards deadlines and
surveillance make the controlling aspect more noticeable.
 Example of wrestling student performer who was given lots of
control and positive feedback but still lacked intrinsic
motivation because father had forces him to join team.

17.  “an individual’s motivation to strive for success, which
enables the individual to persist even when he or she
meets obstacles and perhaps failure” (Woods, 1998, P2)
 It is viewed as an aspect of personality (and therefore
stable) and also situation specific (Atkinson, 1964)
 Motive to achieve success defined as: “the capacity to
experience pride in accomplishments”
 Motive to avoid failure defined as:”the capacity to
experience shame in failure” (Gill, 2000, p104)
Achievement Motivation

18.  All have these two motives to some extent.
 Difference between the two motives provides
personality factor called achievement motivation
 Measure the difference (attitude
scales/questionnaires!)
 But must also consider the situation factors
Achievement Motivation

19. Personality
Factors
Motive to
achieve
success
Motive to
avoid
failure
Situational
Factors
Probability
of success
Incentive
value of
success
Resultant
Tendency
Approach
success
Avoid
failure
Emotional
Reactions
Focus on
pride of
success
Focus on
shame of
failure
Achievement
Behaviour
Seek out
achievement
situations
Look for
challenges
Enhanced
performance
Avoid
achievement
situations
Avoid risk
(Challenges)
Perform
poorly
=
=

20. High achiever Low achiever
Motivational
orientation
High motivation to achieve
success
Low motivation to avoid failure
Focuses on the pride of success
Low motivation to achieve success
High motivation to avoid failure
Focuses on shame and worry that
may result from failure
Attributions Ascribes success to stable and
internal factors
Ascribes failure to unstable and
external factors
Ascribes success to unstable and
external factors
Ascribes failure to stable and
internal factors within one’s control
Goals
adopted
Usually adopts task goals Usually adopts outcome goals
Perceived
competence
and control
Has high perceived competence
and believes that achievement is
within own control
Has low perceived competence and
believes that achievement is
outside own control
Task Choice Seeks out challenges and able
competitors and tasks
Avoids challenges; seeks out very
difficult or very easy tasks and
competitors
Performance
conditions
Perform well in evaluative
conditions
Performs badly in evaluative
conditions
Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Weinberg, Daniel Gould

21. n.Ach n.Af
Seeks challenges
Standards are important
Persists for longer
Values feedback
Enjoys evaluation situation (likes to be
tested)
Not afraid of failure
Takes responsibility for own actions
Optimistic
Confident
Task goal – orientated
Attributes performance to internal
factors e.g. Success = effort failure =
lack of effort
Avoids challenge – takes easy option
Dislikes 50 – 50 situation
Gives up easily
Does not like feedback
Dislikes evaluation situations
Performs worse in evaluation
situations
Avoids personal responsibility
Blames failure on external factors e.g.
“The rain is effecting my vision” or “I
don't play well on this surface”
Pessimistic
Low confidence
Takes a long time over a task
Outcome goal orientated
Personality component:
Comparison of a n.Ach & n.Af

22. Development of AM (Veroff, 1969)
Autonomous
Competence Stage
Social Comparison Stage
Integrated Stage

23.  Begins around Age 5-6.
 A child focuses directly on
comparing directly his
performance with others
 Who is faster, bigger, smarter
and stronger?
Veroff, 1969

24. Before age of 4
Child focuses on
mastering their
environment and on
self-testing
Veroff 1969

25.  Integrates previous 2 stages
 Person who fully masters this
stage knows when it is
appropriate to compete and
compare and when to adopt
self-referenced standards
 No typical age for entering
this stage
Veroff 1969

26.  If we can recognise the stage a child is in – the better
we understand the child
 We must aim for all to develop to an integrated stage
 Must teach young people when to compete and
when not to.
 Coaches and parents must make sure young people
are not confronted with repeated failure
 Importance of winning is de-emphasized
 Success is viewed in terms of effort and improvement
Implications for coaching young
children

27.  encourage independence and reinforce a child’s efforts at becoming
independent
 Be warm and encouraging to their children
 Comfort and support their children when setbacks, fear and
discouragement occur
 Expect their children to be able, competent and responsible
 Demonstrate confidence in their children’s ability by resisting the urge
to take charge
 Allow and expect many trials for a child to master a task – appreciate
the small steps
 Applaud success
 Pay attention to their child’s efforts. Listen to problems. Pay attention
Parental role (Summary of research)
Parents should:

28.  Allow early success
 Raise self-efficacy (sport specific
self-confidence)
 Attribute success internally and
failure externally
 Use rewards and reinforcement
 Promote intrinsic motivation with
personal goals
 Show successful, attainable role
models
 Redefine failure
 Control arousal with relaxation
techniques
Developing AM

29.  Measuring AM – unreliable measures (Attitude scales)
 Calculating AM 0 not clear how the scores for each motive
should be interpreted
 Link between AM and performance – no clear relationship
– research contradictory
 AM a ‘global’ concept – used to cover achievement in
general so more useful to breakdown concept of AM – e.g.
AM not same in all activities for an individual
 So sport psychologists started to look at competitiveness
Issues & criticisms………

30.  Martens suggested that the motive to success
combined with the motive to avoid failure leads to a
measure of competitiveness.
 That Nach and Naf motives in a sporting setting were:
 Motive to avoid failure = Competitive trait anxiety
 Motive to approach success = competitiveness
Competitiveness (Martens, 1976)

31.  Competitiveness made of 3 parts:
 Competitiveness (working towards success in sport specific situations)
 Win orientation (working to win competitions between individuals/sporting events)
 Goal orientation (Desire to reach personal goals)
 Gill (1986) defines competitiveness as a sport-specific form of achievement
motivation. It is linked with an athlete's win orientation (the desire to win
interpersonal competitive sporting events) and goal orientation (the desire to
reach personal goals in sport). (BEST DEFINITION TO LEARN)
 Research done using a Sport Orientation Questionnaire (Gill and Deeter – 1988)
 Males score higher on competitiveness and win orientation
 Females score higher on goal orientation
 Athletes scored higher than non=athletes on most dimensions of the SOQ
 Athletes were more concerned than non-athletes about performance and less
about outcome than non-athletes
Competitiveness (Martens, 1976)

32. Defined as the motive to
avoid failure within a
sporting context
Competitive Trait Anxiety

33.  Clearly the more confident you are and specifically
the more self-efficacy you have in a particular
situation the more likely you are to show approach
behaviour
 Therefore display a Nach personality
 Confidence and Self-efficacy is our next topic
Link to Self-confidence and Self-efficacy

34.  Define achievement motivation and competitiveness
and explain fully, using examples, different motives
that athletes may hold
Exam Q – June 2011

35.  Q.1 (a)Define achievement motivation and competitiveness and explain fully, using examples, the
different motives that athletes may hold. [4]
 Achievement motivation can be defined as an individual's drive to strive for success. It is viewed as
an aspect of personality (and therefore, stable) and also situation-specific (Atkinson, 1964).
 Athletes are fuelled by this achievement motive to seek out success and avoid failure and are
prepared to defeat others in pursuit of reaching their individual goals.
 Gill (1986) defines competitiveness as a sport-specific form of achievement motivation. It is linked
with an athlete's win orientation (the desire to win interpersonal competitive sporting events) and
goal orientation (the desire to reach personal goals in sport).
 McClelland and Atkinson (1953) model of achievement motivation proposes that athletes hold two
different motives: the motive to achieve success (NAch) and the motive to avoid failure (NaF).
 Athletes with a high motive to achieve success will seek out challenges, show high levels of
persistence, value feedback (both positive and negative) from others and enjoy performing in
situations where they may be evaluated by others. They will not be afraid of failure. Attacking
players tend to be NAch whilst defenders tend to be NaF although this is very generalised.
 Athletes with a strong motive to avoid failure tend to worry about their performance, avoid risk
and tend to avoid situations in which they may be judged. They prefer to play against opponents
that they know they can beat easily (and thus guarantee success) or where defeat is inevitable
(and so failure cannot be attributed to them and their ego can be protected).
 Appropriate examples of each motive will need to be offered and explained.
 Some candidates may discuss extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and ego and task orientations.
Credit should be given for this providing the response is discussed in detail.
 [1+1+2 for discussing motives]