Pediatnc Exercise Science, 1993, 5, 224-233 0 1993 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Motivation for Participation in Physical Activity: A Comparison of Parent-Child Perceived Competencies and Participation Motives

Penny McCullagh, Karen T. Matzkanin, Susan D. Shaw, and Marcela Maldonado

An important issue facing sport psychology researchers as well as prac- titioners is understanding the motives of children involved in youth sport programs. The present study extended previous work in this area by examin- ing parental perceptions of their children's motivations and perceived compe- tencies in addition to the typically assessed variables of youth-reported motives and perceived competencies. Eighty-one children and one of their parents from a youth soccer league served as subjects for this study. Results indicated that children and parents alike ranked intrinsic motives such as feelin3 good and having fun as primary reasons for participation. In addition, both parents and children rated external reasons as the lowest priorities for participation. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that children rated all the motive subscales more positively than their parents. No significant relationships were found between perceived competencies and motives.

Within the last 10 years researchers in sport psychology have become increasingly interested in motivational issues related to youth sport (see 32 for a review). Research studies have focused on a wide range of topics including coaching behaviors (30), participation motives (10, 19), sources of enjoyment, anxiety, and stress (4, 21, 26, 27, 28), and reasons for quitting sport (5). Under- standing these behaviors is essential for sport psychologists and can have im- portant implications for practitioners in youth sport programs.

The earliest studies examining participation motives in youth sport were very descriptive in nature. In general, youth sport participants were asked to assess their motivation on a multi-item inventory with the responses subsequently reduced to a smaller number of categories. As early as 1981 Passer (23) catego- rized motives into the categories of skill development, affiliation, excitement/ challenge, success/status, fitness, and release of energy. Subsequent examination of motives across a wide range of sport participants and activities has generally

Penny McCullagh is with the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. Karen Matzkanin, Susan Shaw, and Marcela Maldonado were students at the time of this study.

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acknowledged the existence of these motives as well as some additional ones including competitive motives and fun (10, 12, 31).

Although these early studies provided some valuable information on why children might participate in sport, Gould (1 1, 13) suggested the need for more theoretical research in the area if a comprehensive understanding of youth sport participation and withdrawal is to be achieved. He suggested that three current theoretical frameworks could serve as promising bases from which to examine motivation (13). The first approach was Smith's (29) cognitive-affective model of stress. This approach, originally designed to address sport burnout, suggests that if there is an imbalance between the perceived demands of the situation and the perceived resources available to the individual, stress occurs which could lead to withdrawal. On the other hand, if individuals perceive they have sufficient resources to meet the demands of the situation and their motives are being fulfilled, then participation motivation may be enhanced. Although this approach may be viable for examining motivational issues in youth sport, thus far it has not been empirically tested and published in the participationmotivation literature.

A second theoretical approach discussed by Gould and Petlichkoff (13) was the achievement motivation approach of Maehr and Nicholls (20). According to this theory, individuals are primarily motivated by their goal orientations. Later modifications of the theory by Nicholls (22) suggested that individuals are primarily motivated by either task involvement or ego involvement. A task oriented individual is primarily motivated to master the skill, and perceptions of competence are gained through comparisons to his or her previous performance. Ego involved individuals, on the other hand, gain perceptions of competence through social comparison with other individuals. Although the achievement goal approach has a great deal of intuitive appeal and has received theoretical attention in the sport literature (6,7,25), limited empirical work has been conducted using this perspective to examine participation motives in youth sport (e.g., 8,24), and only recently have sport-specific measures of achievement goal orientations been developed (see 7).

The theoretical approach that has received the most empirical attention in the literature on sport participation motivation (e.g., 9, 19) is based on Harter's competence motivation theory (14, 15). Within this framework, an individual's desire to demonstrate competence through mastery experiences is the basis for intrinsic motivation. If independent attempts at mastery experiences are success- ful, children's internal sense of control and perceived competence are bolstered as well as their positive affect. These increases in turn lead to continued motivation and participation. Conversely, extrinsically motivated individuals are hypothe- sized to avoid mastery attempts since these will lead to anxiety and low perceived competence, thus resulting in low motivation to continue participation.

An example of sport motivation research based on Harter's theory was provided by Klint and Weiss (19), who argued that many descriptive studies had examined motives and perceived comp6tencies but had not adequately examined the relationship between these consmcts. Their primary hypothesis was, "percep- tions of competence are intimately tied to participant motives"' (p. 57). To examme this prediction, >Klint and Weiss vsed a modified version -of the Gill et al. (10) motivation inventory as well as khe p h ~ i c a l , sodd, and cognitive snb- scdes of Harter's perceivedcompetemx *inventory with jrmfth gymnastics pa~tici- gants. Using Passer's -(23) dassification of participant motives, they mpporEed

226 - McCullagh, Matzkanin, Shaw, and Maldonado

their hypothesis that children high in perceived physical competence rated skill development as more important than children who were low in perceived physical competence, whereas children high in perceived social competence were more motivated by affiliation and excitement than those who were low in social compe- tence. Thus these findings support some of the tenets within competence motiva- tion theory and suggest that, indeed, perceived competencies are linked to motives.

Harter also places a great deal of emphasis on the role of significant others in the socialization process, although this aspect of the model has only received modest attention in the sport psychology literature in terms of coaching influences (1, 18). This void in examining the important role of socialization agents in influencing children's sport participation has been noted in recent reviews by both Weiss (32, 33) and Brustad (3). Unfortunately, few studies have examined both parental and youth perceptions.

Burton and Martens (5) addres'sed this issue when they examined percep- tions of participants and dropouts in youth wrestling. Interestingly, they found that as long as children were still participating in wrestling, they and their parents had similar perceptions as to why other children might quit the sport. Once children actually dropped out, however, they and their parents had quite different perceptions of the reasons for dropping out. The dropouts said they found other things to do and that wrestling was no longer fun, whereas the parents perceived that their children had no motivation and just didn't care about the activity anymore. This research could be extended to examine the relationship between parent and child motives for participation, and to question the link between motives and perceived competencies.

We attempted to extend previous work in the area of participation motives as well as examine some of the previously identified missing links in youth sport research (3 , 33). In replication of previous work (19), we assessed youth participation motives and perceived competencies. In addition we assessed par- ents' perceptions of motives and competencies. In line with previous research (1 9) , it was predicted that high perceived athletic competence would relate strongly to skill development motives whereas high perceived social competence would be related to affiliation needs. Finally, it was of explanatory interest to examine the relationship between the perceptions held by parents versus those held by the child concerning the latter's motives, and the perceptions held by parents of their child's perceived competencies.

Method

Subjects

The subjects, 81 youths between the ages of 7 and 14 (M=10.8, SD=1.7), consisted of 22 females and 59 males. Subjects were recruited from a recreational soccer league in a city of approximately 80,000 inhabitants and consisted primarily of Caucasian middle- to upper middle-class children. This recreational league dif- fered from the competitive leagues in the area in the following characteristics: there were fewer practices per week, there was no season-end play, and the teams did not travel out of town for games. Parents signed informed consents and children were read an assent and then signed a consent agreement. Research assistants helped the younger children complete the questionnaires. Children were

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assured that parents and coaches would not be shown their answers. One parent of each youth also completed a survey (39 mothers, 42 fathers).

Measures

Participation Motivation. A modified 27-item version of the Gill et al. (10) and Klint and Weiss (19) instrument was used to assess motives for participa- tion. The words "I like" or "I want" were deleted from the beginning of each item in order to make the items less cumbersome for the children to read. The items were ranked on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (not a t all important) to 5 (very important). Parents were also asked to complete the same inventory and to consider why they thought their child participated.

Perceived Competence. Harter's (16, 17) perceived competence inven- tory was used to assess perceived competence. The domains of social and athletic competence were assessed, each containing six items in a 4-point alternative structure format. This format consists of questions structured so that the participant first chooses one of two listed characteristics that is most descriptive of him or her, then decides whether that characteristic is "really like" or "sort of like" him or her. It should be noted that the athletic domain assessed here corresponds to the physical domain assessed by Klint and Weiss (19). Parents completed an abbreviated six-item form of this inventory that asked them to assess their chil- dren's competencies in the social and athletic subdomains.

Procedure

The executive board of the Youth Soccer League gave permission to collect data, and coaches were informed that the study was being conducted. Most of the children were approached at practices or after games and were asked to help in the study by completing the surveys. Only children who had at least one parent in attendance participated, which facilitated the signing of parental consents. Instructions for each questionnaire were administered, and younger children who had difficulty reading the inventories were assisted by research assistants. Parents were also given verbal instructions before completing the inventories. Parents and their children did not interact while completing the inventories.

Results

Descriptive Information

Table 1 shows the motive rankings that childfen and parents gave to each of the 27 items. Parents and children rated the same three items as the most important motives. These motives were very intrinsic and related to having fun and feeling good. The bottom six reasons for both groups were clearly extrinsic and related to social comparison with others, uniforms, equipment, and extrinsic rewards. Clearly the children perceived-as did their parents-that they were more moti- vated by internal than by external factors. Based on Passer's (23) findings as well as those of Klint and Weiss (19), motives were classified into seven oatego- ries: skill/mastery, ego/competitiveness, fitness, team factors, funlexcitement, recognition, and affiliation. The individual motives were grouped into categories so they could be used in subsequent analyses. To determine whether the subscales

228 - McCullagh, Matzkanin, Shaw, and Maldonado

Table 1

Motives Reported by Children and Parents for Soccer Participation

Motive Children Parent

Mean Rank Mean Rank

To have fun Feel good when I have played well To have a good time The challenge To get exercise To learn new skills Being on a team To stay in shape To improve skills To do something I am good at To be with friends To be physically fit The team spirit The excitement Thecoaches The action To feel important To meet new friends To compete To gain recognition To compete against others To please others important to me To test my ability against others The equipment The uniforms To win against others The ribbons and trophies

Note. Standard deviations ranged from .56 to 1.3.

were internally consistent, Cronbach's alpha reliability was calculated for each subscale and these are reported for both children and parents in Table 2. An alpha reliability coefficient of .5 was considered sufficient for subsequent analysis.

Correlational Analyses

The relationship of parent and child's perceived social competencies (e.46) and the relationship of parent and child's perceived athletic competencies (r=.52) were moderate and significant, p<.Wl. Thus, children's self-percephs and parents' perceptions of their 6hild's competencies were sigmficantly related. However, the relationship of children" s ~erceived competencies and their motives were low anxi nonsignificant (r=.001 to .26), as were the correlations beween

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Table 2

Motive Subscales and Alpha Reliability Coefficients

Youth Parent

Subscale Rank M SD a M SO a Rank

Fitness To stay in shape To be physically fit To get exercise

Skilltmastery To improve skills To learn new skills Feel good when I have played well To do something I'm good at To compete The challenge

Funtexcitement To have fun To have a good time The team spirit The excitement The action

Affiliation To be with friends To meet new friends

Recognition To gain recognition To please others important to me To feel important

Team factors The coaches The uniforms The equipment The ribbons and tropies Being on a team

Ego/competitiveness To win against others To test my ability against others To compete against others

parents' perceptions of athletic and social competencies and their children's motives (r=.OO to -14). Furthermore, the correlations between children's motives and parents' perceptions of children's motives were nonsignificant and low (r= .00 to .27). Thus, except for perceived competencies, it appears as though children and parents have different perceptions of motives, and neither the perceived competencies of children nor those of parents are related to motives.

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Parent-Child Comparisons

Although the simple correlations reported above provided some insight into the relationship of parent and child perceptions, it was of interest to directly compare the values reported by children and their parents across motive subscales. Means and rankings for both children and parents are displayed in Table.2. As can be seen, the children ranked skill mastery, fun, and fitness as most important while parents rated fun, mastery, and affiliation as most important. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted comparing the children and parents across the seven motive subscales. A significant group effect was found, Wilks' lambda = .63, F(7, 144) = 11.72, p<.001. Follow-up univariate tests produced significant differences on all of the motive subscales, and examination of the mean scores indicated that children rated all domains as more important than their parents. A MANOVA comparing parents and children on perceived social and athletic competencies produced no significant differences, Wilks' lambda = .99, F(2, 151) = .71, p>.05, suggesting that children and their parents had similar perceptions of the child's competencies.

Relationship of Perceived Competence and Motives

To determine whether there was a relationship between children's perceived competencies (athletic and social) and motives, as well as between parent percep- tions of perceived competencies and motives, canonical correlations were calcu- lated. No significant differences were found.

Discussion

The findings of the present study are in line with findings from previous research examining motives in youth sport. Children in the present study participated in a relatively low-key league in a team-sport environment and had motivations similar to those previously reported by individual-sport athletes (12, 19) as well as by team-sport athletes (31). In general, intrinsic motives for participation such as playing well and having fun were ranked extremely high by youth (M = 4.5 and higher on a 5-point scale), whereas extrinsic factors such as ribbons, trophies, and winning against others were ranked as not very important (Mc3.5). Interest- ingly, when parents were asked why they thought their children participated, they chose motives similar to those chosen by their children. Intrinsic motives were ranked as very important (M = 4.2 and higher on a 5-point scale) while extrinsic motives were ranked as not very important. These findings provide hope, since they suggest an intrinsic motivational focus for both children and their parents that should lead to greater long-term motivation (15). Also in support of previous research (2) was the finding that children have multiple and varied motives for participation in sport.

Interestingly, the fitness factor attained the highest internal consistency for children and was ranked by them as a very important factor (tied for first place). Brodkin and Weiss (2), in examining their own and previous research on participa- tion motives, found fitness to be an important factor across a wide range of sport participants and suggested that social desirability to respond according to adult expectations may be playing a role in these children's positive responses. Such an explanation may hold true for the present data as well, since the community

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from which these subjects were drawn is well known for its high level of physical activity participation across all age groups. In fact, the demographic information provided by parents suggests that 75% of the parents themselves participate in physical activity on a weekly or daily basis.

Since the league in which the children participated was a recreational league with little emphasis on external rewards, it is not surprising that children ranked external factors (ego, team, recognition) as least important. An interesting exten- sion of the current research would be to assess recreational sport participants and children in a more competitive league, or perhaps follow children longitudinally as they make the transition from one league to another. The achievement motivation approach (7,22) could perhaps provide a viable theoretical framework from which to examine these issues by assessing parental, coach, and program motivation in addition to athlete's motivations. It may well be that if a child's goal orientation does not correspond to either coach, program, or parental goals, the resulting disparity may lead to decreased motivation. For example, if a child has grown accustomed to a recreational or mastery oriented program but is selected to play in a more highly competitive program that emphasizes social comparison, it may be difficult for the child to adapt psychologically. To clearly examine this issue, it would be necessary to follow children longitudinally as they make this transition. Such an approach might prove useful in examining the sport withdrawal issues and suggests the need to examine the social structure of the activity in addition to personal motivations (3, 33).

The lack of a relationship between (a) perceived social and athletic compe- tencies and (b) motives was disappointing, considering the stated research hypoth- esis based on past research and theory (14, 19). The lack of a demonstrated relationship could be due to a number of factors. The number of subjects in the present study was relatively small (8 1 children, 8 1 parents) and children ranged from 7 to 14 years of age. As previously demonstrated by Brodkin and Weiss (2), the motive structures may have a developmental basis that varies across age groups, and the variability caused by this factor may have weakened the results. Also, the two primary motive factors to be examined theoretically (affiliation and skill/mastery) had the lowest internal consistency of all subscales, and this may have detracted from the power of the multivariate tests employed. Although the singular motives were examined within various subscales in an attempt to increase the alpha reliabilities, a large sample would have allowed for a factor analysis to be conducted.

In conclusion, the procedures employed in the present study suggest differ- ences in the reasons for motivation stated by children and their parents. Across all motive subscales, children rated the motives as more important than their parents. In general, the pattern of motive importance as indicated by rankings (Table 2) suggests that fitness, skill mastery, affiliation, and fun are very important aspects of participation for both children and their parents. Future research should examine both parents and coaches as important socializing agents in youth sport programs (3, 32, 33).

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Author Notes

This project was partially supported by funds from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) awarded to the third and fourth authors under the direction of the first author. Karen Matzkanin was a graduate student at the time of this study. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Seattle, 1990.

The authors would like to thank Maureen Weiss for her helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.