european college of sport science

Thursday, June 25th, 2009
MOTIVATION AND BURNOUT IN ELITE ATHLETES
LEMYRE, P.N., GUSTAFSSON, H.
NORWEGIAN SCHOOL OF SPORT SCIENCE
While competing in sports large doses of training and high quality motivation are necessary to perform at the elite level (Gould, Dieffenbach,
& Moffet, 2002; Lemyre, Roberts, & Stray-Gundersen, 2007). Unfortunately, some of the personal qualities necessary to achieve the
highest levels of performance in sports are also risk factors for experiencing debilitating levels of exhaustion often leading to athlete
burnout (Lemyre, Hall, & Roberts, 2008). When athletes suffer from burnout, they typically experience chronic fatigue, poor sleep patterns,
and bouts of helplessness. They may also complain about episodes of depression related to their sport participation, and not surprisingly
their performance is considerably impaired. Previous research findings have established a relationship between athlete burnout and
levels of self-determined motivation (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre, Treasure, & Roberts, 2006; Raedeke, 1997).
According to Self-Determined Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), on a continuum of self-determined motivation, intrinsic motivation is the most
self-determined form of motivation and amotivation is the least self-determined form of motivation, while different levels of extrinsic
motivation are found in between. These two forms of motivation are proposed to lie at the opposing ends of a self-determined continuum.
Earlier burnout research has found that amotivation is positively and intrinsic motivation negatively associated with burnout
(Cresswell & Eklund, 2005b; Raedeke & Smith, 2001). Furthermore, less self-determined motivation in the beginning of the season was
associated with burnout at the end of the season in elite athletes (Lemyre et al., 2007). Lemyre and colleagues (Lemyre, Treasure, &
Roberts, 2006) also found that motivation shifts along the self-determination continuum to less self-determined motivation during the
season was associated with higher burnout susceptibility in swimmers.
Thus, the aim of the current study was to investigate in parallel shifts in self-determined motivation and changes in burnout scores during
the season of competition. Participants were 73 national ski academy students (F=42, M=31) competing in xc-skiing (N=44) and ski orienteering
(N=29). Each week, for thirteen weeks, athletes answered to a translated version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaires (ABQ;
Raedeke & Smith, 2001) and the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS; Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000). Findings demonstrated a significant
negative relationship between shifts in quality of motivation and changes in burnout scores over a 13 weeks period. Decrease in
quality of motivation throughout the season is directly linked to an athlete’s susceptibility to experiencing feeling burned out. Furthermore,
shifts in amotivation throughout the season were a very potent predictor of change in athlete propensity to burn out. Study findings suggest
that monitoring quality of motivation of competitive athletes throughout the season may help steer athletes away from maladaptive
sport participation outcomes such as exhaustion and burnout.
PASSION FOR SPORT
DONAHUE, E., VALLERAND, R.J.
UNIVERSITE DU QUEBEC A MONTREAL
The purpose of this presentation is to show the applicability of the passion conceptualization (Vallerand et al., 2003) to the realm of sport
and exercise. Passion is defined as a strong inclination toward a self-defining activity that people like, that they find important, and in
which they invest a lot of time and energy. Two types of passion are proposed: obsessive and harmonious. Obsessive passion refers to
an uncontrollable internal urge to engage in the activity that the person likes that results from a controlled internalization of the activity in
one’s identity. On the other hand, harmonious passion results from an autonomous internalization that leads individuals to choose to
engage in the activity that they like. Harmonious passion promotes healthy adaptation whereas obsessive passion leads to less adaptive
outcomes. Results from a series of studies with athletes, in a sport setting will be presented, including some on persistence, injury, performance,
and subjective well-being. These studies support the role of passion in sport (elite and recreational) and pave the way to new
research.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERFECTIONISM AND PATTERNS OF ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING
HALL, H.K., HILL, A.P., APPLETON, P.R.
YORK ST. JOHN UNIVERSITY
While perfectionism is seen by some as a universally debilitating personality characteristic, associated with both psychological impairment
and distress, (Flett & Hewitt, 2002), others have argued that some forms of the construct reflect an adaptive form of achievement
striving (Haase and Prapevassis, 2004; Stoeber & Otto, 2006). This paper presents the findings from three empirical studies examining
the relationship between different forms of perfectionism and various patterns of achievement striving. The first study examined the
association between positive and negative perfectionism and patterns of achievement striving that included the endorsement of
trichotomous achievement goals (Elliot & Church, 1997). A second study examined the association between perfectionism, conscientious
achievement striving and maladjustment in junior elite cricket academy players. The third study examined the association between
various forms of perfectionism (Hewitt & Flett, 1991) and approach and avoidance achievement goals (Conroy et al., 2003) in a sample of
elite junior swimmers. Together, the findings from these three studies suggest that while all forms of perfectionism may lead to positive
outcomes, most forms of perfectionism demonstrate a less than adaptive motivational profile.
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