Peers, parents, and coaches, oh my! The relation of the motivational climate to boys' intention to continue in sport

Objectives: Motivational climates (Ames, 1992) and goal orientations (Nicholls, 1989) are essential in understanding children's experiences with sport. We examined the perceived task-involving motivational climates created by parents, peers, and coaches and their task goal orientation in relation to male adolescent athletes' sport competence, self-esteem and enjoyment, and ultimately, their intention to continue participating. Design: We used a cross-sectional design with a large convenience sample of male adolescent athletes from the U.S. (N = 405, ages 12-15 years). Method: Boys anonymously completed survey questionnaires during their physical education classes at school. Results: Task goal orientation was explained by task-involving parent, peer, and coach initiated motivational climates, although parent and peer climates were most influential. Boys with higher task goal orientations reported greater sport competence, self-esteem, and more enjoyment in sport. Intention to continue playing sport primarily was predicted by the boys' enjoyment, and secondarily, by their self-esteem. Conclusions: Consistent with past research, task motivational climates from parents, peers, and coaches play a key role in boys' enjoyment of their sport, which is essential for continued participation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.