Predictive Strength of Contextual and Personal Variables in Soccer Players' Goal Orientations

Psychological variables, such as perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality, have an influence on sports success performance. This study aimed to examine the relationships among a set of psychological variables (perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality) in male and female footballers. Participants were 167 footballers (106 male, 61 female), aged 12 to 26, competing with clubs in the Spanish Football League. They all took four questionnaires aimed at evaluating motivational climate, goal orientations, self-determined motivation, and personality. The analyses of correlation and regression showed statistically significant relations among the variables. Neuroticism and psychoticism negatively relate to mastery motivational climate, the best predictor of self-determined motivation. It was concluded that contextual variables carry more weight in predicting goal orientations and self-determined motivation among participant footballers.

Automated summary

Psychological variables, such as perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality, have a significant influence on sports performance, especially in male and female footballers. The study concluded that neuroticism and psychoticism are negatively related to mastery motivational climate, which can help predict self-determined motivation. Contextual variables play a crucial role in predicting goal orientations and self-determined motivation among participant footballers.