Motivation and Self-Confidence in Sport – lecture 2

Part A – Self-Confidence & Self-Efficacy

• Motivation and self-confidence are tightly linked: higher motivation ↔ higher self-confidence

• Two levels of confidence

  • Global (trait-like, personality disposition)

  • Situation-specific (belief in success on a particular task)

• Functional outcomes of self-confidence (Weinberg & Gould)

  • Arouses positive emotions

  • Facilitates concentration

  • Goal setting becomes more challenging

  • Increases effort & persistence

  • Enhances use of coping/focus strategies

  • Sustains momentum

Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory

• Definition: “Belief in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura 1997 p. 3)

• Core = personal agency / sense of control

• Preconditions for motivated action

  1. Person believes the outcome is under personal control

  2. Person believes they possess the ability to produce the outcome

• Self-efficacy alone ≠ guaranteed success; requires actual skill & desire

Six Sources of Self-Efficacy (Bandura)

1. Performance Accomplishments (mastery experiences)

   • Success → ↑ efficacy; failure → ↓ efficacy

   • Practical tips: scale difficulty, guarantee early success, use progress charts, raise difficulty progressively

2. Vicarious Experience (modelling)

   • Observing similar others or experts succeed → “If they can, I can”

   • E.g.

     • Participatory modelling: watch, then perform with assistance

3. Verbal Persuasion

   • Credible encouragement from coaches, teachers, peers or self-talk

   • Avoid negative, controlling comments

4. Imaginal Experiences

   • Use imagery/mental rehearsal to create a vivid movie of success (Jack Nicklaus quote)

   • Appearance & technique imagery can aid exercise adoption & maintenance

5. Physiological States

   • Interpretation of arousal symptoms (e.g., heart rate) as facilitative vs. debilitative

6. Emotional States

   • Positive emotions (happiness, excitement) → ↑ efficacy; negative emotions (anxiety, sadness) → ↓ efficacy

Research & Applied Evidence

• Efficacy–Performance correlations in sport range r = .19 to .73 (median =.54)

• Vargas-Tonsing et al.: Coaches rate top confidence-building methods

  1. Instruction & drilling

  2. Acting confident themselves

  3. Promoting positive self-talk

Practical Confidence-Building Guidelines

• Expect fluctuations; treat confidence as a variable

• Emphasise self-referenced evaluation (focus on your process, not others’ outcomes)

• Control the controllables: efforts, strategies, attitude—not results

• Three pillars

  1. Positive focus ("I will" self-talk & body language)

  2. Appropriate risk taking & courage

  3. Frequent experiences of success (even micro-successes)

  • Simulate pressure conditions in practice

Part B – Motivation

Definition & Importance

• Motivation = internal & external stimuli that arouse and direct behaviour; “direction and intensity of effort” (Sage 1977)

• Explains persistence, effort, and enjoyment in sport & exercise

• Coaches want: higher achievement, persistence, effort in practice & games

1. Interactional View

• Motivation = interaction of personal & situational factors

  • Personal: personality, needs, interests, goals

  • Situational: coach style, resources, team record

2. Achievement Goal Orientation Theory (Nicholls)

• Achievement motivation = striving for competence/excellence, overcoming obstacles

• Three interactive components

  1. Goal orientation (task vs. ego)

  2. Definition of success/failure

  3. Perceived ability

• Goal Perspectives

  • Ego (Outcome) Orientation

  • Social comparison; success = outperforming others via ability

  • Behavioural patterns: selective participation, excuse-making when ability is doubted

  • Task (Mastery) Orientation

  • Self-referenced improvement; success = skill development & effort

  • Behavioural patterns: persistence, challenge seeking, constructive feedback use

• Combination Outcomes

  • Optimal for youth: High task + high ego → high motivation & competence

  • Problematic: Low task + low ego (prevalent in many young women)

• Developmental/Gender Trends

  • Children: more task-oriented; begin to develop ego orientation ≈ age 10

  • Adolescents & males in elite contexts: more ego-oriented

3. Competence Motivation Theory (Harter)

• People are innately motivated to demonstrate competence in achievement domains

• Successful mastery → ↑ self-efficacy, positive affect, intrinsic motivation

• Repeated failure → ↓ perceived competence, negative affect, drop-out

• Optimal challenge: tasks neither too easy nor impossible; provide diagnostic information about skill

• Feedback loop: mastery attempts → perceived competence/control → affect → future effort → participation

4. Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation

• Intrinsic Motivation (IM)

  • Engaging for inherent satisfaction: knowledge, accomplishment, stimulation, autonomy

• Extrinsic Motivation (EM)

  • Engaging for separable outcomes: trophies, scholarships, salary, social approval

• SDT Continuum (low→high self-determination)
  \text{Amotivation} \;\rightarrow\;\text{External} \rightarrow\text{Introjected} \rightarrow\text{Identified} \rightarrow\text{Integrated} \rightarrow\text{Intrinsic}

Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan)

• Three basic psychological needs

  1. Autonomy: sense of volition, choice

  2. Competence: belief in capability to succeed

  3. Relatedness: feeling connected & cared for

• Satisfaction of all three → intrinsic motivation → sustained behaviour change

Cognitive Evaluation Theory (sub-theory of SDT)

• Environmental factors influence IM via perceptions of competence & autonomy

• Extrinsic rewards have dual aspects

  • Informational (enhance IM)

  • Controlling (undermine IM)

• Four CET Propositions (enhance vs. undermine IM)

  • Feel in control vs. controlled

  • High vs. low perceived competence

  • Challenge = skill level vs. mismatch

  • Rewards/feedback informational vs. controlling

Coach/Teacher Controlling Strategies that Undermine IM

1. Tangible rewards as bribes

2. Controlling feedback (negative, no instruction)

3. Excessive personal control/authoritarianism

4. Intimidation & punishment threats

5. Promoting ego involvement via public evaluation

6. Conditional regard & guilt tactics

Strategies to Enhance Intrinsic Motivation

• Minimise controlling external factors; use rewards as informational signals

• Provide autonomy support: involve participants in decisions

• Offer optimally challenging, individualised tasks; inclusive grouping

• Provide meaningful, specific feedback to boost perceived competence

• Emphasise personal improvement over social comparison

• Vary content & instruction to maintain novelty and interest

Attribution Theory (Weiner)

• People seek causal explanations for outcomes; attributions influence emotions, expectancy, motivation

• Basic attribution dimensions

  1. Stability (stable vs. unstable)

  2. Locus of Causality (internal vs. external)

  3. Controllability (controllable vs. uncontrollable)

• Example: winning swim race attributed to

  • Stable/internal/controllable (talent, race plan)

  • Unstable/external/uncontrollable (luck, weak opponents)

• Example: exercise drop-out attributed to

  • Stable/internal (lack of ability)

  • Unstable/external (poor instructor)

• Coaches/clinicians must assess and, when necessary, re-frame athletes’ attributions to sustain motivation

Integrated Application & Ethical/Practical Implications

• Injury-induced confidence loss (Steve Hooker quote) illustrates mastery & physiological source interactions

• Professional sport: high salaries and contracts can shift autonomy & intrinsic motivation; careful reward structuring needed

• PE & youth sport: focus on task orientation, autonomy support, and informational feedback to foster lifetime engagement

• Exercise adoption/adherence in community, adolescent, and older adults hinges on self-efficacy, optimal challenge, relatedness, and meaningful goals