A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON WHY SOME ATHLETES ARE SO MOTIVATED TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE THAT THEY LEAVE HOME
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Authors
HENRY, ANN
Issue Date
1997
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The researcher would like to discover why some athletes are so motivated at a • young age to pursue excellence in their sport that they leave home. What drives athletes to train for multiple hours a day, everyday, for numerous years while missing the many regular activities and opportunities that are accompanied with regular childhood?
What the investigator predominately hopes to discover in this qualitative study is a better understanding of the athlete's experience while using Susan Harter's perceived competence theory to help illuminate this experience. In general, the perceived competence theory believes that individuals _are motivated to demonstrate competence in an achievement area. Individuals exemplify this by engaging in mastery attempts such as learning and demonstrating sport skills. If the individual is successful, these mastery experiences result in feelings of efficacy and positive affect which leads to continued motivation to participate. Based on this theory, individuals who exhibit a high perceived competence and internal control will exert more effort, persist longer, and experience more positive affect than individuals lower in these characteristics (Horn, 1992).
Therefore, in this study, the researcher would like to use the perceived competer.ce theory and its research findings within the sport domain to help guide this qualitative inquiry of why some athletes are so driven at a young age to pursue excellence that they leave home. What factors influence their heightened motivation and their decision to leave home? The literature suggests there are personal and contextual factors that affect this desire to pursue excellence. These factors are: Personal: motivation and personality Contextual: parental influence and environment/climate Thus, in exploring the life experience of these athletes; the investigator will be attentive to the presence of a high perceived competence and internal control.