A Longitudinal Study of Motivation and Well-being Indices in Marathon Runners

Motivational consequences of running were examined longitudinally, by assessing the significance of basic psychological need satisfaction, vitality, and burnout on marathoners' well-being when training toward a major running race. Within a self-determination theory (SDT) [8, 16] framework, one argues that the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have to be satisfied in order to experience optimal health and functioning [8, 16]. Additionally, previous research has revealed associations between need satisfaction, well-being, vitality, and burnout in sports participants [15, 36]. In the current study, the findings emphasized that need satisfaction, particularly the need for autonomy and competence, had the greatest influence on and was positively associated with well-being (p ＜ .01) over the course of a two-month training period. The importance of vitality and burnout was further underlined with a two-fold increase in predicting changes in well-being at the end of the training period (p ＜ .05). Additionally, important gender differences in the psychological adaption to training were unveiled, and the findings were more significant for women compared to men (f2 ＞ .28). Especially, female runners' experienced exhaustion during the tough training period represented significant changes in perceived well-being (p ＜ .001). Together, these findings suggest that monitoring motivational variables is crucial for experiences of well-being during great performances

Chapitre 5. Les aspects psychologiques de la récupération : état des recherches et outils de mesure

Introduction En psychologie du sport, peu d'études traitent directement de l'intérêt de la récupération (Kellmann et Kallus 2001), domaine principalement investi par la physiologie. Le terme « récupération » (en anglais « recovery ») est utilisé en psychologie du sport pour désigner principalement la convalescence qui suit la blessure (Brewer 2003), ou bien par les athlètes eux-mêmes pour qualifier les jours ou les moments de repos (Gustafsson et al. 2007). La littérature, en psychologie du s..

Development of exhaustion for high-performance coaches in association with workload and motivation: A person-centered approach

Objectives: The aim of the current study was twofold. First, to explore whether there were different trajectories of exhaustion among high-performance coaches over the course of a competitive season. Then, to investigate whether workload-related variables and motivational regulations were associated with exhaustion class membership. Methods and design: 299 high-performance coaches responded to an online survey at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, assessing exhaustion, workload, work home interferencz (WHI), recovery, and motivational regulations. Latent class growth analyses were used to identify different trajectories of perceived exhaustion. Further, multinomial logistic regression examined class associations for workload-related variables and motivational regulations at the start and at the end of competitive season. Results: Four different trajectories of perceived exhaustion among coaches were identified, termed respectively “High” (10%), “Increase” (15%), “Decrease” (4%) and “Low” (71%). Higher levels of workload and WHI were associated to classes with higher levels of exhaustion. Higher levels of recovery, and intrinsic and identified regulations were associated to classes with lower levels of exhaustion. Adaptive and maladaptive profiles were identified. Conclusions: Different trajectories of exhaustion among high-performance coaches over the course of a competitive season were found. A maladaptive profile was associated with higher perceived workload and WHI, as well as lower levels of recovery, intrinsic and identified regulations, when compared to the adaptive profile

Elite Football Coaches Experiences and Sensemaking about Being Fired : An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Chronic job insecurity seems to be a prominent feature within elite sport, where coaches work under pressure of dismissals if failing to meet performance expectations of stakeholders. The aim of the current study was to get a deeper understanding of elite football coaches' experiences of getting fired and how they made sense of that process. METHOD: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews was conducted with six elite football coaches who were fired within the same season. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was chosen as framework to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results reflected five emerging themes: Acceptance of having an insecure job, working for an unprofessional organization and management, micro-politics in the organization, unrealistic and changing performance expectation, and emotional responses. CONCLUSION: All coaches expressed awareness and acceptance regarding the risk of being fired. However, they experienced a lack of transparency and clear feedback regarding the causes of dismissal. This led to negative emotional reactions as the coaches experienced being evaluated by poorly defined expectations and by anonymous stakeholders. Sports organizations as employers should strive to be transparent during dismissal. In addition, job insecurity is a permanent stressor for coaches and should be acknowledged and targeted within coach education

Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches.

BACKGROUND: The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. In this context, (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches' perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological well- and ill-being over time. METHODS: HP coaches (n = 299) responded to an electronic questionnaire at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, designed to measure the following: job insecurity, values, psychological well-being (vitality and satisfaction with work), and psychological ill-being (exhaustion and cynicism). Structural equation model analyses were conducted using Mplus. RESULTS: Experiencing higher levels of job insecurity during the middle of the season significantly predicted an increase in coaches' psychological ill-being, and a decrease in their psychological well-being at the end of the season. However, value incongruence did not have a significant longitudinal impact. CONCLUSIONS: These findings cumulatively indicate that coaches' perceptions of job insecurity matter to their psychological health at work. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches and organizations acknowledge and discuss how to handle job security within the HP sport context