Taichung, Taiwan :Graduate Institute of Sports & Health Management, National Chung Hsing University
Abstract
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
