EJE TEMÁTICO: INTERNET Y EDUCACIÓN RESUMEN
I DIAGNÓSTICO
Within this thesis, then, there are four studies. The first study examines the intrapersonal psychological processes outlined by self-determination theory that produce engagement. That is, the inter-relationships between children’s psychological need satisfaction and their engagement in youth sport. The second study of this thesis extends this model to incorporate the role of the coach motivational style, and to examine the divergent pathways to engagement and disaffection via psychological need satisfaction and thwarting. In study three, the same set of relationships to those in study two are examined, but over three time points across a competitive soccer season. Study three sought to provide more robust support for the stability of the proposed model, as well as to identify any reciprocal and non-stable relationships. Finally, in study four, an extension to models tested in studies two and three is proposed and tested. In it, autonomy support from coaches was considered a moderating factor in the relationship between structure (external events such as rules, limits and feedback) and children’s psychological need satisfaction which, in turn, was expected to predict
their levels of engagement and disaffection. As a prelude to the empirical chapters that follow, these studies are now described.
2.13.1 Study one
In study one it was my intention to examine the role of psychological need satisfaction in children’s expressions of cognitive and affective engagement in youth sport. Specifically, as seen in Figure 2.2, I tested the cross-sectional inter-relationships between autonomy, competence and relatedness, and confidence, dedication,
enthusiasm and vigor. The impetus behind this initial study was two-fold. First, I wanted to test the specific dynamics of the psychological needs-engagement relationship as specified by self-determination theory. In other words, whether the psychological needs do indeed positively predict children’s engagement in youth sport and, if so, which psychological needs are most important in predicting which aspects of engagement. Second, I wanted to replicate and extend extant research on this topic by confirming the positive association between the psychological needs and athlete engagement in youth sports participants.
Research question: Is psychological need satisfaction correlated with athlete engagement in youth sports participants and, if so, which psychological needs are most important in predicting which aspects of engagement?
Key hypothesis: Psychological need satisfaction will have a positive multivariate relationship with athlete engagement.
Figure 2.2 The relationship between psychological need satisfaction and athlete engagement as tested in study one.
2.13.2 Study two
In study two, study one was extended to examine self-determination theory’s mediation model of children’s engagement an disaffection in youth sport. Following from study one, then, I wanted to examine the antecedent role of the coach
motivational style in relationships between the psychological needs and children’s engagement and disaffection. In doing so, I tested the validity of the psychological needs (both satisfaction and thwarting) as the unifying process underpinning the coach motivational style-engagement relationship. It was anticipated that support for this mediation model would substantiate the processes, outlined by self-determination theory, which are instrumental to children’s engagement and disaffection in youth sport. This model is presented in Figure 2.3.
Research question: Do the psychological needs mediate associations between coach motivational style and children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection in youth sport?
Key hypothesis: Coach autonomy support and control will share a positive indirect relationship with behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection respectively via psychological need satisfaction and thwarting.
Psychological Need Satisfaction
Engagement
Figure 2.3 Self-determination theory’s mediation model of children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection in youth sport as tested in studies two and three.
2.13.3 Study three
An important assumption of the causal process in Figure 2.3 is that of temporal precedence (i.e., the predictors precede the mediators that precede the criterions in time). One way in which this can be examined is by controlling for prior levels of the psychological needs and children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural
disaffection in the model. In study three, then, the same set of relationships tested in study two were examined longitudinally with three waves of data. By doing so, conclusions can be drawn regarding how a coach motivational style predicts changes in the psychological needs that, in turn, predict changes in children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection. Such changes not only give an indication of temporality in relationships (i.e., whether the psychological needs precede
engagement in time), but also stability in relationships (i.e., whether the strength of an
Coach Autonomy Support Psychological Need Satisfaction Behavioural Engagement
Aut Com Rel
Coach Control Psychological Need Thwarting Behavioural Disaffection
association changes over time). This information is useful because it captures the pathways tested in study two, as they dynamically unfold over time.
Research question: Does mid-season psychological need satisfaction and thwarting mediate associations between season start coach motivational style and season-end children’s behavioural engagement and disaffection in youth sport?
Key hypothesis: Season start coach autonomy support and control will share a positive indirect relationship with season-end behavioural engagement and
disaffection respectively via mid-season psychological need satisfaction and thwarting.
2.13.4 Study four
In the fourth study of the thesis I extended studies one, two and three by introducing the concept of structure and examining the moderating role of autonomy support in the mediation of structure to children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection via psychological need satisfaction. This model can be seen in Figure 2.4, and reflects a first stage moderated mediation model (i.e., where the path from structure to psychological need satisfaction is moderated by autonomy support). Structure is an important component of the social-context and refers to informational events such as the provision of rules, limits and feedback. As described by cognitive evaluation theory, these informational events serve to cultivate children’s competence, and thereby engagement, in youth sport. They are also enacted in a context of coach motivational style and, as such, it was my intention to examine the consequences of structure on behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection at high versus low autonomy support. Such tests provide important information
regarding how coaches’ provision of structure interacts with their motivational style to influence children’s engagement and disaffection in youth sport.
Research question: Is the mediation of coach structure to children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection in youth sport moderated by coach autonomy support?
Key hypothesis: Coach autonomy support will moderate the mediation of coach structure to children’s behavioural engagement and disaffection in youth sport because children who experience higher levels of autonomy support will show a stronger positive association between structure and basic psychological need satisfaction.
Figure 2.4 The moderated mediation model of children’s behavioural engagement and behavioural disaffection in youth sport as tested in study four.
Coach Autonomy Support Psychological Need Satisfaction Behavioural Engagement
Aut Com Rel
Behavioural Disaffection Structure (i.e.,
rules, limits, feedback)