Self-determined motivation and coping strategies in football players: A study with players at different stages of athletic development

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between coping and motivation in professional and amateur footballers in a first division team in the Brazilian football league. A total of 182 footballers at two different stages of their careers took part. Data collection was conducted using the Sport Motivation Scale and the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory. the Mann-Whitney test, the Spearman Correlation and Multiple Regression were used for data analysis. The results showed that players with a professional profile showed higher levels of self-determined motivation in comparison to players with a non professional profile, who also had a tendency towards demotivation. Professional players used more strategies for Confidence and Achievement Motivation, Peaking under Pressure and Goal Setting than non-professional players. Autonomous motivation had an impact on Coping with Adversity, Goal Setting and Confidence and Achievement Motivation strategies in professional players. It was concluded that, for professional players, autonomous motivation is a key factor in boosting coping, while the same relationship was not to be found in non-professional players.