Personal and Sport Values, Goal Orientations, and Moral Attitudes in Youth Basketball

Abstract

In this study with 746 basketball players (M_age = 14.63, SD = 1.4), we examined the relationship between the personal values that guide their lives and their moral attitudes when they play basketball, and we explored how this relationship is mediated by both personal values towards sports practice and goal orientations. In addition, we analyzed the modulating role of perceived competence in the relationship between goal orientations and the moral attitudes of participants. The results confirm the relevance of personal values in the sport domain, and they point to the importance of instilling human values of self-transcendence (transcending the self in favor of the group), transmitting competence and moral values, and promoting task orientation in the athlete, in order to foster prosocial attitudes and diminish unsportsmanlike attitudes during the practice of basketball.