Basic Psychological-Need Satisfaction and Thwarting: A Study with Brazilian Professional Players of League of Legends

Abstract

Recently, the skill to play games has led to the professionalization of the activity in the form of “eSports” (electronic sports). Despite the popularity of eSports, little is known about its professional players from a psychological perspective. Given the importance of the coach-created environment in the athletes’ motivational processes, this study aimed to investigate the key psychological dimensions of the coach-created climate in 75 Brazilian professional players of League of Legends (LoL) considering the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Achievement Goal Theory (AGT). Fourteen hypotheses were tested, of which seven were confirmed. The empowering climate was a predictor of basic psychological-needs satisfaction and indirectly influenced autonomous motivation. The need satisfaction had a significant impact on both autonomous motivation and on lack of motivation, which, in turn, explained 56% of the variance in well-being and the intention to keep playing eSports. The disempowering climate was a predictor of psychological-needs thwarting but had no significant impact on autonomous motivation or lack of motivation. The results obtained support SDT and AGT in the context of eSports and were similar to those conducted with athletes from traditional sports, indicating that the empowering-and-disempowering-coaching-climates conceptualization applies not only to traditional sports athletes but also to professional eSports players.

Psychometric Properties of the Coach-Created Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire (EDMCQ-C) in a Brazilian Sample of Athletes: An ESEM Approach

“…After the modifications, the adjustments were acceptable to support a reduced 28-item two-factor model (2-ESEM) representing the Brazilian version of EDMCQ-C. By correlating the empowering and disempowering climate scale scores with the subscales of a validated instrument that assessing the BPNs [44], correlations of moderate to high magnitude emerged which aligned with our theoretically-based hypothesis (hypothesis 2). The only exception was the association between a disempowering climate and competence, which was negative (as expected) but not significant [7,22]. In general, the EDMCQ-C (BR) showed good internal consistency, discriminant, and predictive validity (hypothesis 3).…”

“…Namely, we tested the hierarchical structure originally proposed by Duda [21], but expected that an over-arching empowering climate dimension (marked by task-involving, autonomy-supportive, and socially-supportive features), and a disempowering climate dimension (characterized by ego-involving and controlling features) would be supported; Hypothesis 2. The empowering climate is expected to be significantly and positively correlated with the three BPNs (the needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and a disempowering climate correlated negatively with each BPN [7,22]. Hypothesis 3.…”

“…We also tested external measures: the relationships between the measure of a perceived empowering and disempowering climate as assumed in the Brazilian EDCMQ-C measurement model and the measures of the three BPNs. The empowering climate is expected to be significantly and positively correlated with each of the BPNs and a disempowering climate correlated negatively with the three BPNs [22].…”

“…After adaptation to the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil, an in-depth analysis of the factor structure of the original scale was conducted, including alternative analyzes of validity and reliability, to detect unsuitable items and improve the instrument's oper-ationalization. Testing of the predictive validity of the EDMCQ-C was then conducted, examining the theoretically expected relationships between an empowering and disempowering climate dimension and the three basic psychological needs of competence, relatedness, and autonomy [22]. Discriminant validity was tested to verify whether the dimensions of the EDMCQ-C are independent from one another [23].…”

Effects of a Physical Training Program on Cognitive and Physical Performance and Health-Related Variables in Professional esports Players: A Pilot Study

“…Thus, it may not be modified by the implementation of training programs, such as in this study. In addition, the study by Lopes Angelo et al [83] stated that the main determinants of the motivational climate in LOL players are the coaches and the competitive level. On this basis, the inclusion of a physical training program, despite its positive and beneficial influence on the health and performance of professional players, may not sufficiently modify parameters such as motivation and stress.…”