Perceived parental beliefs about the causes of success in sport: relationship to athletes' achievement goals and personal beliefs

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between perceived parental beliefs and young athletes' achievement goal orientations and personal beliefs about the causes of success in sport. Participants were 183 male and female athletes, 11-18 years old, involved in team sports. Athletes completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, the Beliefs about the Causes of Sport Success Questionnaire, and two modified versions of the latter inventory to assess their perceptions of their parents' beliefs. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that perceived parental beliefs were related to goal orientations and personal beliefs in a conceptually coherent fashion. Thus, the perceived parental belief that effort leads to success in sport was related to athletes' task orientation and personal belief that effort causes sport success. In contrast, the perceived parental beliefs that superior ability, external factors, and using deceptive tactics are precursors to success in sport corresponded to athletes' ego orientation and the same personal beliefs. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the socialization experiences of young athletes.

Influences of coaches, parents, and peers on the motivational patterns of child and adolescent athletes

“…Alternatively, cultural differences may play a role. The adaptive role of father-punishment observed within our sample of Chinese athletes was in contrast to typical findings from the Western countries (e.g., White & Duda, 1993;White et al, 2004). This might reflect the cultural differences in social interactions and inter-personal relationship.…”

“…Thus, it is important for researchers to investigate the factors that influence young people's experiences in sport. In particular, sport psychology researchers have been independently exploring how coaches, parents, and peers can create environments that will foster adaptive and maladaptive motivational outcomes in young athletes (e.g., White et al, 2004;Vazou et al, 2006). However, findings about the role of significant agents have been mixed across different theories.…”

Talking with young children about concussions: an exploratory study

“…Most of the participants mentioned watching sports on TV with a parent, a situation that presents opportunities for observational learning about concussions and can act as a conversation starter about concussion safety. Parents play a central role in educating children about health and safety: children's attitudes and behaviors for both health and sports are learned starting at a young age from their parents (Tinsley 1992;White et al 2004). Understanding how and why parents communicate with children about health and safety, and how existing literature suggests they can do so most effectively, can help inform effective educational program development related to concussions.…”

Building Autonomous Learners

“…Duda & Hom, 1993 ;Ebbeck & Becker, 1994 ;Fredricks & Eccles, 2005 ;White, Kavussanu, Tank, & Wingate, 2004 ). In some ways they were associated with the methods used to analyse the data.…”