Barnaschone, Melissa Tristan
English: Internationally, sport has become a profession and the desire for success has resulted in sporting professionals constantly searching for means to enhance performance levels. Despite the fact that South Africa has produced a large number of world-class athletes, it is both necessary and essential to constantly strive to advance the performance levels and consistency of both our existing and prospective athletes, in order to sustain and continue achieving success at the elite level. The collective theory and research reviewed in this study have clearly indicated that the perceptions, level of motivational orientations and psychological well-being of athletes explain and predict their performance within their sport. In addition, these psychological characteristics are significantly affected by the leadership style exhibited by the coach. Thus, in order to gain a more accurate and comprehensive interpretation of athletes’ sporting behaviour, the socio-environmental influences need to be taken into account. As a core objective of self-determination theory is to grasp the effect of the social environment on an individual’s motivation, well-being, affect and behaviour, it was the theory of choice in providing a conceptual framework for the current study. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between perceived need-supportive leadership (as a core socio-environmental influence) and the participation motivation, psychological well-being and performance levels of South African top achieving sporting youth. Firstly, relationships were tested between perceived need-supportive leadership and athletes’ motivation, psychological well-being and self- and coach-rated performance. Secondly, the accuracy of a theoretical model, depicting that athletes’ perceived need-supportive leadership of the coach leads to enhanced motivation, psychological well-being and heightened performance, was determined. Thirdly, was the investigation of meaningful differences with respect to the athletes’ perceived need-supportive leadership, motivation, psychological well-being and performance variables across gender and race. A non-experimental, cross-sectional survey research design utilising self-report measures was selected to investigate the various factors at hand. The total sample consisted of 453 team-sport athletes, recruited from four athletic teams (mean age = 17.3 years), and 33 coaches. The athletes comprised both genders, male (mean age = 17.5 years) and female (mean age = 17.1 years) and two main racial groups, black (mean age = 17.1 years) and white (mean age = 17.4 years). The coaches were representative of both genders and both black and white racial groups. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) were computed to determine the correlations between athletes’ perceived need-supportive leadership and motivation; psychological well-being; and performance. A non-directional, two-tailed test of significance was applied, largely confirming the hypotheses that perceived need-supportive leadership is positively related to an increase in the athletes’ autonomous motivation (medium effect sizes), psychological well-being (small to medium effect sizes) and self- and coach-rated personal performance (small to medium effect sizes). The partial least squares (PLS) approach to structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised in evaluating the results relating to the process or paths depicting the variables influencing optimal performance. The conceptual model with its hypothesised paths indicated significant path coefficients and explained 26% of the variance in performance, for the total group of athletes. In determining significant differences between the path coefficients of the gender and racial groups, a PLS-SEM multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was executed for comparing the PLS-SEM model estimates of each group. In general, SDT’s notion of universality held true for the models fitted to the gender and racial groups. Unique to this study, however, was the finding of gender differences in the pathway between perceived coaching style and autonomous motivation, reflecting a stronger influence for the female group and thus suggesting that female athletes’ autonomous motivation is more strongly influenced by the coaches’ perceived coaching-style than is the case for their male counterparts. A perceived need-supportive leadership style may thus be regarded as an important impetus for enhancing quality motivation and psychological well-being and thus promoting optimal performance.
Afrikaans: Sport het internasionaal ‘n professionele beroep geword, wat meebring dat professionele atlete voortdurend na wyses streef om hul sukses en prestasievlakke te verbeter. Alhoewel Suid-Afrika ‘n groot aantal wêreldklas atlete geproduseer het, is dit beide nodig en noodsaaklik om voortdurend na die bevordering en volharding van huidige en voornemende atlete se prestasievlakke te streef, en sodoende sukses op elite vlak voort te sit en te onderhou. Die gemeenskaplike teorie en navorsing wat in dié studie hersien is, wys duidelik daarop dat atlete se persepsies, vlak van motiverende oriëntasies en psigologiese welstand hul prestasie in hul spesifieke sportkode kan verklaar en voorspel. Daarbenewens word die bogenoemde psigologiese eienskappe betekenisvol beïnvloed deur die leierskapstyl wat deur ‘n afrigter gevolg word. Sodoende, om ‘n akkurater en omvattende interpretasie van atlete se sportgedrag te verkry vereis ook dat sosio-omgewingsinvloede in ag geneem word. Gevolglik, is die self-determinasie teorie (SDT) as konseptuele raamwerk vir die huidige studie gebruik weens dié teorie se kern doelstellings, wat beoog om die impak van sosiale omgewings op ‘n individu se motivering, welstand, affek en gedrag te ondersoek en te beskryf. Die doelwit van die studie was om die verwantskap tussen waargenome behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap (as ‘n kern sosio-omgewingsinvloed) en deelname motivering, psigologiese welstand en prestasievlakke van top Suid-Afrikaanse jeug-atlete te ondersoek. Eerstens, is die verwantskappe tussen waargenome behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap en atlete se motivering, psigologiese welstand en graderings van self- en afrigterprestasie bepaal. Tweedens, is die akkuraatheid van ‘n teoretiese model bepaal, wat voorstel dat waargenome behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap tot verbeterde motivering, psigologiese welstand, en verhoogde prestasie lei. Derdens, is beduidende verskille ten opsigte van waargenome behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap soos deur atlete beskou, en motivering, psigologiese welstand,en prestasie veranderlikes oor geslag en ras heen ondersoek. ‘n Nie-eksperimentele, deursnee ontwerp opname, wat van self-gerapporteerde metings gebruik maak, is geselekteer om die verskeie faktore te ondersoek. Die totale steekproef het uit 453 spansport-atlete bestaan en is vanuit vier atletiese spanne (gemiddelde ouderdom = 17.3 jaar) en 33 afrigters gewerf. Die steekproef het beide manlike atlete (gemiddelde ouderdom = 17.5 jaar) en vroulike atlete (gemiddelde ouderdom = 17.1 jaar) ingesluit, sowel as twee rasgebonde groepe bestaande uit hoofsaaklik swart (gemiddelde ouderdom = 17.1 jaar) en blanke (gemiddelde ouderdom = 17.4 jaar) atlete. Die afrigters was verteenwoordigend van beide geslagte en rassegroepe. Pearson se korrelasie-koëffisiënt (r) is bereken om sodoende die korrelasies tussen atlete se waargenome behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap en motivering; psigologiese welstand; en prestasie te bepaal. ‘n Nie-rigtinggewende, twee-kantige toets vir beduidendheid is toegepas, wat grootliks die hipoteses dat behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap positief korreleer met ‘n toename in ‘n atleet se outonome motivering (medium effek goottes), psigologiese welstand (klein tot medium effek groottes) en self- en afrigterprestasie graderings (klein tot medium effek grootte) bevestig. Die parsiële kleinste kwadrante (PLS) benadering tot strukturelevergelyking-modellering (SEM) is gebruik om die verbandhoudende resultate tot die proses of roete van veranderlikes, wat optimale prestasie beïnvloed, te evalueer. Die voorspelde roetes van die konseptuele model het beduidende baankoëffisiënte getoon en het 26% van die variansie in prestasie vir die totale groep atlete verduidelik. Vir die bepaling van beduidende verskille tussen die baankoëffisiënte van die geslag- en rassegroepe is ‘n PLS-SEM meervoudige groepanalise (PLS-MGA) uitgevoer om die PLS-SEM ramings van elke groep te vergelyk. In die algemeen, is die SDT se opvatting ten opsigte van universaliteit ondersteun vir die modelle wat met die geslag- en rassegroepe gepaar is. Uniek tot die studie, nietemin, is die bevinding van geslagsverskille in die baan tussen waargenome afrigtingstyl en outonome motivering. Hiervolgens reflekteer die resultate ‘n groter invloed van waargenome afrigterstyl onder die vroulike groep, wat suggereer dat vroulike atlete se outonome motivering in groter mate deur die afrigter se waargenome afrigterstyl beïnvloed word in vergelyking met hul manlike eweknieë. ‘n Behoefte-ondersteunende leierskap styl kan dus as ‘n belangrike aandrif vir die verhoging van motivering kwaliteit en psigologiese welstand beskou word, en daarom optimale prestasie bevorder.