Assessing objective achievement motivation in elite athletes: A comparison according to gender, sport type, and competitive level

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to compare the objective achievement motivation of elite athletes according to gender, sport type, and competitive level. The study used an objective measure of achievement motivation to complement existing subjective measures used in research. A total of 135 Singaporean national athletes were recruited for this study, and completed the Objective Achievement Motivation Test (OLMT) using the Vienna Test System. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that there were significant main effects for gender, sport type, and competitive level. Males were found to have higher motivation through competition than females; team sport athletes were found to have higher motivation through competition than individual sport athletes; and athletes of higher competitive level were found to have greater task-related motivation than athletes of lower competitive level. These findings help both researchers and applied sport psychology practitioners understand how the achievement motivation of athletes can vary due to different factors. Future research should be conducted to investigate how the OLMT can be applied to other athlete populations as well.

Keywords:

• achievement motivation
• Vienna Test System
• objective measure
• sport
• elite athletes

ORCID

Nathanael C.H. Ong http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6482-2263