broadly by some that it incorporates the whole field of psychology, so narrowly by others
that it is almost useless as an organising construct” (p. 3).
Critical thinking questions
Do you agree with Roberts (2001) that motivation is widely misunderstood in sport?
Why do you think that many people mistake a heightened state of arousal for motivation?
Are there any distinctive behavioural signs or expressions of motivation? How would you
design a study to explore athletes’ understanding of motivation? Does the myth of
motivation extend to people’s understanding of the work that sport psychologists engage
in with their clients? Why do many people mistakenly believe that sport psychology is
mainly about motivating athletes to perform well?
In the light of the confusion surrounding motivational processes in sport, how should we
approach this construct scientifically?
Traditionally, sport psychologists have distinguished between two different types of
motivation—“intrinsic” and “extrinsic” (see review by Vallerand and Rousseau, 2001).
Intrinsic motivation refers to people’s impetus to perform an activity “for itself and the
pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation” (ibid., p. 390). For example, some
people love walking or running simply because it gives them feelings of fun and freedom
and also because it enhances their subjective sense of well-being. Anecdotally, it is
precisely this sense of intrinsic joy or satisfaction which seems to characterise the
motivation of top athletes in sports like swimming, golf and cricket. For example,
consider the importance which the Australian Olympic gold medal winning swimmer
Kieren Perkins attached to intrinsic influences in his sport when he said, “I always race
against myself to improve my own performances. The fact that I sometimes set world
records in the process is a bonus. My personal best performance is the goal, not
necessarily the world record” (Clews and Gross, 1995, pp. 98–99; italics mine). A similar
emphasis on intrinsic satisfaction is evident in Tiger Woods’s observation that successful
golfers “enjoy the serenity and the challenge of trying to beat their own personal records”
(cited in Scott, 1999, p. 47). Finally, the Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, who is the
top run-scorer in World Cup history and is regarded as one of the finest batsmen of all
time, claimed that “I don’t set myself any targets. I just concentrate on trying to bat
well... When I was a kid, I played cricket because I loved it and I still love it now” (cited
in Funday Times, 2002, p. 12). Interestingly, a recent in-depth study of the motivational
processes of elite track-and-field athletes (those who had finished in the top-ten at either
the Olympic Games or the world championships) supported these anecdotal insights.
Specifically, Mallett and Hanrahan (2003) interviewed these athletes in an effort to
identify the factors which sustained their motivation to compete at the highest level.
Results showed that these athletes were driven mainly by personal goals and
achievements rather than by financial incentives. Nevertheless, the ego-oriented goal of
defeating others remains a powerful source of motivation for many athletes. For example,
Sam Lynch, who successfully defended his lightweight single sculls title at the World
Rowing Championships in 2002, said afterwards, “I was aware that the conditions were
fast but the title always comes first. You don’t go for a world record in a race like this. It
may come but winning the title comes first” (cited in R.T. Jones, 2002, p. 15, italics
Motivation and goal-setting in sport 37