Examining the Relationship Between Athletic Identity and Sport Motivation in Undergraduate Athletes

Sport motivation plays an integral role in sport participation. Research has revealed possible differences in competitive versus recreational athlete's motivational factors, with competitive athletes possessing less intrinsic motivation as compared to recreational athletes (Michelle, Vallerand, Briere, & Provencher 1995). Athletic identity is a personality construct that considers an athlete's identification of his/her role as an athlete. Athletic identity describes the extent to which an individual sees themselves as an athlete as opposed to someone who plays a sport. Athletic identity is associated with self-motivation and competitiveness (Tusak, Faganel, and Bednarik, 2005). There has been minimal research examining the relationship between an athlete's identity and sport motivation variables. Finding a relationship of an athlete's identity and motivational factors will enhance coaches’ and sport psychologists’ ability to enhance an athlete's performance by utilizing motivational techniques according to his/her athletic identity. Participants consisted of 508 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division-II student athletes at a university in the Southeastern United States, ranging in ages from 18 to 29 years-old. Participants completed the Sport Motivation Scale and the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale. Pearson Product Correlations will be conducted to analyze the subscales of the AIMS with the subscales of the SMS. It is predicted that athletes with higher athletic identity will be more intrinsically motivated than athletes with lower athletic identity. In contrast, athletes with lower athletic identity are predicted to be more extrinsically motivated. Analysis