Dr. Hamid Salehi, Ms. Neda Amirpour Najafabadi,
Volume 100, Issue 100 (10-2020)
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between young athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ achievement goal orientations and the coaches' fair play behaviors. The participants were 318 young athletes (Mage=16.60±4.10years) from basketball and volleyball who volunteered to participate. The participants completed the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (assessing task-involving and ego-involving climates) and the Coaching Fair Play Behaviors Inventory (CFBI). The results revealed a negative relationship between perceived task-involving and ego-involving climates. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between coaches’ task orientation and the six CFBI factors (i.e., teaching, modeling, expectations/pressure, reinforcement/reward, communication, and punishment). In contrast, coaches’ ego orientation showed a negative correlation with three CFBI factors (i.e., teaching, modeling, and expectations/pressure). The findings indicate that coaches who integrate teaching, modeling, expectations/pressure, reinforcement/reward, communication, and punishment in their fair play behaviors are more likely to create a task-involving climate within their teams. In contrast, coaches who apply less modeling, teaching, and expectations/pressure tend to cultivate an ego-involving environment. The primary takeaway for coaches is that emphasizing task-involving approaches and fostering a positive, supportive environment can promote sportsmanship, ethical values, and humanistic principles in sports.
