| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this research was to investigate whether the leader-driven motivational climate in physical activity settings has a differential impact on adolescent psychological and physiological stress (i.e., salivary cortisol) and motivational responses, as achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1984, 1989) would suggest. It is important to investigate these relationships, as psychological stress and stress-responsive hormones have been implicated in a variety of biochemical processes that threaten the mental and physical health of youth (McEwen & Stellar, 1993), whereas social support and physical activity have been shown to counter stress and enhance health and well-being (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Norris, Carroll, & Cochrane, 1992). It is equally important to recognize that although youth consistently respond more favorably to caring, task-involving motivational climates in physical activity settings, ego-involving climates remain prevalent in youth sport contexts. If physical education and sport are to serve as formidable catalysts for youth to live more physically active, healthier lifestyles, it may be worth understanding how controllable elements within the psychosocial context of sport/physical activity affect these outcomes. Achievement goal theory is a theoretical framework that has provided insight into how leaders can structure activities and provide feedback in order to help foster a continued interest in physical activity and promote more advantageous cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses in youth (Braithwaite, Spray, & Warburton, 2011). In developing achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1984, 1989), Nicholls sought to understand how we can optimize not just the motivation, but the experience of each child in achievement settings. Decades of research investigating achievement goal theory has revealed that when leaders emphasize and reward high effort and personal improvement, create a fair and cooperative atmosphere, and help youth learn from their mistakes, this reliably elicits more positive, adaptive behavioral and psychological responses (e.g., high effort and positive affect), interpersonal relations (e.g., pro-social actions), and intrinsic motivation (Harwood, Keegan, Smith, & Raine, 2015; Ntoumanis & Biddle, 1999). Nicholls referred to such environments as task-involving motivational climates. In contrast, research has shown that when leaders create an ego-involving motivational climate, by pitting athletes against one another, placing high importance on talent and outperforming others, emphasizing punitive responses for making mistakes or losing, and giving the majority of praise and recognition to the best performers, this can hinder motivation and elicit maladaptive psychological and behavioral responses. For instance, ego-involving climates are more often associated with troubling, even maladaptive responses such as less favorable opinions of coaches and teammates, antisocial behavior (e.g., cheating and poor sportspersonship), and lower self-esteem and self-efficacy (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010; Gano-Overway et al., 2009; Ntoumanis & Biddle, 1999; Smith & Smoll, 1997) – each of which are likely to contribute to a context of heightened psychosocial stress (Dickerson, Gruenewald, & Kemeny, 2004; Dickerson, Kemeny, Aziz, Kim, & Fahey, 2004). Social-rankings and feeling socially evaluated can trigger a dual rise in cortisol and inflammation, an atypical physiological condition shown to comprise mental and physical health (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004), with stronger perceptions resulting in more pronounced physiological responses (Dickerson, Gruenewald, & Kemeny, 2009). Likewise, other forms of psychosocial stress, in particular unfulfilled desire for social-acceptance and discontent regarding interpersonal relations, also trigger a coordinated stress response (e.g., elevated cortisol and shame), as do social situations involving performance-based rankings, directly competing for another person’s attention (e.g., coach), and negative social interactions such as social conflict or defeat (Chiang, Eisenberger, Seeman, & Taylor, 2012). Thus it seems that the very features found to trigger a threatening stress response are either a defining characteristic of an ego-involving climate or are commonly experienced by participants within such climates (Hogue, Fry, Fry, & Pressman, 2013). As research utilizing achievement goal theory progressed, it became clear that the motivational climate was made up of more than task- and ego-involving features, as identified by Nicholls (1984, 1989). There is also a relationship component of the motivational climate that is nicely captured by Newton and colleagues (2007) Caring Climate Scale. While caring and task-involving climates compliment one another, they are distinctly different aspects of the motivational climate (Newton, Fry, et al., 2007); Feeling valued, safe, and having sense of belonging among group members (i.e., caring climates) also promote more positive experiences and adaptive responses in youth (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010; Fry et al., 2012). Of relevance to note, physical activity settings with motivational climates that are highly caring and task-involving seem particularly suitable for fostering positive psychosocial development in youth, including the promotion of more adaptive forms of conflict resolution, cooperation, and appreciation of others (Brown & Fry, 2011) – all of which are characteristics of social support likely to help buffer the performance related stress youth may experience while engaging in physical activities amongst peers (Cohen & Pressman, 2004). The motivational climate literature is largely centered around cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses, yet the widespread implications of psychological stress and dearth of literature exploring this association underscore the importance of investigations into the impact of motivational climate on stress-related outcomes. Furthermore, because adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of stress (Romeo, 2010) the purpose of this research was to extend our knowledge of how the motivational climate in physical activity settings influence the stress responses of adolescents. Consistent with the tenants of achievement goal theory, it was hypothesized that caring, task-involving climates would elicit more positive responses in youth with respect to stress and motivational outcomes in physical activity settings, while ego-involving climates would yield more concerning responses. In the first investigation, middle school students (n = 47) were separated by gender and randomly assigned to a 30-minute instructional juggling session where the motivational climate was manipulated to be either caring and task-involving or ego-involving. Salivary cortisol was measured at four times over the 3 hour study, including one baseline (t = 0 min; juggling session start) and three response measures (t = +30, t = +45, and t = +60 min). The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2: Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), Sport Satisfaction Scale (Duda & Nicholls, 1992), and Effort subscale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI; McAuley, Duncan, & Tammen, 1989) were used to assess motivational responses to the climate intervention. Individual items were utilized to assess stress related responses, including self-reported stress and perceived social-evaluative threat as a manipulation check, and experiences of shame, humiliation, self-consciousness, and feeling judged by peers as markers of psychosocial stress in each respective climate. Similarly, adaptive motivational responses were also quantified using individual items, including subjective social status (i.e., feeling esteemed and respected by peers), as well as excitement and interest in continuing to juggle. Results revealed an ego-involving climate can procure a significant rise in salivary cortisol (i.e., a stress-responsive hormone) in youth, along with greater humiliation, self-consciousness, shame, negative affect, and anxiety relative to a caring, task-involving climate. Adolescents in the caring, task-involving group responded more favorably, with greater reported effort, enjoyment, positive affect, and interest in and excitement to continue juggling. Moreover, youth in the caring, task-involving climate reported experiencing markedly higher levels of admiration and esteem from their peers, compared to youth placed in the ego-involving climate. Study 2 investigated the relationship between the perceived motivational climate in high school physical education classes and students’ (N = 349; Mage = 15.69) state cognitive stress and coping appraisals (Gaab, Rohleder, Nater, & Ehlert, 2005), greater life stress (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), and internalized shame (Cook, 1996). Consistent with achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1984, 1989), results from this study link perceptions of a task-involving climate in physical education class with adaptive psychological coping appraisals and an ego-involving climate with shame and greater life stress. In sum, an ego-involving climate may have an adverse effect on youth that extends far beyond sporting contexts. This research has helped demonstrate that youth respond more positively when leaders make an effort to give praise for trying hard and applaud personal improvement. In contrast, the results of this research suggest youth may be particularly vulnerable to psychosocial stress in physical activity settings where the motivational climate is perceived to be ego-involving; and while a caring, task-involving climate likely facilitates efforts to utilize physical education as a means to promote student health and interest in physical activity, an ego-involving climate elicits responses more likely to undermine these efforts. In conclusion, a physical activity setting with a more caring, task-involving motivational climate seems a compelling vehicle in which to promote adolescent well-being and foster a greater interest in physical activity. | |
