Person-centered support and athletes' motivation for performance.

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of person-centered intervention on motivation for athletic performance. 74 volleyball players, 24 boys and 50 girls (M age = 13 yr., SD = 1.0), completed a motivation questionnaire, the Leistungs Motivations Test für Jugendlichen prior to and after an 8-mo. group treatment that included the application of Roger's person-centered method to the participants of the experimental group (1 boys' team n = 12; 1 girls' team n = 11), at a frequency of at least one session per week. In the control group (1 boys' team n = 12; 3 girls' teams n = 39), no particular method was used apart from the pedagogical methods that coaches selected. Results revealed a statistically significant decrease in boys' scores on desire for performance and success between the pre- and posttest measurements. No significant change in girls' scores was observed. Thus, the 8-mo. treatment using the person-centered method did not improve volleyball players' motivation for performance.