Thirteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

The study adopted survey design to investigate the moderating role of perception of control (POC) on the relationship between competence evaluation and sports motivation among athletes. Participants were 200 athletes who volunteered during the 2018 Abuja National Sports Festival. Their ages ranged 14 to 38 years (Mage = 20.61years, SD = 3.73). Participants responded to validated measures of Perceived Control of Internal States Scale, the Self-liking and Self-competence Scale revised and Sports Motivation Scale. Results show that competence evaluation and POC significantly associated with sports motivation. POC significantly moderated the relationship between competence evaluation and sports motivation such that competence evaluation significantly associated with sports motivation for athletes who reported moderate and high POC; but was not for those with low POC. Findings underscore the need for athletes, coaches, sports psychologists, and other stakeholders to understand how competence evaluation and perceived control interrelate to boost motivational level in sports competitions and this invariably enhances knowledge of oneself and optimizes sports performance.