Abstract

In this paper the relationship between instrinsic motivation and the competitive process is examined. There is little doubt that the major source of anxiety and related stress experienced by participants in competitive sports emerges from the breakdown between personal expectations relative to the demands of the competitive situation. When the evaluative influence of competition is perceived as a potential source of interference in the flow of motivated behaviour, stress and psychological conflict then become the inevitable outcome. To examine this basic proposition several theories of play and instrinsic motivation are examined, in terms of the impact of the influence of competition, to identify those conditions under which stress is likely to eventuate. The state-trait anxiety interpretation of Spielberger, together with the transactional model of stress developed by Cox and McKay, are considered to provide valuable frameworks for the analysis of the outcomes of the interaction between play and competition. A number of clinical procedures are then identified which may be appropriate in the management of stress resulting from a breakdown in the competitive process where the motives for play are undermined by the evaluative impact of competition. The paper concludes with a number of implications concerning the role of the sports coach in preserving the intricate balance between instrinsic motivation and competitive anxiety. To the degree that the play elements of sports can be preserved, performance is then likely to be enhanced in spite of the impact of the competitive process. Verf.-Referat