An examination of sport commitment in collegiate athletes

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jordan P. Boyst (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Renee Appaneal

Abstract: Literature suggests that sport enjoyment is the greatest predictor of athletes' sport commitment (Scanlan et al., 1993a, 1993b; Carpenter et al., 1993). Research has also shown that satisfaction and involvement opportunities are the greatest predictors of "want to" commitment to exercising (Wilson et al., 2004). However, the majority of the research on sport commitment has examined youth athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine sport commitment among collegiate athletes. Based on Scanlan et al.'s (1993) Sport Commitment Model, the relationship among sport commitment, sport enjoyment, personal investments, social constraints, and involvement opportunities were obtained using a modified version of the Athletes' Opinion Survey. The notion of "have to" commitment and "want to" commitment was also examined in this sample by determining their relationship to factors presented in a modified version of the Exercise Commitment Scale (i.e., satisfaction, social constraints, involvement alternatives, personal investments, social support, and involvement opportunities). Surveys were administered to 101 collegiate soccer players (59 men, 42 women). Results of correlations and stepwise regressions revealed that involvement opportunities was the strongest predictor for sport commitment, whereas satisfaction was the strongest predictor for "want to" sport commitment. Findings from this study suggest that factors associated with sport commitment among collegiate athletes are different than prior research with you athletes. Future research should address these differences in sport commitment between youth and collegiate athletes.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2009
Keywords
Commitment, Sport
Subjects
College athletes $x Attitudes.
College athletes $x Psychology.
College sports $x Psychological aspects.

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