COACHING BEHAVIOR, MOTIVATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN YOUNG ATHLETES

Abstract

The focus of the current research is to examine the relationship between coaching behavior, motivation and psychological wellbeing of young athletes. Sports is currently perceived as an apparatus that can aid incompletely conveying the related legislative social motivation. Coaches may improve performance of athletes by endorsing their psychological potentials, for instance, motivation, to direct training of sport skills. Motivation is demarcated as such collection of features that galvanize, and uphold behavior, usually in the direction of some goal. Psychological well-being portrays one of the most significant characteristics of effectual psychological functioning and is massively demarcated as life satisfaction, happiness, and self-growth. It was hypothesized that there will be a significant association in coaching behavior, motivation and psychological well-being of young athletes. Moreover, it was also hypothesized that coaching behavior and motivation act as predictors of psychological well-being.Correlation research design was used. Purposive sampling technique was employed to collect data. The sample consisted of 100 young athletes (53males, 47females) (M= 21.94, SD= 1.91). The Coaching Behavior Questionnaire, The Sports Motivation Scale and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale were used as assessment measures.Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Linear Regression were used for evaluating results of the research. Results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between coaching behavior and psychological wellbeing (β= .77) measured through Pearson Correlation. Regression results showed that Coaching behavior and motivation are found to be the significant predictors of domains of psychological wellbeing (Autonomy (r 2= .32), environmental mastery (r 2= .35) and positive relation (r 2= .23)) in young athletes measured through multiple regression.The findings of the present study can be taken as useful reference for sports educators and athletes, and in the long run, they can enhance athletic standards and contribute to sport development in Pakistani communities.