Fear of failure, motivation and negative affect in sport: Multilevel analyses of coaches and athletes

Citation

Taylor S, Allen J & Duncan E (2019) Fear of failure, motivation and negative affect in sport: Multilevel analyses of coaches and athletes. FEPSAC 2019 (15th European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology), Munster, Germany, 15.07.2019-20.01.2019.

Abstract
Recent studies have shown the negative impact controlling coach behaviours can have on individual athletes’ basic psychological needs and negative affect (Bartholomew, Ntoumanis, Ryan, Bosch, & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2011); however, less is known about how it might impact athletes’ fear of failure. Additionally, more research is necessary to understand why coaches engage in controlling behaviours, as research in this area is limited (Matosic, Ntoumanis, & Quested, 2016). This study furthers our understanding in this area by examining if controlling coach behaviours influences athletes’ fear of failure and whether coach fear of failure acts as a potential antecedent. Participants to date are coaches (n=21) and athletes (n=83) competing in individual sports at elite level (national/international). This study uses multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between these variables. H1: Positive associations between coaches’ fear of failure and negative affect, and athletes’ perception of controlling coach behaviour, needs frustration, fear of failure and negative affect at the between-level. H2: Negative associations between coaches’ fear of failure and positive affect, and athletes fear of failure and positive affect at the between level H3: Positive associations between athletes’ perceptions of controlling coach behaviour, needs frustration, fear of failure and negative affect at the within-level. H4: Negative associations between athletes’ perceptions of fear of failure and positive affect at the within-level. H5: Mediation between controlling coach behaviour and fear of failure, via needs frustration at the between and within-level.