Master of Science (Exercise and Sport Studies)

Using a contemporary motivational approach, the purpose of this study was to investigate how incremental beliefs and entity beliefs underpinned the intrinsic motivation of elite athletes towards their training programmes. In this study, the elite athletes’ training programmes had a Skill-Training segment and a Strength and Conditioning (S&C) segment. There were 72 males and 99 females from 13 sports who participated in this study. They were aged from 11 to 53 years (M = 22.06, SD = 7.30) and had represented Singapore in various international events. Using a cluster analysis with incremental beliefs and entity beliefs as clustering variables, a ‘high-incremental/low-entity’ group, a ‘moderate-incremental/moderate-entity’ group, a ‘high-incremental/high-entity’ group, and a ‘low-incremental/high-entity’ group was identified in the sample. These four clusters were also profiled based on their scores on enjoyment, effort, perceived competence, perceived choice, the Relative Autonomy Index (RAI), intrinsic motivation and amotivation. The results of the one-way MANOVA confirmed that there were significant multivariate relationships among these four clusters. The findings of the study suggested that athletes with high incremental beliefs enjoy Skill-Training and S&C more than athletes with high entity beliefs. Consequently, the information obtained in this study can help coaches to understand how athletes are motivated towards Skill-Training and S&C.