Chian Lit Khoon

The purpose of the study was to identify the motivational profiles underlying sport participation among young Singapore athletes, as well as to examine the relationship between the motivational profiles identified and a range of cognitive, behavioural and affective indices. A total of 139 boys and 164 girls from 4 junior colleges participated in the current study. They were aged between 16 to 19 years (M = 17.64, SD = .60) and had represented at national inter-school or higher level competitions. Using contemporary motivational approaches in the sports domain, such as achievement goal orientations, self-determination theory, nature of athletic ability beliefs and perceived competence, four meaningful clusters were identified. They reflected one less well motivated, one highly motivated, one less competent and one clearly amotivated cluster. Differences in perceived motivational climates and intrinsic interest were used to determine the predictive validity of the clusters. One-way MANOVA confirmed that all the motivational variables that were included in the cluster analysis showed significant contributions to cluster group profiles. Hence, the use of cluster analysis in the present study proved helpful in identifying subgroups of athletes with different motivational patterns. Consequently, the information obtained could assist coaches in designing intervention programs that are targeted toward the athletes' motivational needs.

The purpose of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Sport Scale (PABSS) developed by Kavussanu and Boardley [13] to measure moral behaviors in Singapore’s context. A total of 574 (boys = 296, girls = 278) school team athletes were recruited for the study. Results showed that internal reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the PABSS were supported. Evidence of configural, metric and scalar invariance of the PABSS across school and gender groups were also found. The findings suggest that the PABSS can be used to measure prosocial and antisocial behaviors among school athletes in Singapore.

The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationships between need satisfaction, motivation, and outcomes as well as the differential effects of the three psychological needs. The sample consisted of 1549 students from 10 secondary schools in Singapore. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis showed that students’ psychological needs are positively related to autonomous motivation, and this in turn, lead to higher enjoyment, value and lower pressure. On the other hand, the three psychological needs were negatively related to controlled motivation. Controlled motivation was positively related to pressure but negatively related to enjoyment and value. In terms of the differential effects of the three psychological needs, relatedness contributed strongly to autonomous motivation, compared to autonomy and competence. In contrast, while autonomy and relatedness contributed to controlled motivation negatively, competence positively predicted controlled motivation. Finally, competence was found to link to pressure in a negative way. In summary, the findings of the current study provide support to the propositions of SDT and add some insight to the differential effects of the three psychological needs.

The purpose of the current study was to identify the 2 x 2 achievement goals profiles at the intraindividual level using a latent profile analyses (LPA) approach while controlling for the nesting of students within classroom. Additional analyses involving the direct inclusion of predictors and outcomes to the final latent profile solution were also used to examine the relationships between the latent profiles and perceived motivational climate, intention to be physically active and physical activity participation. A sample of 1810 school children aged 14 to 19 years drawn from 79 classes in 13 Singaporean schools took part in the study. Using the latent profile analysis, four distinct motivational profiles could be identified. The results from multinomial logistic regressions showed that profile membership was significantly predicted by perceptions of mastery and performance climate. Finally, the results showed that the four profiles differed significantly in terms of intention to be physically active and physical activity participation.

This study examined the antecedents of teachers’ use of motivational strategies in the classroom using self-determination theory. It was found that teachers’ autonomous causality orientation, perceived job pressure, and perception of student self-determined motivation influenced their need satisfaction. In turn, their need satisfaction had a positive direct impact on autonomous motivation. In addition, teachers’ perception of their students’ self-determined motivation directly predicted teachers’ use of three motivational strategies in the classroom. Finally, their autonomous motivation positively predicted providing instrumental help and support and meaningful rationale, whereas controlled motivation negatively predicted providing instrumental help and support.

Subjective knowledge is a significant factor influencing individuals’ behaviors. It plays a critical role in preventing people from tragic event during open water activities (OWAs). However, a measurement scale for subjective knowledge in OWAs has not been developed and comprehensively investigated in the field of maritime and coaching studies. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate a subjective knowledge scale in OWAs (SKS-OWA) to better understand participants’ safety perceptions. We collected data from individuals who participated in OWAs within three years in Singapore. This study conducted the pilot study (n = 260) and the main study (n = 453) and employed a rigorous scale development procedure to assess the psychometric properties of the SKS-OWA. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of subjective knowledge in OWAs, and the SKS-OWA can be used to help coaches and practitioners to plan their training programs, increase public awareness, and reduce the rates of deaths from drowning.