The five self-determination mini-theories applied to sport

Motivation is a key component of maintaining successful and worthwhile sports participation, irrespective of whether sport refers to a sociable game of tennis between friends or an Olympic final with a global audience watching. Scholarly attempts to understand motivational phenomena in sporting contexts have, therefore, gained considerable momentum and a framework that often underpins these endeavours is self-determination theory (SDT). SDT’s empirical beginnings are observable in research concerning ‘the effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation’ (Deci, 1971) and the theory began to be applied to sports and competitive settings in the following years (e.g. Vallerand, 1983; Weinberg, 1979). Partly due to this early work, SDT is commonly described as a theory of motivation; however, its expansion to include five complementary mini-theories now encompasses motivation, human development, well-being, and personality. These theories are presented in subsequent sections of this chapter and relevant sport-based research is evaluated. Sporting applications are integrated within this commentary and potential future research questions are raised in the hope of stimulating novel and groundbreaking research.