Collegiate Novice Rowers’ Motivations: An Application of Self-Determination Theory

The purpose of this study was to understand the reasons why novice rowers choose to join collegiate rowing teams. There is no existing research specifically analyzing this population, and the unique team structure in rowing makes previous sport participation research difficult to generalize to this population. The reasons for sport participation vary widely by age, gender, and level of competition.

This study integrates self-determination theory and organismic integration theory with scales to measure satisfaction and behavioral intentions, and data were collected through the use of a web-based survey. Schools competing in NCAA Division I and II rowing conferences were contacted for their participation, resulting in 233 completed surveys. Data analysis was completed using SPSS resulting in the discovery that novice rowers are a highly motivated group, and intrinsic and identified forms of motivation regulation stand out as the strongest indicators of behavior. Self-determined forms of motivation were linked with high satisfaction and intent to continue rowing, whereas extrinsic regulation had an inverse relationship with intent to continue rowing, and amotivation had an inverse relationship with both satisfaction and intent to continue rowing.

This information can be used to strengthen recruiting efforts to target student-athletes who naturally align with preferred motivation profiles. Specific recommendations are given for coaches, student-athletes, parents, and sport administrators on ways to ensure the sport environment fosters positive forms of motivation to enhance performance, satisfaction, and sport adherence.