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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Competition (Psychology) in youth; Sports--Psychological aspects; Women basketball players--Psychology;

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences ln trait competitiveness between girls' basketball starters and non-starters at the junior high and high school level. The study was designed to test the hypotheses that high school girls' basketball players would have higher levels of competitiveness than junior high school basketball players; that there would be no difference in the trait competitiveness scores between girls' basketball starters and non-starters; and, that there would be no difference in the trait competitiveness scores of starters and non-starters at either the junior high or high school level.

The subjects (N = 108) consisted of intact junior high (n = 4) and high school (n = 4) girls basketball teams in Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Iowa. Each member of the team was identified by the coach as a starter or a nonstarter. A starter was an athlete who started in 75% of the games during the 1990-91 season. A non-starter was an athlete who started in less than 25% of the games during the 1990-1991 season.

Measures of trait competitiveness were obtained with the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (Gill & Deeter, 1988). A Player x Grade (2 x 2) ANOVA revealed a significant difference (p. < .05) between the starters and non-starters. There was no significant difference (p. > .05) found between the junior high and high school players. Finally, the interaction of Player x Grade was found to be non-significant (p. > .05). The results indicate that the starters, whether junior high or high school, had higher levels of competitiveness than the non-starters. Thus, the starters are more inclined to be motivated to approach success. The results that there was no difference between the junior high and high school players indicate that the development of a high level of trait competitiveness may not be age-related. Coaches need to be aware that competitiveness is developed through a variety of factors, one of those being the amount of playing time. If they can offer a chance for successful experiences, encouragement and support, and a positive environment for their players to compete in, the team's level of competitiveness may increase.

Year of Submission

1991

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Sharon Huddleston

Second Advisor

Susan Doody

Third Advisor

Iradge Ahrabi-Fard

Comments

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Date Original

1991

Object Description

1 PDF file (68 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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