Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Athletes--Psychology; Burn out (Psychology); School sports--Psychological aspects;

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the locus of control between those individuals who indicated they had terminated their high school athletic participation because of burnout and those who did not. It was hypothesized that athletes who dropped out of sport due to burnout would have a higher external locus of control (individuals who perceive that outside factors control their lives) as compared to those who did not. Students (N = 189) who were enrolled in required wellness classes at the University of Northern Iowa served as the subjects for this study. Based on data collected from a subject information sheet, the subjects were assigned to either a burnout (n = 40) or a non-burnout (n = 149) group. If the subjects discontinued sport participation for reasons other than burnout, they were asked to reveal why they quit. Rotter's (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale was used to measure each subject's external locus of control. The scale was scored by assigning a score of one for each external response (range: 0-23). The final score for each subject was the total number of external responses. A score of one indicates a very low external locus of control, while a score of 23 indicates a very high external locus of control. An independent t-test (p>.05) indicated no significant difference between the burnout and non-burnout groups in their external locus of control orientation. Furthermore, reasons given by the non-burnout group for discontinued participation in sports were, for the most part, not stress-related.

Year of Submission

1990

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Sharon Huddleston

Second Advisor

Susann Doody

Third Advisor

Iradge Ahrabi-Fard

Comments

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Date Original

1990

Object Description

1 PDF file (90 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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