EFFECTS OF MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMOTIVATION FOR SPORT IN YOUNG HANDBALL PLAYERS

Motivation as a main driver of human behavior plays an important role in the daily life of the individual. Lack of motivation leads to a withdrawal from activities such as sports. Interpersonal relations in adolescence have a relevant role in the development of motivation, with motivational climate formed by significant others (ego oriented or task oriented motivational climate) that shapes the type of motivation. This study examines the predictive role of motivational climate in the development of amotivation in young handball players. The sample consisted of 26 handball players from Vojvodina, average age of 12 years, who trained handball at least one year. Of instruments we used Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ, Duda & Whitehead, 1998), and Sport Motivation Scale (SMS, Pelletier et al., 1995). Results of regression analyzes indicate that the motivational climate is a significant predictor of amotivation for sport (F(2)=5.93, p=.01) and that it explains 38% of variance. Ego-oriented motivational climate has singled out as an individual predictor of amotivation (β=.51, p=.02). The paper analyzes the practical and theoretical implications of the results.