Forrester PE Dept

Mental factors

 

Motivation

 

Definition

Motivation is thought to be a combination of the drive within us to achieve our aims and the outside factors which affect it. With this in mind, motivation has the following two forms, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is ‘external’: money, prizes, acclaim, status, praise.

Intrinsic motivation comes from within i.e. an athlete driven by a need to succeed because they want to be the best and are not overly concerned by financial or ego boosts.

 

Impact on Performance

Having a high level of motivation will ensure that you continue to work until you have reached a goal that you have set yourself, often having to have overcome set backs on the way. Many of the world’s top athletes have had to overcome adversity at one time or another of their career or have had to have a high level of intrinsic motivation in order to dedicate the amount of time and effort required to reach the level of performance which they are capable of performing at.

Examples of this are: Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, Leigh Halfpenny, Andy Murray

 

Having a lack of motivation or, being motivated by external factors can have a negative impact on performance as if things do not go the way you expect them, you may not put in the required effort in order to improve. Examples of this are common in a number of sports but can be shown in football where players such as Winston Bogarde of Chelsea and Jose Bosingwa of QPR have been happy to not play for their team as they were receiving large sums of money whether they played or not.

 

A value on the task can also have an impact on a person’s motivation as if they do not value what they are being asked to do; their motivation for the task will be low.